UX/UI Design

2021-04-20

After many years working as a UI Developer I became frustrated and burnt out with the bureaucracy of corporate web development.

To fix this problem I spent the majority of 2018 improving my UX/UI Design skills by reading books and taking video courses.

My goal was to switch my day job from UI Development to UX/UI Design.
I finally accomplished that goal in January 2021. I'm much happier as a UX/UI Designer.

You may be wondering, "What exactly is a UX/UI Design?"

Let's start with what UX/UI Design is NOT!

• Front-End / UI Development which includes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Social Media or Email Marketing
• KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)
• Technical or Copy Writing
• Google Analytics
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)  

UX/UI Design are two related, and often confused, areas of design that play a vital role in software and web application development.

UX Design

UX stands for User Experience. A UX Designer does research and plans how something looks and works. To make using it easy and enjoyable.

UI Design

UI stands for User Interface. A UI Designer creates the visual interface of digital products like websites and mobile apps.

The main tool I use is Adobe XD. It's a stand-alone vector-based desktop application in the family of Photoshop and Illustrator. Available for Mac and Windows.

It gives UX/UI Designers the ability to create mockups and interactive prototypes for web and mobile apps. These designs are used as blueprints by Front-End / UI Developers for building web applications.

Education

I based my education on a college curriculum I found online. Similar to these courses offered by three established colleges.

• New York Institute of Art + Design: User Experience (UX) Design course
• DePaul: BS in User Experience Design
• UC Berkeley Extension: Essentials of User Experience (UX) Design  

Fundamentals of Graphic Design

• Line
• Color Theory
• Shape
• Texture
• Space
• Form
• Typography
• Contrast
• Hierarchy
• Alignment
• Balance
• Proximity
• Repetition  

Basics of UX/UI Design

• Timeless UX Design Principles
• User Research
• Journey Maps
• Personas
• User Flows
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Mobile First Design Principles
• Understanding Responsive Design
• Wireframes
• Mockups
• Prototypes  

Tools

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe XD
• Balsamiq
• Figma
• Glimpse
• Inkscape
• Scribus
• Pencil Project  

Books

• Design Basics Made Easy
• How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul
• Know Your Onions: Web Design
• Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff they don't teach you in design school, but should
• Don't Make Me Think, Revisited
• Smashing UX Design: Foundations for Designing Online User Experiences
• UX Design: A Field Guide To Process And Methodology For Timeless User Experience  

Video Courses

• Beginners Guide to Graphic Design
• What is UX Design?
• UX Design Course Tutorial for Beginners: User Experience Design Fundamentals
• UX Design Tutorial for Beginners 2018
• The Complete Beginners Guide to Adobe Photoshop
• The Complete Beginners Guide To Adobe Illustrator
• Learn Adobe XD in 2021 by Example
• Adobe XD for Beginners
• Free Adobe XD Tutorial: User Experience Design Course with Adobe XD Course
• GIMP Basics
• Inkscape for Beginners