5 Langkah untuk Mula sebagai UX Designer

Soalan sering ditanya:
"Macam mana nak start career dalam UIUX?"

Aku tulis post ni based on experience aku.

Ini 5 langkah untuk bermula sebagai seorang UIUX Designer.

1. Get Started. Seriously, just get started. [Fasa Memahami]

Ada 2 pilihan. Samada kita start secara free, or berbayar.

I prefer free.

Use whatever that is within our means.

Free Course:

• UX Design Crash Course (from Mizko)
• UI Design Crash Course (from Mizko)

Kalau ada duit lebih, boleh signup bootcamp/paid online courses:

• The Designership $250 (from Mizko, worth sangat to sign up for this)
• Google UX Course $39/month (Duration: 6 months, obviously you can finish faster if you focus on this everyday)
• Bootcamps. Ada banyak kat luar sana. Yang famous is bootcamp by General Assembly (that I know of)

Free Resources:

• Principle of UX
• Visual Design Rules (by Anthony Hobday)

Technical terms yang korang akan discover:

• User Research
• Empathy Maps + User Personas
• User Flow
• Information Architecture
• Wireframes & Prototypes

You might discover more along the way.

2. Do it. [Fasa Buat]

Okay, sekarang you should have some idea on what UIUX is.

Dalam bahasa pasar:

Its a nerdier, systemic version of graphic design, and we design to solve real life problems.

In this phase, you're either:

• Still going through your bootcamp/online courses

OR

• Just finished bootcamp

Both is good. Now, its time to do UIUX stuffs. Practice everyday.

Ada dua skills yang kena asah. Hard-skills and soft-skills.

Hardskills to practice:

• Figma
• Visual Skills + UI (Spacing, Typography, Color)
• Information Architecture
• Wireframing & Prototyping

Softskills to practice:

• Empathy
• Being Intentional
• Collaboration/Teamwork
• Presentation skills / Storytelling
• Systemic thinking

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2a. Design Tips:

Places for design inspiration:

• Mobbin.design
• Dribbble

Also, you need to choose which platforms you want to focus. You can either focus on web apps or mobile apps. Choose only ONE.

Based on my experience, designing websites are not strong enough for you to get UIUX jobs.

You need to either design a web app or mobile app.

2b. More Design Tips

What you can do:

Take one good design that you saw on Dribble/Twitter and tiru sebijik.

What you'll gain in this process:

• You'll learn how they align texts & elements (Alignment + Spacing)
• How typography sizes work
• How color theory works

Also, another good website you can refer for UIUX Design: https://anthonyhobday.com/sideprojects/saferules/

Honestly, part practice design ni kau kena consistently practice everyday.

2c. Asking for Feedback

Kita juga perlu mintak feedback. Template mintak feedback should be something like this,

This is my design of (insert your app name) that (insert problem that you want to solve). What do you think of (insert the specific flow)? Your feedback is appreciated!

So, bila kita pakai template tu, it should look like this:

" This is my design of an Invois app [the app name],

that aims to automate invoice creation [problem you're trying to solve]

What do you think of the invoice creation flow? [the specific flow]

Your feedback is appreciated! "

3. Case Studies [Fasa Prep Portfolio]

At this stage, you should aim to have 2-3 case studies to put in your portfolio.

After dah compile, dah boleh start your job hunting!

3a. Compile Case Studies (for Bootcampers)

Tapi sebelum tu, kita boleh buat persiapan untuk compile case studies kita.

Kat mana nak cari case studies?

If you've finished your bootcamp, you can use your assignment project as your case studies.

It might be something youre not proud of, so you can improve it visually and make it presentable as your 1st case study (in your portfolio).

3b. Compile Case Studies (for non-Bootcampers)

Okay, kalau ko self-taught via Youtube/Twitter (tak enroll any bootcamps), boleh baca section ni.

Steps dia mudah juga.

First, cari apps yang you use on a daily (ex: Setel, TnG wallet, Maybank etc)

Second, choose a user-flow that you think needs improvement. (ex: Payment flow, signup flow, onboarding process etc just choose one)

Third, brainstorm on how you can improve it. (do the whole UX process, i.e. how might we improve this...)

Fourth, design the solution (in Figma)

Dengan berbekalkan satu userflow, you can have a full-blown UIUX case study.

Rinse and repeat for another 2 apps and know-know ko dah ada 3 case study dalam portfolio ko.

Sebagai contoh, your portfolio could end up like this:

• 1st case study, improving Setel's fuel payment flow
• 2nd case study, enhance TnG's wallet onboarding flow
• 3rd case study, readjust Maybank's mobile app sign-in flow

4. Start cari Kerja. [Fasa Job Hunting]

This is the part where you'll find jobs.

While waiting for HR to call you for interview, you should practice:

• Presentation skills (in English preferably)
• Story-telling (on your portfolio + case studies)
• Honesty. (ex: aku admit je part mana yang aku lacking, and the interviewer appreciates this really well!)

Also, if your case studies are related to web apps, and company yang ko apply pun web app, chances untuk ko kena shortlist adalah lebih tinggi.

Same goes to, kalau case studies kau banyak pasal mobile app, then job position UX Designer for mobile app akan lebih sesuai untuk application kau.

Just make sure portfolio kau tu similar dengan apa yang company tu nak cari.

5. Ready & Reflect

This is roughly what your UIUX path should be.

It applies to both yang dari background design or tak related to design/tech at all.

For the most part, junior/entry level position employers tak expect too much from a candidate.

But if I were you, I'd over-prepare the shit out of it, because I want the job.

Soalan Lazim (Bonus)

UIUX kena tahu coding ke?
Tak perlu tulis code. I repeat, you don't have to write code.

Benda yang ko perlu tahu, paling minima pun, konsep CSS secara surface level sahaja.

Terms yang kau patut tahu secara umum:

• Margin and Padding
• Flexbox
• Alignment

For more reading, boleh baca artikel ni: Essential CSS Concepts Every Designer Should Know

Sebab, kita akan bekerjasama dengan programmers dekat tempat kerja.

Kalau kita tak dapat communicate idea kita, susah programmer nak implement design kita tu.

And also, cuba familiarkan diri dengan Inspect Tool (dekat Chrome or other browsers)

Penutup

Goodluck reader! All the best. Practice everyday. Good things will come your way.

You can do it, I believe in you.