0 Experience. 3 Months. 5 Projects. (Full Guide to Becoming a UX Designer)
Summary
TLDRThe video offers aspiring UX designers five actionable projects to build a portfolio within three months. It covers reaching out to local businesses, effective communication with stakeholders, and utilizing free resources for experience. The script includes a sample email template, emphasizes teamwork, and suggests redesigning daily apps, engaging with Google reviews, participating in hackathons, and contributing to open-source projects to gain diverse skills and feedback.
Takeaways
- 📚 Start by building a UX portfolio with five projects over the next three months to prepare for tech recruitment cycles.
- 💼 An email template is provided to help reach out to local businesses for the first UX case study.
- 👥 Working in a team is beneficial as most jobs require collaboration with cross-functional partners.
- 📧 When reaching out to organizations, clearly communicate how you can solve their current problems and propose a solution.
- 🏢 Engage with local businesses or nonprofits to create software solutions for free to gain experience.
- 🗣️ Maintain transparent communication with stakeholders throughout the product creation process, including problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and user testing.
- 💰 Understand that working with local businesses or NGOs is often unpaid, but it's an opportunity to gain experience.
- 🔍 Use Google reviews to identify problems with apps and propose design solutions to address user concerns.
- 🌐 Design for multiple platforms, including mobile, desktop, and emerging technologies like AR and VR, to craft versatile solutions.
- 🎓 Participate in hackathons to experience working under time pressure, cross-functional collaboration, and to create products from scratch.
- 🔗 Join open-source projects and online communities like Design Buddy to connect with other designers and product managers for feedback and opportunities.
Q & A
What is the main purpose of the video script?
-The main purpose of the video script is to provide aspiring UX designers with practical advice on how to build a portfolio and gain experience by undertaking various UX projects.
What is the significance of having a full UX portfolio for job recruitment?
-Having a full UX portfolio is significant for job recruitment as it showcases a designer's skills, experience, and ability to solve real-world problems, making them a more attractive candidate to potential employers.
What is the role of an email template in reaching out to local businesses for UX projects?
-The email template serves as a guide for aspiring UX designers to professionally and effectively communicate with local businesses, introducing themselves, identifying a problem, suggesting a solution, and requesting a meeting to discuss further collaboration.
Why is it beneficial to work on a team for the mentioned UX projects?
-Working on a team is beneficial because it mimics real-world work environments where collaboration and communication with cross-functional partners are essential, preparing the designer for future job roles.
Can these UX projects be conducted by an individual without a team?
-Yes, these UX projects can be conducted by an individual as a starting point, but the ultimate goal is to progress towards team collaboration to better simulate real-world work scenarios.
What is the importance of identifying and solving a local business's pain points in the UX design process?
-Identifying and solving a local business's pain points is crucial as it demonstrates the designer's ability to understand and address real user needs, which is a fundamental aspect of UX design.
How can one communicate effectively with stakeholders throughout the product creation process?
-Effective communication with stakeholders can be achieved by setting regular points of contact, ensuring transparent communication at all times, and being proactive in seeking feedback and input from all parties involved.
What are some common platforms where designers can find paid freelance opportunities?
-Designers can find paid freelance opportunities on platforms such as UX Rescue, Open-Source Design, and Fiverr, which offer projects that can help them earn money while gaining experience.
Why is it recommended to redesign daily-used apps and reach out to their developers or founders?
-Redesigning daily-used apps and reaching out to their developers or founders is recommended as it provides an opportunity for designers to practice their skills, receive feedback, and potentially make industry connections that could lead to job opportunities.
What can be learned from reading Google or App Store reviews when looking for UX design problems to solve?
-Reading Google or App Store reviews can provide insights into the problems and pain points that users face with certain applications, allowing designers to identify areas for improvement and propose design solutions.
How can participating in a hackathon benefit an aspiring UX designer?
-Participating in a hackathon benefits an aspiring UX designer by providing a high-pressure, collaborative environment that simulates real-world project timelines and team dynamics, enhancing their ability to work under pressure and innovate quickly.
What is the value of joining open-source projects for UX designers and product managers?
-Joining open-source projects offers UX designers and product managers the opportunity to work on real projects, gain practical experience, and build a network within the design community, which can be invaluable for professional growth and finding new opportunities.
Why is it advised for UX designers to explore a variety of projects rather than specializing early on?
-Exploring a variety of projects allows UX designers to develop a broad skill set and adaptability, enabling them to tackle diverse challenges and contexts more effectively, as suggested by David Epstein in the book 'Range'.
What is the role of a community like Design Buddy for UX designers and product managers?
-A community like Design Buddy serves as a platform for UX designers and product managers to ask questions, seek paid opportunities, and receive feedback on their designs, fostering a sense of connection and support that is essential for professional development.
Outlines
📚 Building a UX Portfolio with Local Business Projects
This paragraph introduces a strategy for aspiring UX designers to build a portfolio by engaging with local businesses. The speaker suggests creating a solution for a local business, such as Bookham, which distributes books to schools to improve literacy. The process involves reaching out to organizations, identifying their pain points, and proposing a solution. An email template is provided to facilitate communication with stakeholders. The speaker emphasizes the importance of teamwork and cross-functional collaboration, which are crucial skills in the job market. The summary also touches on the potential for unpaid work to gain experience, and the availability of paid freelance opportunities on platforms like UX Rescue and Open-Source Design.
💻 Enhancing Daily Apps and Designing for Multiple Platforms
The second paragraph discusses two projects for UX designers: redesigning daily used apps to improve user experience and designing for multiple platforms. The speaker recounts a personal experience of redesigning a newsletter and reaching out to its founder for feedback. This approach encourages designers to take initiative and gain practical experience. Additionally, the paragraph suggests analyzing app reviews to identify user problems and propose design solutions. The speaker also highlights the importance of specialization and the opportunity to explore various design areas, such as AR, VR, and AI, to build a versatile skill set.
🚀 Participating in Hackathons and Engaging with Open-Source Projects
The final paragraph focuses on the benefits of participating in hackathons and contributing to open-source projects as a way to gain experience and build a portfolio. The speaker shares a personal story of winning a hackathon by creating a web app for crowdsourcing music picks. Hackathons offer a unique opportunity to work under time pressure, collaborate with diverse teams, and create a product from scratch. The paragraph also mentions the value of joining online communities like Design Buddy for networking, feedback, and paid opportunities, emphasizing the importance of human connection in the tech industry.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡UX Design
💡Portfolio
💡Recruitment
💡Stakeholders
💡Communication
💡Teamwork
💡Case Study
💡Email Template
💡Voluntary Basis
💡Specialization
💡Hackathon
💡Open-Source Projects
Highlights
Preparing for the next tech recruitment cycle with a full UX portfolio in 3 months.
An email template for reaching out to local businesses for UX case studies.
Importance of team experience in the UX design process.
How to approach local businesses with a solution to their pain points.
Example of working with a nonprofit to improve their operations with software.
Transparent communication with stakeholders throughout the product creation process.
Understanding the nature of unpaid work for gaining experience in UX design.
Finding paid UX roles on platforms like UX Rescue and Open-Source Design.
Using Google reviews to identify and solve user problems in app design.
The value of redesigning daily-used apps for portfolio building and feedback.
Specialization in UX design is overrated; breadth of training is more beneficial.
Crafting solutions for multiple platforms including AR, VR, and AI integration.
Participating in hackathons for intense, cross-functional collaboration experiences.
Winning a hackathon by creating a crowdsourced music playlist web app.
Benefits of joining hackathons for time pressure, collaboration, and fun.
Engaging with open-source projects for real-world UX design experience.
The importance of community for feedback and human connection in tech professions.
Transcripts
layoffs just happened and you want to be
prepared for the next cycle of tech
recruitment here are five ux projects
you can do right now if you implement
these ideas I assure you that by the end
of the next 3 months you will have a
full ux portfolio ready to go for job
recruitment I also included an email
template that will guide you through how
to reach out to local businesses to get
started with your first ux case study so
stay tuned for that if you're an
aspiring ux designer this video is for
you solution for a local business coming
up I'll introduce how to reach out to
local businesses how to communicate with
stakeholders to work most effectively
with them and also the email template to
reach out to them so for all of the
projects that I'm about to mention it's
best if you can work on a team why well
with all jobs on the market you're going
to be working with with a ton of people
so if you can get experience practicing
communication with cross functional
Partners collaboration then you'll be
set for the next recruitment cycle if
you can't get team experience it's okay
you can conduct these projects by
yourself as well that's a great starting
point but eventually you want to move
towards how can I get team members to
work on this project together so
reaching out to local businesses during
the school year I worked worked on a
team with developers product managers to
work with a local nonprofit in Nashville
called bookham bookham essentially
distributes books across elementary
schools high schools in hopes of raising
youth literacy essentially with our team
we created softwares to help them with
their day-to-day operation this is how
we reached out to them when you're
reaching out to anyone any organization
make sure that you signify exactly how
you can solve their current pain points
hi
Melissa you introduce yourself I'm
Phoebe a student at X University and an
experienced designer then you introduce
the problem that you see I noticed that
bookham received an influx of volunteers
this past year making it difficult to
rely on the paper and note method to
document everyone's records then you
suggest a possible solution a web portal
or an online document system may help
facilitate your day-to-day operations
then you can also provide more context
so at school I work with a team of
developers to create software for
nonprofits for free this is the most
important part you want to include a
direct call to action do you have time
for a coffee chat this week we love your
mission and want to learn more about how
we can help you come up with a solution
for managing this influx of volunteers
and and data sincerely Phoebe so with
that you can reach out to your local
businesses right away even if nothing
comes out of it or you misdey their
problem they're probably willing to sit
down and just have a chat with you and
you never know what can go on from there
how do we communicate with stakeholders
throughout the entire product creation
process so at bookham we met both online
and virtually with them many times
throughout the entire ux design process
the defining the problem ideation
prototyping user testing we set out
regular points of contact the key here
is you want to ask yourself what can we
do right now to make sure that there is
transparent communication between our
team and the stakeholder at all times
when it comes to these kind of working
with local businesses NGO kind of
projects keep in mind that most of this
will be unpaid generally I believe that
that all work should be paid but keep in
mind that this is you reaching out to
them in hopes of having a project that
will help you gain experience as a
designer as a product manager so it is
more or less done on a voluntary basis
you can however of course search for
paid roles paid jobs you can start with
ux rescue or open-source design and also
fivr these are great sites to help pay
you on a freelance basis next up solve
problems via Google review I want you to
pause this video and think what are some
of the apps that you use on a daily
basis all right you done now think what
are some aspects of it that you really
enjoy and some aspects that you wish
could be changed a few years ago I
subscribed to this random email
newsletter called read wise I first
heard of this from Ali abdal
productivity Guru essentially it's a
newsletter that congregates all of your
quotes that you highlighted from books
one day I was like okay cool stuff I'm
enjoying reading my quotes whatever but
not going to lie the whole newsletter
wasn't the best on the eyes in other
words I think the reading experience
could be improved so what I did was is I
took a screenshot of the newsletter
checked it onto figma and then
redesigned the whole newsletter from
scratch I moved around different
components based on some gal principles
whatnot basically it was a design
exercise then I exported those files
chucked it into an email and reached out
to Dan the founder of readwise
surprisingly he responded a few days
later now nothing Tang ible came out of
this which it's fine it wasn't the point
the point was to get started you know
redesigning these things that we use on
a daily basis and to get some sort of
feedback from them so this is also
something you can do reach out to the
developers to the founders of the apps
that you use on a daily basis Define a
problem that you see propose a solution
and send them kind of the updated
designs who knows maybe they'll be
impressed and also give you a job
another action you can take you can go
on Google or on the App Store search up
an application and read all of the
reviews that it received from there you
can see what kind of problems are users
facing what possible design Solutions
you can come up with to combat these
issues thank you to R designs for coming
up with this great suggestion in today's
day and age
specialization is overhyped besides the
trusted mobile and desktop softwares
we're now seeing the expansion of
artificial reality virtual reality
designers can also now leverage AI to
build things that they've never built
never designed before you want to get
started on Crafting solutions for
multiple platforms for example you can
design landing pages that work for
mobile for iPad for desktop for Apple
Vision Pro for meta quest to take action
start with prompts you can go on sites
like daily UI which is a great prompt
generation site and make something for
all types of platforms throughout the
whole process see what you enjoy most
because based on this you can cater your
future projects to whatever you find the
most interesting and what you think
you're the best at quoting David Epstein
from the book range breath of training
predicts breath of transfer when you
have a variety of projects under your
belt you can create abstract models in
your head that helps you adapt to new
contexts user experience design is
fundamentally the same everywhere you
are trying to solve the user's problem
don't worry about specializing early on
just try everything explore see what you
enjoy and go from there next project a
hackathon in my sophomore year I entered
a hackathon for the first time time it
was at my University Vanderbilt and it
was called Vandy hacks essentially we
had 36 hours to do this and surprisingly
our team won the hackathon let me know
if you're interested in hearing about
this hackathon I can make a separate
video on it it was me one front-end
developer and two backend devs we
essentially created a web app that
crowdsources music piics think of a
joint Spotify playlist where everyone
can check in their votes their favorite
songs this is one of the most fun and
energizing experiences I've had as a
designer I would highly highly recommend
you to enter a hackathon right away and
down below I'll include links to
hackathons that you can join right now
like they're open right now why do we
join hackathons well first it gives you
a sense of what it's like to work under
time pressure second you working cross
functionally the entire time
collaborating with devs Engineers to
create a product from scratch and third
it's really fun some of them if you go
in person they cater really good food
everyone's Delirious very sleep deprived
you're running on three I slot days
whatever and at the end of it you can
come back and present this project that
you essentially gave birth to 36 hours
ago anyway it's a really fun process and
everyone should try it at least once in
their life finally we got open- Source
projects there are projects on the
internet right now that you can start as
a ux designer or a product manager I
already mentioned earlier ux rescue and
opsource design but there are online
communities that gather ux designers
such as design buddy I also think this
is great for PMS em anyone who wants to
better work with designers but design
buddy is a Discord Channel you can ask
questions you can ask for paid
opportunities or just get feedback for
any of your designs having a community
like this is really important especially
if you're working remotely or you plan
to work solo for most of your projects
because at the end of the day it's
really the human connection that makes
us injy a profession like yes all the
designing all the figma stuff is really
fun but having someone you can talk to
like a real human connection I think
that is what makes working in Tech fun
in the first place I hope you found
value in this video let me know what
project are you planning to start in the
next few months who are you going to
work with and also what skills do you
plan to develop I'm Phoebe a ux designer
your pocket digital cooworker
and I will see you next time
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