When it comes to websites and mobile apps, we all know an ugly product when we see one. Whether it’s the buttons that are just a hair too small or the unsettling color palette, clunky interfaces leave users with an overwhelming urge to disengage and look away.
Excellent designs, on the other hand, are virtually invisible. Most people rarely stop to marvel at just how seamlessly functional and intuitive user well-done interfaces are. Well-designed sites guide us to the tools and solutions we need right away, often before realizing that we need anything at all.
If you happen to one of the few users who do notice the sweet spot between design, functionality, and decision-making, you may be wondering how to get into UI design. If so, you’re in the right place — so keep reading. In this article, we’ll walk you through all the resources you need to become a UI designer.
But first, we should provide some background on this expanding field and how you might build a career within it. So, let’s answer the most obvious question first: What is UI design, exactly?
User interface (UI) design is primarily focused on creating compelling visual elements and structuring information in a way that is both attractive to users and intuitive to their needs.
For modern companies, quality UI design is nothing short of a necessity. As Yiting Hao, UX designer with the AI company ViSenze once commented for The Next Web: “Without UX/UI design, the product will struggle to solve both user and business problems to come up with good user experience solutions. Imagine interior designers building a home’s interior design without understanding their client’s functional or aesthetic needs — the outcome will not be satisfactory.”
By ensuring that a product is intuitive and straightforward to access, designers forge pathways that consumers can then use to find other services and products that they may not even know that they need. But just what are the benefits of proper UI design?
Successful UI design empowers companies to achieve a competitive advantage, improve customer conversion rates, and boost client engagement and retention. Moreover, UI design can slash product development costs by ensuring that costly mistakes are avoided through early prototyping and research.
These key benefits have backing in research. In 2018, researchers for McKinsey found a “strong correlation between high [design] scores and superior business performance,” noting that businesses ranked in the top quartile of design scores outperformed benchmark growth by as much as two-to-one.
Over five years, companies that performed within this top quartile experienced 32 percent higher revenue growth and saw a 56 percent higher total return to shareholders than their average-design competitors. These findings were consistent across the three industries surveyed: medical tech, consumer goods, and retail banking.
These conclusions make a simple but powerful point: No matter the business, sound design principles are crucial to a final product’s success.
Given this data, it isn’t shocking that the UX/UI industry is growing fast, or that more design students are wondering how to get into UI design. Analysts for NNGroup anticipate that the number of UX/UI professionals will increase from 1 million in 2017 to roughly 100 million by 2050.
Tips to Start a Career in UI Design
When it comes to websites and mobile apps, we all know an ugly product when we see one. Whether it’s the buttons that are just a hair too small or the unsettling color palette, clunky interfaces leave users with an overwhelming urge to disengage and look away.
Excellent designs, on the other hand, are virtually invisible. Most people rarely stop to marvel at just how seamlessly functional and intuitive user well-done interfaces are. Well-designed sites guide us to the tools and solutions we need right away, often before realizing that we need anything at all.
If you happen to one of the few users who do notice the sweet spot between design, functionality, and decision-making, you may be wondering how to get into UI design. If so, you’re in the right place — so keep reading. In this article, we’ll walk you through all the resources you need to become a UI designer.
But first, we should provide some background on this expanding field and how you might build a career within it. So, let’s answer the most obvious question first: What is UI design, exactly?
User interface (UI) design is primarily focused on creating compelling visual elements and structuring information in a way that is both attractive to users and intuitive to their needs.
For modern companies, quality UI design is nothing short of a necessity. As Yiting Hao, UX designer with the AI company ViSenze once commented for The Next Web: “Without UX/UI design, the product will struggle to solve both user and business problems to come up with good user experience solutions. Imagine interior designers building a home’s interior design without understanding their client’s functional or aesthetic needs — the outcome will not be satisfactory.”
By ensuring that a product is intuitive and straightforward to access, designers forge pathways that consumers can then use to find other services and products that they may not even know that they need. But just what are the benefits of proper UI design?
Successful UI design empowers companies to achieve a competitive advantage, improve customer conversion rates, and boost client engagement and retention. Moreover, UI design can slash product development costs by ensuring that costly mistakes are avoided through early prototyping and research.
These key benefits have backing in research. In 2018, researchers for McKinsey found a “strong correlation between high [design] scores and superior business performance,” noting that businesses ranked in the top quartile of design scores outperformed benchmark growth by as much as two-to-one.
Over five years, companies that performed within this top quartile experienced 32 percent higher revenue growth and saw a 56 percent higher total return to shareholders than their average-design competitors. These findings were consistent across the three industries surveyed: medical tech, consumer goods, and retail banking.
These conclusions make a simple but powerful point: No matter the business, sound design principles are crucial to a final product’s success.
Given this data, it isn’t shocking that the UX/UI industry is growing fast, or that more design students are wondering how to get into UI design. Analysts for NNGroup anticipate that the number of UX/UI professionals will increase from 1 million in 2017 to roughly 100 million by 2050.
The projected number of UI and UX professionals globally
“Is it realistic to expect that an entire percent of the population will be occupied by something as esoteric as user experience?” Jakob Nielson, a specialist at the UX Research firm NNGroup, writes of the benchmark. “Yes, because UX won’t be esoteric in the future. It will be a key driver of the world economy.”
As demand for talented UI professionals surges, the career prospects are well-distributed across various industries. One report from NNGroup found (PDF, 4.5 MB) that 28 percent of UI professionals work in tech, 12 percent in finance, 10 percent in consulting, 6 percent in education, 5 percent in government, and 4 percent in health care.
But if you’re wondering how to become a UI designer, you have to understand that there isn’t a clear, straightforward path to follow. While 82 percent of UX professionals hold a degree, researchers for the above NNGroup report noted that (PDF, 4.5 MB) “many [professionals] did not have traditional, UX-related degrees — which suggests that the field still values experience and soft skills over formal education. Still, a relevant degree can’t hurt and can get you a foot in the door if you’re new to the field.”
No matter your path, those aspiring to a UI design career need to pick up on the core skills and complement whatever educational background they already have. Below, we’ll review the best ways to pick up the skills and connections you’ll need to become a UI designer.
If you’re wondering how to get into UI design, a little light research is a great place to start. We encourage all aspiring designers and industry-hardened professionals to dig into books, blogs, and videos related to UI design. We’ve curated some of the best online and in-print resources for your consideration.
directed one?
Is there anything I could be doing to better prepare myself for a UI career now?
What actions can I take to learn more about my options today?
Try answering the above questions. The answers you find might be exactly what you need to start down your UI design career path.
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