How to become a good UI designer

The dot-com bubble caused many designers to leave the field in droves. But the Web's newfound resurgence has brought new practitioners into the fold. To promote the accumulation of knowledge in the field, interaction designers have formed a new group: the Interaction Design Association (with Reimann as its inaugural president). In addition, after the "traditional" businesses of software and the Internet, interaction design is moving into a number of new areas, including cell phones, medical devices, finance, entertainment and retail services. Traditional areas are also changing: the Internet has become a platform for application design, and even software that does not need to be programmed and run online is becoming a hybrid of "online work" and "offline work". Even operating systems are moving away from the desktop metaphor on which they were constructed 25 years ago. It's all so natural and accessible - making interaction designers a desirable profession today. A Day in the Life of an Interaction Designer Depending on the time of day and the project, the day-to-day work of an interaction designer includes: client interviews, on-site research, brainstorming, writing documentation, prototyping, and product testing. The specific tasks depend on the project process. Except for the days when you're buried in writing documentation (e.g., framework building), every day will be different. Yes, there are still a lot of EEMPs: writing emails, receiving emails, meetings and presentations. But there's no shortage of exciting moments in between. Interaction designers are hired to work with ideas - to bring abstract ideas to life. Few jobs are as exciting as this. You can brainstorm, imagine things you've never seen before, and then build them. You can also shape behavior to make the world a more interesting and beautiful place. You'll use colored pencils to draw your ideas on whiteboards and "Post-Its" to help people solve problems. And if you're good enough, you'll have the chance to make a difference in the world by working with companies that have advanced technology and big impact. To realize these dreams, you must have three things: temperament, training and experience. Temperament Reimann's discussion of the value of temperament remains accurate. A sense of empathy for the user and the ability to learn new things are two essential traits for any designer. They are the cornerstones of the profession. This doesn't mean you need to be a "sociable person" (which is better, of course). But it does mean that you should be interested in human beings, including their behavior and limitations. You need to be at least theoretically interested in people and their social environments. A good interaction designer needs to learn to put themselves in the shoes of the user, rather than imagining themselves as the user, or seeing the user as someone similar to themselves. You are likely to be very different. Having an "intuitive" personality ("N": intuitive) on the Myers-Briggspersonalityscale is also critical. Being able to think outside the box with your intuition is crucial for designers. Because you can't always see the big picture, touch every user, and know everything about a project. You have to guess and assume - that's when you need intuition. Training If you think you have the right temperament for such a job, the next step is to learn some basics. Choose good introductory books such as Revolution in Software Concepts - The Essence of Interaction Design (AboutFace 2.0), DesigningInterfaces and Universal Principles of Design. You also need to understand the mediums in which you work, such as the Internet, mobile communications, and software systems. You don't have to be a programmer, but need to understand the technical feasibility of each medium. Industrial design guidelines and good communication skills are also helpful. It's equally beneficial to spend time with experienced designers***, either at work or through informal gatherings, meetings, or online exchanges such as the Interaction Design Association's (IxDA's) email discussions (many of the issues I've mentioned here have been discussed there). The knowledge, ideas, and methods at your fingertips are all part of the design culture. Talk less, listen more. One way to train quickly is to go to school (albeit in a very intensive and expensive way). There are three schools that I would recommend: Carnegie Mellon University, the Institute of Design at Illinois State University, and the Royal College of Art. Unfortunately, all of the above schools offer programs geared toward graduate students. I'm not aware of any undergraduate level interaction design programs yet. I'm sure it will appear in the next few years, though. Without an undergraduate program in interaction design, how should I prepare for it at the college level? My advice is as follows: get into a good design school and study industrial design or media design (both of which you'll learn useful skills), or focus on any field outside of design. Humanities, anthropology, literature, psychology, sociology, theater, politics, cultural studies - all help you become a richer designer. Experienced training and knowledge base, these are not enough. Even as an author of books on interaction design, I still believe that books can only provide you with a background in the field, and that only design itself can make you grow as an interaction designer. Where does design experience come from? There are two main ways: a good school can expose you to real-world topics (about business, technology, and user constraints); or you can design professionally or for free (the latter is not a no-brainer, so be careful). Email discussions, local groups and the job market are preferred for starting a job search. Most jobs come through verbal referrals, so networking with other designers can help. Self-presentationAlthough companies like Cooper and Google may ask you to complete a series of tests as part of your job search, all companies require a portfolio. To be precise you should prepare two types of work: one online and one written. The online portfolio should provide an overview of your work and can include some sample documents. The written portfolio (which you bring with you to the interview) is a more in-depth presentation of your work so that you can address the project problem and the process of solving it. Don't just present the results, the process is important too. What if you don't have a portfolio? Look for it. The world is full of problems to be solved, design a solution.