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How To Transition From Graphic Designer To UX Designer

by Henny Kel Tweet - in Webinar

UX Designer

Last updated on December 10th, 2022

Are you bored with speculative work? Are you tired of making endless revisions for the client? If the answer to these questions is yes, then it’s time for a career change. Being in the design industry, you must have thought of upgrading your career from graphic designing to UX designing. Well, a lot of individuals who are planning for career transition are opting for UX designing. As per the latest reports, UX designer is making more money than a graphic designer. And at the end of the day, monetary benefit does matter a lot.

If you look back in time, you will realize that the term ‘designer’ usually meant to be one thing i.e graphic design. Due to an increase in the demand for digital products, the design market has drastically shifted towards interactivity. Today, companies not only expect designers to create products that look good but also want those products to exhibit exceptional design and superior usability. They are investing their money into it because they want customers to have a positive digital experience. This has brought about an increase in the demand of UX designers.

No matter which field you are in, changing the course of your career is never easy. And if you are an expert in your field, then the decision of changing your career might scare you a little. That is why we have come up with this blog to impart sufficient knowledge that helps you transition your career from graphic design to UX design. Let’s get started!

Check Out The AMA Video

How To Transition From Graphic Designer To UX Designer

Step 1: Learn

If someone wishes to change their career field, they must first learn new skill sets. Learn UX design with an open mind to understand the expectations in the new role.

a. Human-Centred Design:

There is a wide gap between the skills of a graphic designer and UX designer. Therefore, it is important to learn new skills like customer journey mapping, conducting user interviews, creating personas, information architecture, etc. To learn these skills, you can go for online courses. Some of the most popular online course learning platforms are Coursera and Udemy.

b. Attend A UX Design Immersive Program:

Online classes can only educate you about what UX graphic design is and what skills you require to become a professional UX designer. But if you want to learn the practical application of all the required skills, then you should attend UX design immersive program. For instance, you may choose to go for the General Assembly’s UX design immersive program. The program runs across major cities all over the world. With multiple individual and collaborative projects, the program prepares individuals to take a new job role. They also provide placements, tie-ups with the industries, and discounts on design software.

c. Attend Workshops And Events:

Workshops and events are a great way to develop professional relationships, meet new people, gain knowledge and inspiration, and become successful in a career. Most of the events and workshops are usually free. So, participate in workshops and events and create an opportunity for yourself. You never know when you might get a new job through a referral from interactions with event participants, speakers, or organizers.

d. Learn Prototyping:

Prototyping is one of the most crucial steps in the design process. A prototype is a mock-up depiction of a final product. The main objective is to test the product before spending time and money on the final product. To determine the candidate’s capabilities, recruiters and potential employers usually check the samples in a portfolio. If you want to learn UI design along with UX design, it is advisable to learn high-fidelity prototype, which is a computer-based interactive product demonstration in terms of functionality and information in its nearby similarity to the final design.

e. Read UX Articles:

The best place to read articles related to designing is Designhill. Although the platform offers freelance graphic design services, they also maintain a blog where you get all design related articles. Apart from Designhill, you may choose to read articles in newspapers and magazines.

f. Get Up-To-Date With UI Trends:

Design trend evaporates as quickly as they emerged. If you want to uphold your position in the industry, it is important to keep yourself updated with the new design trends. You can subscribe to your favorite websites, join online UI communities, etc.

g. Practice Designing User Interfaces:

Since you have a graphic design background, you must have knowledge that creating a product packaging design is different from creating a book cover design. The same thing applies to UX design. Each design category demands an understanding of how to approach the project and awareness of design trends and good practices. It also includes knowledge of software like UXpin, Figma, Sketch, and Figma. These are the basic software that is used by most of the companies.

Step 2: Preparation

Now that you have completed your learning stage, it’s time to move forward with the preparation stage so that you can continue your journey as a UX designer.

i. Build UX Portfolio:

It is easy to think that since you have worked as a graphic designer, it is difficult to get a job in UX design. Therefore, it is important to start preparing from scratch and create a stunning UX portfolio. You can do that by start working as a freelancer. Designhill is the World’s No.1 freelance graphic design platform that provides an opportunity to both designers and clients to get connected from any part of the world. Clients choose the designers either based on their reviews or launching a design contest. Participating in design contests gives an opportunity to the designers in getting good reviews, 150k+ social followers, and a chance to feature on the blog.

ii. Promote Your Work:

By simply creating a portfolio will not help you in getting a job. You have to promote your work through various social media sites. There are websites like Behance, Dribbble, etc. where you can showcase your work. But these websites have certain drawbacks like delay in converting a lead into a client, no payment option, delay in communication, etc.

Designhill is the platform that not helps designers in getting a good amount of work but also provides a separate portfolio page. Apart from showing the skills and talents, designers can also dell their own personal designs through that page. Here are the advantages of choosing Designhill over other online portfolio websites:

a. Instant client conversion.

b. Payment security guaranteed.

c. Social media exposure by the brand.

d. Real-time space for hassle free communication.

Step 3: Apply For A Job

Once you are done with your learning and preparation process, it’s time to start applying for a job. But before applying for a job, give yourself a good timeline for steps 1 and 2.

i. Send Out Your Application:

Start sending out your application to all the companies you think will prove beneficial for your career growth. We would advise you to start sending an application to big companies first, as they take a long time to evaluate the suitable candidate. While applying for a job, read the job description carefully, and consider the type of projects you have done. You will find companies that ask for an experienced candidate for the role, but there is no harm to give a shot. Let the employer decide if you are suitable for the job or not.

ii. Practice For Interviews:

If you want to crack the interview in the first go, you have to practice for it. Keep yourself ready for the basic questions like introduction, experience, etc. Share your top projects with the interviewer and prepare yourself to explain and answer all the questions related to the particular project.

iii. Set A Realistic Salary Target:

After a candidate gets selected for the role, there comes a stage where the HR discusses the salary with the candidate. Keep yourself updated with what your industry is giving in your country. On the basis of that, set a realistic salary target. Don’t undervalue or overvalue your work.

As promised above, we have managed to share some of the most crucial tips that will help you go a long way towards transitioning from a professional graphic designer to a UX designer. But we’re sure you’ll need as much help as you can collect in this matter.

But this issue demands the attention of experts as well. So, to get an expert’s opinion on how to transition from graphic designer to UX designer, Designhill invited Miriam Issac — senior product designer at VinciWorks for the AMA [ Ask Me Anything] session to answer questions from the design community on the issue. The AMA session was organized on August 13. Mariam answered the questions from many designers who were eager to know the vital tips to become a UX designer from currently being a graphic designer.

Wrapping Up…

Transitioning from a graphic designer to a UX designer is not as difficult as it seems. All you require is to follow the above steps, and you are all set to start your career journey as a UX designer. The final piece of advice from us is never give up on your career transition journey. If you have dreamt of becoming a UX designer, fulfill it. Good Luck!

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I am a graphic, web designer and blogger with over 6 years experience. I am very passionate about anything related to design and spends copious amounts of time hidden behind a book or a screen and reading about design. Twitter

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