

Ask HN: Getting started in learning software UX design? - tdoggette

I'm young and working in IT, but what really interests me is UX and UI design. I've done some reading, both online and on paper, but I'm looking for more guidance.<p>What concrete skills would I need to get a job in the field? What formal education would help, both for learning and gaining employment? What blogs and books would you recommend?
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petervandijck
I have hired UX people in the past. Skills I'd look for in a
programmer/usability person:

\- You know jQuery and can mockup things easily. Mocking things up with an eye
towards usability is a great skill.

\- You can make wireframes fairly fast, in OmniGraffle or Dreamweaver. You
have something to show.

\- You have designed and run usability tests yourself. At least a few times.
(You can easily learn this and just practice it yourself.) This is a biggie.

\- You've created an open source UI element in jQUery. (For example, a
dropdown that lets you also add items to it, or a multi-part button, or
something like that). You've written up the tech process and the user
experience aspects of it.

\- You're familiar with UX design patterns (Yahoo's are a good start, search
for them), and you've written a critique of them.

If you have a few of the above, you're doing great. And things to show. For
example, when I was a programmer and starting out in UX, I wrote a script to
test 2 versions of a footer for a webpage, wrote up some theory around how
they might differ and why in actual usage, and then measured the actual usage.
(That was in 2001).

Show an interest, and show that you've done stuff.

~~~
tdoggette
This is what I wanted from this post. Thanks.

~~~
petervandijck
If you've not only created a UI element in JQuery, but then also open sourced
it, and ALSO ran usability tests on it with some friends, and written up your
conclusions, I'd hire you immediately.

Unfortunately almost nobody has the combination of these skills (dev +
usability + the willingness to get stuff like this done).

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BilalShaikh
I was in your shoes not too long ago. Blogs and books are great, but in the
end you should learn by doing.

You were probably looking for a more concrete source of some sort, but in my
experience no books/blogs will teach you how to come up with original UX/UI
design.

Its not the easiest task in the world by any means, but come up with a project
(a website of some sort), and learn how to build it from the ground up.

Once you're done you'll have the skills you need to get a job in the field,
and you'll be able to show employers your work to prove your qualified.

------
code
Check out "Don't Make Me Think":
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321344758/ref=as_li_qf_sp_...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321344758/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=stevtruo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0321344758)

------
pkamb
Read this book: "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman
[http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-
Norman/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-
Norman/dp/0385267746)

