How to Become a UI Designer? [2024 Guide]

In today’s world, everything is now available online, which means everyone sees a UI on their mobile, laptop, or desktop screens. UX and UI are two very confusing terms that are buzzing everywhere nowadays. But both are very different and serve different meanings. Everyone wants to become a UI Designer and UX Designer but is completely unaware of both of these roles and how to become a UI or UX designer. To become a UI Designer, you need to master the basic skills like Design patterns that are required in the field and practice that by creating some projects.

The average UI Designer pay in the US is $85,270, according to Glassdoor. Senior UI Designer salaries often reach $106,700.

More than 4,500 UI Designer jobs are currently available in the market, making UI design one of the most trending technology fields with the fastest growth. The demand is expected to grow by 15-20% over the next 10 years.

If you’re someone who’s interested in how to become a UI designer? here’s a complete guide on it. In this article, you’ll learn about everything a UI designer must know such as tools and technologies, skills one must have, etc. 

What is UI Design?

UI stands for User Interface, and UI design is the designing of User interfaces that describes the overall “Look and Feel” of any digital product, such as mobile applications, websites, Kiosks, etc. UI design majorly emphasizes the appearance of digital interfaces, it includes the following design elements.

• Iconography
• Images/Graphics
• Colour
• Typography

An aesthetic choice and a good mix of these elements help users what can be clicked, Touched, and Swiped”. User interfaces(UI) should be useful and usable in nature along with being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Just adding asthetics” to the interfaces which don’t really serve a purpose, is of no use.

Who is a UI Designer?

A “UI Designer” is responsible for designing user interfaces of a software application. A UI designer focuses on the usability and aesthetics of the user interface. He/she should have attention to detail, creative design skills, good communication skills, and technical knowledge about the interface such as color theory, typography, etc.

Now that you know what UI design is exactly, it is even more important to understand what is the road map to becoming a UI Designer in 2024. So let’s dive deep into it.

You can also read about UI vs UX Design: Which Career Option Should You Choose?

How to Become a UI Designer?

To achieve success as a UI designer, adopting a human-centered design philosophy is crucial. This approach is essential for creating visually appealing, user-friendly interfaces that resonate deeply with users. As you embark on your journey to become a UI designer in 2024, follow this beginner-friendly roadmap to hone your skills:

1. Learn the “Key Design Principles”

The first step is to immerse yourself in design and start observing and reading about design. Read articles related to the field, get to know what other people are doing, and notice what works and what doesn’t. There are some fundamental sets of rules related to the optimal use of shapes and colors, lines, images, and text. These sets of rules give an idea about affordance, signifiers, text hierarchy, and color theory that creates visual engagement between the content/interface and users. 

2. Take an Introductory Course

There are plenty of resources available online that can help you get started with the basics of UI design. To get sequential knowledge it is good to take up an introductory course, or even start with a good playlist on youtube. Taking a course would teach you the basics such as color theory, text hierarchy and typography, wireframing, prototyping, and also a small capstone project to test your learnings as well. Along with learning one would also be having career support, human interaction, collaborations, and real-life experience while working on projects with peers.

3. Start with Unlearning

Unlearning is very important to actually absorb design. Design is ART, but not science which means there are NO right answers, it all depends on the context and problem statement you are designing solutions for. Therefore, you must treat yourself as a newbie even if you know things so as to grasp each and every concept in detail which in return makes you a good UI designer. 

4. Know Different Platforms & Design Systems

By platform, it means IOS, Windows, and Android. There are open-source design systems available online such as Material Design by Google, Human Interface Guidelines by Apple, Fluent designs system by Microsoft, etc. All these design systems help us understand the platform layout and design elements. Design systems are very useful as they have different components, style guides, and design patterns which all combined create the design ecosystem.

5. Get Familiar with Gestalt Principles

For a visual designer, it is very important to know about “The Gestalt Theory of Visual Perceptions.” This theory includes gestalt principles such as Proximity, Similarity, Common area, Connectedness, and Closure. All these help create better “Visual Attention” for the users. 

6. Read Design Books

For an aspiring designer, reading should be a habit. There are some really good design books that are available both in hardcopy as well as ebooks/kindle. Books like don’t make me think by Steve Krug” and “The design of everyday things by Don Norman” are some very good ones to start with. These books have really good information which can help one have an eye for details. One would start observing the surroundings. For example, there is a mention of doors in the book by Don Norman which actually is a true example of badly designed doors. 

7. Communication

To defend and communicate your designs, a designer should be well-versed in good communication skills. One should have good verbal and nonverbal communication skills because designers work in collaboration with the design team and other cross-functional teams like product and engineering. A good designer should always be able to convey a clear concept to clients, stakeholders, and other teams.

8. Technical Skills

The skills like wireframing, prototyping, good knowledge of colors, fonts, and design tools like Sketch or Figma are a must for a UI designer to have. As a UI designer, you must possess all the technical skills to excel in your career and have in-depth knowledge of everything. Some of the other technical skills are:

• Information Architecture
• User research and personas
• Style guides
• Interaction design principles
• Branding and typography

9. Practice & Practice

Just by learning, reading, and watching tutorials, you won’t become a UI designer. One needs to actually implement the learnings and brush up on the skills. There are many UI challenges that are available online that one can enroll in and start designing. Apart from UI challenges, one can also take up any poorly designed app/website and try to redesign it. This habit of regular designing will gradually enhance creativity and thinking which would eventually help in becoming a better designer.

10. Participate in Design Hackathons

Many companies do post problem states and conduct design hackathons, where people from different companies, colleges, and aspiring designers participate. A few of these challenges also give internship as well as full-time job opportunities. For a fresher designer, such good opportunities are very important to grab. 

11. Follow Popular Youtube Channels

Youtube is a perfect example of ample and free online material. Channels like UX Mastery, The Futur, AJ&Smart, etc are very good to follow. They regularly post on UI/UX trends, and concepts. You tend to learn faster while listening more than reading, hence it’s good to listen to some good channels while practicing. 

12. Build a Network

As you move ahead with your learnings, start building an online presence, and connect with people who are in the field for quite a long time. Spent time knowing about their work experience, and their journey in design so far. This would not only help build a rapport within the community but also get a referral for a job. Additionally one can also ask for help and guidance from their connections and also can showcase to them some of the projects and get expert feedback on what can be improved, and what is good. LinkedIn 

13. Create a Portfolio

A design portfolio is a collection of one’s best work that demonstrates their distinct individuality,  thought process, abilities, iterations, approaches, and diversity. Every designer needs a design portfolio to showcase in order to find work and clients. A portfolio includes the display of your adaptability, case studies, and any detailed work related to the job or work profile. It is not necessary to have a domain named portfolio, it can be as simple as a notion page or Behance profile. The best and most free websites are Behance and Dribble where one can post and showcase their finest work. Indeed, the portfolio is a powerful tool for any aspiring UI Designer.

14. Incorporate Feedback

UI design is all about effective and usable pixel-perfect designs. Feedbacks are crucial as they make it easier for users to fulfill their objectives. Incorporating user or expert feedback and keeping the designs updated over time increases the chances of having fewer errors and more user satisfaction while using the products.

15. Try to Volunteer & Freelance

After covid people are now addicted to working from home and also got very aware of online opportunities. There are many non-profit companies, agencies, and NGOs that hire freelancers with both unpaid and paid opportunities. Doing freelancing helps one build a strong portfolio. Nowadays freelancing has become the most tempting job style where one is their own boss.

So we talked about steps to take to become a UI Designer, but at the same time keeping in mind the “Mistakes” one should avoid is also important. Beginners in the field tend to make some mistakes that should be kept in mind to avoid, as to create better designs and expedite learning.

• Mixing the Value of Usability and Aesthetics: It has been observed that beginners in the design field tend to run for “Only Aesthetics” without any proper concept and goals around usability. This should be avoided. Usability is always more important than Aesthetics. Usable interfaces can be simple yet aesthetic but not every aesthetic interface is usable!
• Ignoring Users and Feedback: While designing, users should be always kept at the front and center throughout the process.
• Hopping on all Design Trends: It is not necessary that one needs to incorporate all trending design styles in the interface. Go by the context of the problem statement.

Conclusion

So that’s all for this article. To all the people out there who are looking to make a big move by starting their career in design, keep in mind that usable UI design is the core value of a product. The above-mentioned are some of the basic steps you must follow to become a UI designer. Also, there are some other concepts like Human-Computer Interaction, wireframes, prototypes, and Agile Product Development Methodology which you can learn and become a UI Developer. Do follow these steps, learn from each mistake that you make, and also keep PRACTICING!

FAQs

How to become a UI designer without experience?

UI designer create the look and feel of an application and You need to follow the below steps to become a UI designer

1. Learn the “Key Design Principles”
2. Know Different Platforms & Design Systems
3. Read Design Books
4. Participate in Design Hackathons
5. Create a Portfolio
6. Try to Volunteer & Freelance

What are the UI designer skills and tools?

Some of the skills UI designer must have:

• Identifying and solving user problems
• Creating an intuitive and interactive interface
• Understand UI principles
• Industry knowledge

Tools UI designers need:

• Adobe Xd
• Sketch
• Figma
• Illustrator

How long does it take to become a UI/UX designer?

It depends on how consistent you’re with your learning and on the path of becoming a UI designer. It may take from 2 months to 6 months. You can also go for some of the courses offered by platforms. Self-learning is the best option if you want to learn any domain.