Is anyone on here a U X designer, or know about it?

[ExConstance]

I'm posting this to help my son. He is a graduate from a good uni in a cretive subject and sadly now redundant as the sector he was working in has expereinced a sharp downturn. The prospects of getting a similar job to the one he had are slight and he is also worried by the ethics and his longer term future now he is mid 20's.
He is interested in re-training as a U X designer as the prospects of reasonably paid work seem good and with a solid academic background (good at maths, sciences etc. ) and experience in CAD he feels he may have the aptitude.
What would be helpful is for someone who already does this to share experience about how best to train and what the employment prospects really are.
Thank you in anticipation.

[Shwighty1]

There are several ux designer jobs to get into, you need to be able to really listen to the product owner of the analyst who’s captured requirements, you need to be very Teflon coated to adapt your designs to their expectations too. You need to work often quickly to raid deadlines as designs will be getting signed off at pace. There are a lot of internships about for it and apprenticeships too. Hope that helps

[dontsaynothing]

Anyone else out there who can share their experience?

[Mumteedum]

The difference between UX and UI is often misunderstood. Make sure he understands the difference. careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design-a-laymans-guide/

UI and UX are both good areas.

[Tuscancat]

It is a great career and there is a lot of opportunity. You need to be creative, understand human psychology, have a good understanding of design - and I mean design not just looks pretty. He will probably need to learn html too. A lot of the job is research based, running everything from ethnographic studies to user tests online or in a lab, then translating that into anything from wireframes or prototypes to recommending how to redesign business processes. You need to have good people skills as it can involve delivering some painful truths about the business!
I actually like how GDS break up the different roles in digital teams and I think more (large organisations) will follow a similar model. designnotes.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/22/the-different-types-of-design-in-government/
If he can get on a grad scheme in gds or nhs x or similar he will be well set up skills wise.

[dontsaynothing]

@Tuscancat

It is a great career and there is a lot of opportunity. You need to be creative, understand human psychology, have a good understanding of design - and I mean design not just looks pretty. He will probably need to learn html too. A lot of the job is research based, running everything from ethnographic studies to user tests online or in a lab, then translating that into anything from wireframes or prototypes to recommending how to redesign business processes. You need to have good people skills as it can involve delivering some painful truths about the business!
I actually like how GDS break up the different roles in digital teams and I think more (large organisations) will follow a similar model. designnotes.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/22/the-different-types-of-design-in-government/
If he can get on a grad scheme in gds or nhs x or similar he will be well set up skills wise.

Very helpful, thank you.

Do you have to be good at maths? Is there any way to train and find a job in that field without having a degree?

[Tuscancat]

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a degree, but they are in a range of topics. Quite a few have postgrads, you need to know how to conduct good research.
What are his actual qualifications and interests? You said he has a degree in your op? To be honest there is heaps of info out there if he looks for it.
uxdesigncc.medium.com/

[JoiningTheBurnoutClub]

I don't know about training but I follow Dr Nick Fine who has some video's on Youtube and linkedin (I think). A local meetup group I am a member of had his as a guest speaker (online) and he was really good and very knowledgable about the subject.

[YellowSunshineSky]

UX is a great area to work in.

My impression is that it can be hard to get the first job as a junior, but once you have that first job, there's a lot of demand, and as you get more experienced you have a lot of choice of jobs, permanent or contract.

The contract ones can be very lucrative (though the contract market has changed a lot). With the perm ones there's a great future as you can move up the ladder from junior to senior to lead to manager, and then go on to manage big digital teams and projects if you want to.

But I think you have to be quite persistent to get that first job as a junior when you are freshly trained. You probably have to be open-minded to doing some work for little money to get stuff on your CV, or get lucky, or just be very persistent, determined and thick-skinned at the early job-seeking stage.

Some bits of this article are interesting - xd.adobe.com/ideas/career-tips/how-to-get-into-ux-design/#:~:text=But%20even%20with%20the%20high,your%20first%20junior%20UX%20position.

You get people from all sorts of backgrounds that come to UX. Backgrounds include uni / non-uni / customer services (phone operators) / developers / arty people / mathsy people / sciencey people

There can be some snobbery within some companies re certain degrees (ergonomics) or having a masters degree in research, but not every company has those requirements.

The need for UXers will only grow, I've already seen it grow in the last 12 years.

[YellowSunshineSky]

ps I actually think that people who have done stints in call centres make fantastic UXers as they have a great understanding of what types of problems and pain points customers have.

True UX design (not UI design) is all about solving problems for users of your website, app or service.

[Amboseli]

DH is a UX consultant in a bank. He doesn't have a connected degree as the job didn't exist when he was at uni 30 years ago.

For his job you need to be very analytical and be able to understand very complex databases.

I'd say high level mathematical ability is crucial.

[Amboseli]

There is a huge skills shortage in this area so it would be a very good sector for your son to be in.

[AndwhenyougetthereFoffsomemore]

I am a user researcher - with a qual research background. It’s a fab career :-) there are lots of elements within ux: interaction design, content design, user research, information architecture; ux strategist….
Have a read of a few articles from GDS in gov around UCD (user centred design). There are some great grad schemes which are open to any degree within government which will give him a solid grounding and lots of training but they are very competitive.

[MarshmallowSwede]

He can get a job at a tech firm and there is a huge demand in tech sector for UX designers. I would suggest he apply at larger tech firms. He can also find a student position and be a student worker while he trains.

[StarryStarrySocks]

I'm a UX designer working in the public sector. I'm not good at maths and I don't do any coding! I mostly do content writing and prototyping and a lot of research with users.