If you want to go from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design, you need a little training to understand what a UX designer does, and then you can apply some of those approaches in your present profession.
What is meant by User Experience in Graphic Design?
UX (User Experience) refers to how a person interacts with, engages, and experiences a design. Usability, design, human aspects, accessibility, and usefulness are the primary considerations for every UX designer. One important point to remember while designing any medium is to create for the audience. As defined, UX in Graphic Design is vital because it aims to meet the user’s demands. It seeks to deliver excellent experiences that encourage people to remain loyal to the product or brand.
A meaningful user experience also allows you to define customer journeys on your website that are most conducive to corporate success.
The Process to switch from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design
Most people switch from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design and only go into UX design and work on visual/user interface (UI) design. Visually attractive layouts for digital applications such as websites, mobile apps, desktop apps, and so on are created by UI designers. Although UI design is pixel-oriented, it focuses more on UX since it is designed with the user experience in mind. The following is the transition procedure from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design.
- Take an inventory of your present abilities
In the UX design process, aesthetics are just as crucial as usefulness. You can immediately attract a user’s attention and build an emotional connection that creates a lasting impression if you can design a decent app with great images. Your graphic design background might give you an advantage in the UX industry. Identify your present talents, such as creativity, expressive design, creative thinking, and problem-solving, to identify your strengths and knowledge gaps.
Compile a list of programs with which you are familiar. A thorough grasp of products such as Illustrator and Photoshop will offer you a significant advantage over people who are unfamiliar with them.
- Learn necessary UX/UI Skills
UX/UI designers have the problematic yet exciting responsibility of ensuring that an application’s interface is appealing, aesthetically stimulating, and under business objectives. Learn about UI design patterns, train your eye, network, mimic great designers, take on fictitious projects, publish your work, and find a mentor. It would help if you always aim for self-improvement as a UI designer. With new software being released regularly, you can continually expand your skill set to develop the best possible user interface.
- Create a UX design portfolio
To adequately illustrate your expertise, your UX design portfolio should include 3-4 relevant UX case studies. If you’re new to user experience, employers may consider UX design portfolios with 1-2 UX case studies. Your UX case studies must be pertinent to the job role you are applying for. Avoid making the following UX portfolio errors: concentrating too much on your design results and not enough on your design process.
This method works for other sectors but needs more depth about your process for UX design. It is beneficial to highlight significant accomplishments and outcomes in their resumes.
- Design with the user in mind rather than the pixel in mind
The ultimate objective of a graphic designer is pixel perfection, which may be achieved using talents such as typography. When shifting from Graphic Design to UX/UI design, you should break that behavior and adopt user-centered design norms. The significant distinction between these techniques is that your final design should solve a problem for the user rather than look nice.
- Discover how to do precise user research
User research assists us in task planning and execution. User research also aids in understanding how resources accomplish tasks and achieve objectives. The goal of user research is to learn about the competitors and the target market environment to make better messages, positioning, and price decisions. The UX Research Field Guide is a detailed user research how-to guide.
- Network to stay current on trends
Joining a group allows you to connect with possible employers and mentors. Maintain your learning as you advance in your UX design profession. Being part of a community may help you stay current on trends and maintain your abilities.
- Start Apply for Jobs
You are now prepared to go from Graphic Design to UX/UI Design.
Why to switch career from Graphic Design to UI/UX Design?
The most significant advantage for graphic designers transitioning to UX design is their ability to make things visually appealing. A widespread misperception regarding UX design is that excellent usefulness takes precedence over aesthetics. It allows customers to comment on their designs and improve them without starting from scratch. UX designers also create mockups and prototypes, but they are less concerned with the “appearance” of the product and more concerned with its “feel.”
