To plan a successful career as a UX Designer for yourself, you should look at the core strengths required. Here they are. If you are already doing well on four or five of them, you are in pretty good shape and can focus on adding the other strengths.

Mapping Out the Project Clearly

The first is the ability to outline the project. You could use a pen and paper to draw up an effective outline, or you might use a tool such as Adobe Illustrator. Wireframing, that is the mapping of the features, functionality, content and the user flow is one of the most crucial steps.

Get Speed in Making the Test Designs

After sharing your wireframe with your project team, you are going to sketch out a few alternate models of how the site or app would actually work. This process of developing test designs to discuss with the team is rapid prototyping.

Understand the User Research Process

At this stage, it’s valuable to look for validation from the end-user before you finalize the look, feel and interaction of your design. It is on the basis of user feedback that you are going to modify or augment your design. You may use user research tools. A simple way to assess first impressions about a webpage is to show it to an audience for just 5 seconds.

Become Number-Literate to Follow Data Analytics

Apart from your own surveys, you may also utilize analytics data. These days, you have to be able to learn from presentations of insights from large amounts of data. Therefore, being number-savvy will help you understand what is noteworthy in all that information. To start taking baby steps in that direction, refer this article.

Understand that Visuals are Cultural ( of the Audience’s Culture)

UX design is about visual culture. A designer has to have a good idea of what holds visual appeal for the target audience and how to use an array of design tools to achieve a particular look.

Stay Contemporary and Keep Track of Design Trends

The world of new products around us – mobile devices, furniture, gadgets and the transforming lifestyle we are surrounded by, is always triggering new design trends. UX Designers must be observant and selectively incorporate contemporary elements into their work so that it’s also trendy.

Develop Your Intuition – Get Under the Skin of Other People

Intuition is another important quality – a designer should develop an intuition for how people feel about things and situations. This ability to put yourself in their shoes, to wear their thinking caps, or feel their emotions is something a designer should become good at.

Be a Teamwork-Oriented Person

While the UX Designer is actively developing and evolving himself or herself, we mustn’t forget that interaction with team members and clients effectively is important too. You have to be able to obtain inputs and feedback from them and contribute to teamwork on the project.

Air Your Ideas to Develop your Confidence and a Leadership Image

It’s not only within your own team or company that you can share your ideas. It benefits your career if you upload PPTs on online forums, or speak in short videos on the subject of UX, or volunteer to offer introductory training in colleges. Such activities look great on your resume or your Linked-In profile.

Fit in a few hours each week for self-development despite your regular work schedules, and you’ll see results in a matter of months!