🎯 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐗 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 & 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. The landscape has changed dramatically.💭 Whilst UX roles once emphasised deep user understanding and journey mapping...👉 Today's market increasingly demands hybrid UX/UI and Product Design roles with a heavy focus on visual design skills. 𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐔𝐗 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝-𝐨𝐧. 💡 The truth? I need to evolve. And I suspect I'm not alone. 🚀 Taking Action: I'm embarking on the 100 Days of UI Challenge to strengthen my visual design muscles. But this is just the beginning.🤔 To my fellow UX practitioners feeling this shift: How are you adapting? I'm particularly interested in: 🎯 Communities focused on UX-to-UI transition 🛠️ Real-world projects for skill building 🤝 Mentorship opportunities 📚 Resources beyond the usual Coursera/Udemy courses 🚀 Something different from a bootcamp teaching about UX Design and Research, because really I do have these skills nailed down. It's showcasing UI I want and need to focus on. 💭 Questions for the community: How are you bridging the UI gap whilst maintaining your UX expertise? What resources have truly made a difference in your journey? Are you seeing this shift in your local market too? 👥 To hiring managers: Are we potentially losing valuable UX insights in this rush towards visual-first design? How do you balance these competing needs in your teams? Let's start a conversation about staying relevant whilst preserving the core UX principles that drive meaningful user experiences. 🤝 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭? 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. #UX #UXDesign #UIDesign #ProductDesign #CareerTransition #DesignCommunity #UXResearch #DesignEvolution #TechCareers #DesignSkills #PersonalDevelopment #UXUIDesign #DesignThinking #CareerGrowth #DesignEducation #UserExperience
You should be learning voice. It's where the jobs are heading.
A few thoughts and probably risking stating the obvious. I imagine the smaller the company (or their budget for design) the more hats they want a designer to wear. The larger the company (or budget for design) the more likely they are willing to build a team with multiple specialists that complement one another. It’s hard to generalize about jobs because even within a large company there are under-funded teams looking for someone who can do it all. I do agree it never hurts to pick up new skills. I’ve skimmed the jobs out there like we all do, and many throw the kitchen sink into their desired skills bullet points but I suspect they either want to cast a wide net or they are unsure what they need but they think they’ll know it when they see it in a portfolio/interview.
I did very much feel that shift as I was looking for my next role a few months back, with the additional complexity that I've never been a UI designer. I got to UXR via project management so I found it very hard and daunting to think that I would need to upskill to UI or move industry altogether. My passion is and has always been user research, information architecture and interaction design so I was incredibly lucky to find a place where UXR is valued and as I spoke with more and more professionals in the field I realised strategy is probably a better route for my upskilling than UI design. Lots to think about though!
I think there are some nuances here. If you work at Amazon, the bar isn't really that high. If you work for Linear, the bar is sky high (but it's very specific) If you work on B2C, much of that market is about lifestyle and you have to have to be pretty flexible and dynamic in skill. In B2B, the bars are lower. Some apps will have this founder-competitive aesthetic (purple, shadows, glowy gradients), but most are likely leveraging a design system or just a mess. 🙋🏻 Why are you so sure? I've worked across a lot of different B2B, B2C clients directly, in-house and as a consultant.
Visual Design...really? You think that is the design area that human designers will provide the most value in the future? It's one of the easiest for Gen AI to take on. Only a tiny top tier will be needed as AI takes over base visual design work - anything that requires a look similar to something that exists. The real place XD professionals need to increase their skills is understanding how AI tools integrate into experiences and what has to be done to the model, fine-tuning, and responses to create experiences that provide value to users. Designers need to understand how AI works and how to design the system...not just add sparkles.
I came the other way. I was a full time visual designer who came into ux with that skillset already. I think YouTube is a great Resource for upskilling - doing it myself with relearning front end development. I’ve found for me I’m being hired oftentimes for both skill sets and expected to use them both equally. I am not always just jumping into design without utilizing UX process. I think that can often times be a misunderstanding. I use my ux skills as a product designer just as much if not more fully. They just want someone who can take their project to the visual finish line so to speak.
Totally feel it. I've not made the leap back to design yet, (This is where I started as an old-world product designer, working on physical products). Instead, I've tried to extend my research toolkit, studying and using behavioural design and bringing AI into my toolset, (though for analysis efficiency and not for simulating humans).
Honestly, as a Junior, I haven't even experienced my first oportunity, let alone a shift but I do understand where you're coming from Dominic Francis. I agree with most things you said, especially courses and bootcamps in this field. I feel that I've finished dozens of courses just to end up with no experience anyways because the real experience comes from companies giving juniors a chance. And honestly, we all know the market is tough but I see it as an excuse. There are places for everyone, no matter their level of experience. Memory is short and I guess many employers forgot the time when themselves were juniors. My personal opinion, this is it.
Yes I think many experienced UX:ers are in the same boat. It's always worth improving UI skills as it's very satisfying regardless! However - I think we are going through a lot of flux, and there's a huge disconnect between candidates, hiring and what employees expect from designers. If you also consider what AI is bringing in, I wouldn't necessarily bet on having hot UI skills as future proof either. I'm sure there are more qualified people that can talk about this, but I don't think that it's healthy that the industry thinks you can get one person to excel in so many areas. Cuts down hiring expenses, but at what cost? Having said that, I think we just need to keep growing and learning..and hope that good things come our way!
UX Designer
3wSurprise, ah? Restaurants want to hire chefs who can, aside from having the degree in economics or MBA, you know, cook.