How I became a UI/UX designer without any experience
I want to tell my story about how I came into the design, and how anyone can do the same with a certain will and dedication.
The beginning
It all started around 2006–2007. I didn’t have any plans to become a UX designer. I was studying programming and systems analysis at my university. My design career started accidentally. Back in the day, a friend of mine bought a CD with a collection of graphic design tools. I borrowed that CD from him — there was something that caught my eye. It was 3D Studio Max.
I played with 3D for a couple of months and even bought a book with modeling tutorials. Yeah, back then there weren’t a lot of video tutorials on the Internet and YouTube had just started.
The infamous construction worker
After several weeks of experimenting with 3D, I took a summer break from graphics and went to work for “real money” at a construction. It was hard. I worked there for a few weeks and was paid only for one. The construction boss said that he didn’t see me there a lot, that’s why. Imagine my anger and frustration at that moment…
But that was a tipping point for me when I realized that I didn’t want to work under the burning sun any single day in my life. I had to make my interest in computer graphics my job whatever the cost. And I started learning Adobe Photoshop every day.
Transition to 2D
Why I switched from 3D to 2D? I don’t know. I just wanted to try everything. I think it’s a good strategy — trying as many things as you can until you discover something that makes you feel good and makes you fall into the flow state often.
Learning Photoshop and later Illustrator made me finally fall in love with computer graphics. I started creating logos, and business cards, vectorizing raster images, and editing photos just for fun. I created accounts on some popular resources (forums) and shared my work there. People loved it and it encouraged me to continue.
Later I asked myself if I shall try to make the websites I visited frequently a bit better? So I redesigned a couple of them and realized that it was the most exciting part for me. Mostly because it required not only making things look beautiful but also taking into account what would be easier to use.
UI + UX
Of course, I didn’t know about the term ‘User Experience’ back then. I began googling how to design websites and found two interesting books related to the topic. One of them was “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman and another one was “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. Now these two are UX design classics.
That’s how I started forming my knowledge of UX. At the same time, I discovered a website for freelance work and began uploading my work in a ‘before/after’ format there.
The first paid job
It took me about 2 months of constant learning, sharing my work and helping people for free before I got my first paid freelance mini-job. It was a redesign of the website’s header section together with the logo and dropdown menu. I told about that task in this other article.
I was so desperate to prove to everyone (especially my parents) that I could do remote work and get paid for that. I made several different options for the client though he didn’t ask for it. But he was happy and I was more than happy too. I got my first $5 and officially turned my hobby into a job. It was an amazing feeling!
2 months ago I was mixing concrete and lifting heavy bricks and now I’m sitting in the comfy chair with a cup of coffee doing what I love and people pay me for that.
After that my learning curve skyrocketed. I started taking courses, reading more books and practicing like crazy every day after classes.
By the time I graduated from the university, I already knew what I’m going to do with my life. However, my parents insisted on me finding a normal job related to my education. I told them that by the end of the year my weird job at home will pay me more than their “normal” jobs in the office. And I fulfilled the promise.
In 2012 I discovered a platform called oDesk (now Upwork) and opened myself to the international startup scene and much higher salaries. Since then I switched from freelance to full-time and back several times. 2 times I relocated to foreign countries to work with the team and learn from other people. Such an exciting experience…
It is something that brings me joy even after all these years. Thanks God I didn’t give up on design! Who knows where I would be now if I’ve chosen not to pursue my interests.
Final thoughs
It doesn’t matter much which career path you choose if you truly love it. The most important thing is to stick to your passion, stay curious, and learn something new every day.
If you become better by only 1% every day, at the end of the year you’ll be a totally different person. So good luck my friend!
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