Member-only story
The key skill that makes all the difference for UX professionals
It's not about knowing how to use a sophisticated design tool, making fancy-looking presentations, or coding
The other day I got a LinkedIn message from someone who wants to break into UX. They were saying that they were learning how to code and taking online courses on front-end web development to be a competitive candidate.
I frequently hear similar stories. Both aspiring UX professionals and those with some years of experience under their belt spend a significant amount of time and emphasize learning to use popular tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe XD). Or they deep-dive into certain research methods like surveys and diary studies to gain experience in them.
While there's value in learning such things, there seems to be one skill that makes all the difference, takes longer to acquire, and usually is left unseen. It's the ability to ask questions along the lines of:
"How can I simplify this?"
"What really matters in this?"
"What are the underlying assumptions in this?"
In this brief piece, I'll deep dive into these questions and specify why they are ever-more needed for UX professionals to master:
Ability to simplify
The word simplification might have a negative connotation when it's associated with superficiality. But it's the opposite — knowing something well enough is a must to simplify. As an (aspiring) UX professional — be it a UX Researcher, Interaction Designer, or else — you should be asking yourself every day:
- How can I (or my work) communicate with a clear tone so that everybody understands my key points easily?
- Is what I am doing/saying simple enough? Can it be made simpler? Remember that the challenge you're working on can be complex and might require an in-depth understanding. Still, it's not an excuse to create an outcome that feels confusing to your team and your end-users.
