If you are just looking to get started in UX design you are probably wondering how long will it take to learn enough to become a competitive designer and get an entry level job.
It can take 6 to 12 months to become a UX Designer. The actual time it will take to learn UX Design and become a competitive UX designer depends on your background and the time you can invest in learning theory and working on design projects for your portfolio.
Why does it take that long? Let me explain.
I’ll make basic assumptions about your background. I’ll assume that you have a non-designer college degree, and you have no prior experience in design. If you do have a degree in graphic design, or worked as a graphic designer, your mileage will vary.
I’ll also assume that you have a job, family, or other commitments, and you can’t be learning UX design for days on end. Let’s say you have 1-2 hours every day and perhaps 3-4 hours on weekends. I think that is somewhat realistic for most people.
Why does it take that long to learn UX?
UX design is a broad domain. There is a lot to learn, and learning will probably never stop. But that is not the primary reason it takes time to learn UX design.
It actually doesn’t take much to get started. UX design is not so much about knowledge. It is mostly about skills.
You can learn basics of UX design very quickly by taking an online course or reading UX books, but it will take time to learn and develop design skills. There is no way around it.
You can’t learn to play a guitar by watching some tutorials, or learn to speak a new language just by reading a grammar book. Same goes for UX design.
You can learn basics of UX design very quickly by taking an online course or reading UX books, but it will take time to learn and develop design skills.
To get an entry level job you won’t need to practice design skills for 10,000 hours, but 20 hours won’t be enough either.
To be competitive in design industry it is not enough to have the skills, you also have to show something for it. Typically, that will be a portfolio of your design work. It will take time to build out a body of work that you can confidently show to your potential employers or clients.
What skills are there to learn?
There is so much more to UX design than producing pretty looking screens. If it was just about pretty pictures, you could easily learn to use Sketch or Adobe XD in couple weeks, become a star on Dribbble and Behance, and have clients lining up to hire you for their next exciting project.
I won’t get deep into the skills you will eventually need, but rather focus on something that you can start working on now.
Two main UX design skills you need to develop is (1) to spot problems, and (2) to fix them with design.
Confusing is a problem.
Ugly is also a problem.
As a designer you need to know how to address both!
Most of the digital products people have trouble with are either confusing to use, or they look ugly. Sometimes it is both.
You can think of Confusing vs Ugly as UX vs UI. This comparison is oversimplified, but it works.
You might be drawn to one over the other. You can choose to specialize now, but I’d recommend you do that later. Become a generalist before you choose to specialize.
Think of problems as opportunities. A problem can be an opportunity to improve existing product, or create a brand new one.
Start looking around for confusing and ugly things and try fixing them. Make this a habit. It will speed up your learning big time!
Now you have an idea of how long it might take to learn UX design from scratch. It does take time, so why not start learning right away! Take a look at How to Become a UX Designer guide for a deeper dive into the topic of learning UX.
Photo by Jon Tyson
