How to transition from a Graphic Designer to a UX Designer in six steps

Just a few years ago, whenever someone mentioned the word design, the first thing that comes to mind is graphic design. But that has all changed now because of the huge demand for digital products designed by skilled user experience designers and product designers. Hello everyone, Samuel here, and in today's video I'll be sharing 6 steps that you can follow to transition from a graphic designer to a user experience designer, all from my personal experience. Let's get into it. First of all, I'd like to mention that this is my very first video and I'm super, super excited to share my learnings and experiences with you. Through my videos, I'll be providing UX design tips, techniques, and tutorials that can help designers improve their craft, get more opportunities, and grow in their respective careers. If all of this sounds interesting to you, please click the subscribe button so you can see more videos from me as I upload them. This video is a bit personal to me. Because this is the exact kind of video I would have loved to see when I was transitioning from a graphic designer to a UX designer a couple of years ago. In this video, you can expect to understand who a graphic designer is, who a UX designer is, what the differences between both roles are, and the 6 steps that you can follow to transition from a graphic designer to a UX designer. So let's talk about who a graphic designer is. A graphic designer is someone who creates visual concepts to communicate information. Using shapes, colors, forms, and other visual elements. So think about the static and moving visual information that we engage with daily, from social media posts to billboard adverts to magazines to brochures, the visual identities of our favorite brands. All of these were created by a graphic designer. So who is a UX designer then? A UX designer creates meaningful and delightful experiences that enable users to interact with digital products easily. So all your experiences navigating popular apps like Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, and even large e-commerce sites like Amazon was designed by a team of user experience designers through thorough user research and constant iteration. One of the major differences between both roles is that the graphic designer focuses on designing visual elements while the UX designer takes a much broader perspective by focusing on designing the interaction between the user and the product from the beginning of the user journey to the end of the user journey. Also, the graphic design role is much more specialized while the user experience design role is an intersection of other disciplines like user research, information architecture, prototyping, and interaction design. Let's get right into the steps that it takes to transition. Step number 1, have a strong reason for transitioning. It's important to have a solid reason for switching your career because whenever you feel like giving up, it is this reason that keeps you motivated. Personally, for me, I switched my career for 2 reasons. First of all, I was really interested in the problem-solving aspect of being a user experience designer, and I didn't think I was solving problems as a graphic designer. Secondly, I wanted a career that introduced me into tech, and UX design was the lowest hanging fruit for me because I didn't have to learn how to code. I just had to understand a little bit of the relevant programming languages. Your reason doesn't have to be the same. Your reason for transitioning could be different, but make sure it is strong and convincing enough for you to keep going. Step number 2, set a clear and realistic timeline for your transition. A realistic timeline helps you to focus on your goal and cut out all the distractions that might deter you from reaching that goal. You could set a timeline of like 3 months or a 6-month timeline so that you know that you are able to fit in all your processes that you have to follow, all the steps and activities that you have to take to transition within that 3 to 6-month timeline. It's also important for your timeline to be a bit aggressive. You don't want to set a 2-year timeline, for example, because a lot of things can happen in 2 years and you don't want to be caught slacking. Step number 3, take an online course. Taking an online course can also help you to achieve your goals of becoming a UX designer. Faster. It's important to note that a certificate from any online course would not guarantee you a job as a UX designer, but the online course will introduce you to the basics and fundamentals of UX design, and it will also make you understand the transferable skills that you can move from being a graphic designer to a UX designer. I know that there's been a lot of, you know, debate online between online courses versus bootcamps. I won't necessarily favor one over the other, but I would recommend that you assess your time and availability and use that, and also budget, and use that to choose which one favors you the most or which one is most appropriate. I would recommend some online courses that I have personally taken, which are the Interaction Design Foundation course, which has lots of different topics in UX design. Also the Google UX Design Certificate and the Dribbble Product Design course. The next step that you need to follow is to create case studies from scratch that can help you to show your work. These case studies could be existing problems, or they could be an existing website that you want to redesign, or it could be an experience that you currently face on one of the apps that you use and you feel like there could be a way for you to solve it. Case studies help you to flex your design muscles and helps you to assess your strengths and weaknesses as a UX designer at a very early stage. Also, these are the case studies that you would use in the next step, which is building your portfolio to be able to land a job as a UX designer. It's also important to learn the tools that you would use to design these case studies. So I'm talking about tools like Figma for prototyping and design, and then Adobe XD as well for prototyping. We have a lot of other tools which I will cover in a completely different video, but when you do some of your research, you would find the tools that you need to learn to be a UX designer. Whichever case study you decide to do, make sure you are actually solving a real-life problem. Make sure you're solving a problem that people are actually facing. I'll link some examples of case studies that has been gathered in the UX design community that you can use as personal case studies to show your work. Step number 5, create your portfolio. One thing that makes you stand out as a UX designer is your portfolio, and recruiters would always ask for your portfolio because that is the way they can assess your work and see what you've done. Now the difference between creating your case study and creating your portfolio is that while you are creating your case study, you are actually solving a problem, and in your portfolio you're documenting how you solve that problem, and you're also showing recruiters what your strengths are as a UX designer. So a lot of recruiters would always ask for your portfolio. Now your portfolio can be in different formats. It could be a website, it could be a Behance portfolio, It could be a Dribbble portfolio, it could be in Notion. Whatever it is, make sure that it is easy to navigate and recruiters are not lost when they get on your portfolio. For the final step, which is step number 6, start applying to UX designer roles. Lastly, if you've gone through all the previous 5 steps that I've mentioned, then you should be ready for a UX designer role. One thing to keep in mind is that the UX design space is currently very saturated, especially at the junior level. There are so many people transitioning from other roles like you. There are other people that are fresh out of bootcamps, online courses, and even from the university. So you want to ensure that you make your application stand out of the lot. What you need to do is to ensure that your application is intentional. By intentional, I mean not just applying to any role that you see, but actually researching the role and looking at the job description and then tailoring your application and your resume to suit that job description. That way recruiters can single you out and invite you for the next stage of the interview process. Here's a recap of the steps that you need to take to transition. Step number 1, have a strong reason for transitioning. Step number 2, create a realistic timeline for transitioning. Step number 3, take an online course. Step number 4, create at least 2 case studies from scratch. Step number 5, create your portfolio. And then step number 6, start applying to UX design roles. I hope this video helps you to transition to a UX designer successfully, and I wish you the best in your new role when you do. I also hope you enjoyed watching this video as much as I enjoyed creating it for you. If you did, don't forget to subscribe to my channel by clicking the button below. Also like, share, and send in your comments, and I'll be sure to respond to them. See you in the next video. Bye.