How to become a self-taught UX designer
By: Breana Wallace
Tags: Software Design, Education, UX Design, Tech, User Experience

Picking up where we left off…

Once I had that initial overview of the field that came from massive content consumption, I needed to focus on creating a solid learning plan, a personalized curriculum. I needed to know what a solid learning plan for this field even was.

I knew that in the real world, it was more than just what you knew, but it was also about who you knew. The right people are invaluable when it comes to learning about opportunities to take advantage of, and getting feedback along the way.

After all of that, I would also need to convince people that I knew enough to get a job and get paid to keep learning. That would take some serious effort in all things personal branding.

Based on what I learned from my own successful experience, this is what I’d suggest:

1.) Creating a curriculum

If we are hoping to replace (or even temporarily augment) a $10,000 — $60,000 education here, we need to know what exactly they’re teaching in those classes. So get your google doc ready for a lot of copy & pasting. Take a look at degree programs, bootcamps, certifications, and courses to see what their education tracks are. You aren’t paying for this and don’t need to get admitted, so AIM HIGH! Check out Georgia Tech, Harvard, Stanford…why not?!

Even better, see if you can get your hands on their current or old syllabi. Generally, you can find an overview of topics and course requirements for the program at any given college. Type in those course names and look for PDF’s to see exactly what the students would be doing in those classes along with reading lists, projects, and other notable info from the Professors & teachers that you can use to your advantage (Below is an example of this from my alma mater, UF). Sometimes, the classes are even offered for FREE online if that’s something you want to do.

An easy way to find out what others are learning

Take a look at the best job postings out there for your desired job, and see what they want you to know and have experience in (aim high here too). Take a look at people on LinkedIn that already have the job you want, and see what skills people have listed on their profiles. Reach out and ask for their favorite resources and books.

Examples of real job postings by top companies

You should have a good amount of overlapping info now, and now it’s time to work backwards. There is zero guesswork here at this point in terms of what you really need to know to get where you want. You’ve seen first hand what your future peers know and what the job listings want! This will be your guiding source for where you need to fill in gaps, go deeper in your knowledge, and spend time practicing in your projects.

Speaking of: Projects are extremely important here, not only for you to learn and digest along the way, but also for the last step in this process: making what you need to get hired.

How do you do that though? Make up your own projects, work on some ideas that you’ve had, ask friends and family if they need help, reach out to small businesses. Do anything you can to get hands-on experience. At the end of it, you’ll have a substantial amount to show.

Start small, and document everything. Grab pictures, write up your thoughts and experiences working through what you’re doing, don’t be shy to give a critique of your own process at the end so that you can improve next time, and ask for reviews if you do work for other people along the way!