We’re not here to talk about the average salary of a UX designer, because it’s a variable sum as the job is a global one. We’re here to discuss whether UX design boot camps are worth it or not. So, what is UX design? Let’s see.
What Is UX Design?
When a business wants to provide a relevant experience to the users of their product, they usually hire UX designers. When we say UX design, we usually speak about the design of a software product. It’s more than mockup design because you can get free mockups online.
As a UX designer, a person’s job is to make the software usable and functional. Of course, ease of use is heavily reliant on the developers, but the designers evaluate how that will be implemented including other design aspects.
UX Design Is in High Demand
With the global increase of career interest turning to the information technology industry and the growing number of development-related career workers output, jobs like UX design have become more in demand. Another key contributor to the high demand is that businesses are turning to providing the best experience to customers:
- Emphasis on user-centricity: Everything is becoming user-centric because businesses want to satisfy their customers, so UX designers will get more work to make the experience seamless for users.
- Digital transformation: It started a while ago, but it’s still going on. So, the demand for UX designers grows based on the need for digital transformation where even brick-and-mortar businesses are looking for their spot online.
- Competitive advantage: Superior user experiences are an incredible competitive advantage for companies. Although, customer experience might not be as important as price, but it will get you some loyalty and make people switch to your service.
- Mobile and web apps: There are tons of web apps available for tons of different services. Also, everything we do, we try to do it on a mobile device first, and somebody has to be there to design that kind of experience for us.
- Retention and conversion: The demand for UX designers grows because companies are trying to retain their users and convert them from using other software. A good UX designer will know how to reduce friction and make the user more likely to continue using the software.
- Agile design processes: The designs offered during the development process of software also undergo phases of iteration where they are changed to meet the business requirements and bring forth the visualization of the idea stakeholders have in mind.
Career Growth in UX Design
With UX design, you can see your career grow with different opportunities and branches. A UX design boot camp gets you started, but you can easily progress into one of the other branches, i.e. specializations like user research, visual design, information architecture, prototyping, etc.
There are also leadership roles like UX/UI design managers, people who lead entire design teams. You can become a product manager, and help define the product strategy, or even take it up a notch and become a design director.
Global Job
It’s a global job because all you need is to have good collaboration tools for your design and an internet connection. You can also have flexible work hours depending on what kind of agreement you have with your employer. But, there are other benefits:
- Freelancing: Apart from doing your full-time job, you can also accept freelancing opportunities that come your way to earn an extra buck. It can be a long-term freelancing collaboration as well.
- Cultural diversity: It’s a global job, so you’ll get to communicate with a lot of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Luckily, most people know English, so you probably won’t have any issues communicating with them and learning a bit about other cultures.
- Networking: You’ll be able to network and make connections across the world because the job is global, and you’ll probably reach other career opportunities with this type of networking.
Conclusion
There are many more benefits of becoming a UX designer, the best of them being that you can express your creativity throughout the product development phases. But, you can also make a solid living doing this.