What are some good online resources for learning UI-UX?
Along with those listed here, I’ve included several more you should take some time to explore.
1. Learn the fundamentals
Before doing anything, learn the basics. Get a solid foundation of knowledge to understand what user experience design is, and how UI design fits within it. Become familiar with the terminology, the theories and best practices. Learn how to put them to use. There are many parts to the overall UX design process, but understanding them all will make you a better designer.
Here’s a few online resources/articles I would recommend:
- The Hipper Element by Joel Marsh (UX Crash Course: 31 Fundamentals)
- Lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/Web
-User-Ex...) - Team Treehouse Blog (http://blog.teamtreehous
e.com/10...) - Smashing Magazine (http://www.smashingmagaz
ine.com/...)
2. Get to know the tools
As a UX/UI designer, you will most likely use a variety of tools throughout your career. Learn as much as you can about them so you can execute on deliverables as a UI/UX designer. From wireframing to mockups to prototypes, you will need to understand how to complete a variety of items which requires several different tools.
- Wireframing Tools
- Balsamiq: http://support.balsamiq.c
om/cust... - Omnigraffle: https://www.omnigroup.com
/video/... - Illustrator: 10 Tips for Building Wireframes With Illustrator - Tuts+ Design & Illustration Article
- UXPin: http://blog.uxpin.com/cat
egory/t... - UI Design Tools
- Sketch: Learn iOS design and Xcode
- Photoshop: https://www.google.com/we
bhp?sou...
3. Find a mentor
The best advice I received when beginning my career was to find someone who’s great at doing what I wanted to do. Find a mentor. Find someone who’s got the experience and is willing to share it with you. Network with other designers to talk to and learn from. You can read a blog I posted about the importance of finding a mentor (https://medium.com/@joey
This will be a person you’ll rely on throughout your career for advice, critiques and help. So choose carefully. If you are serious about learning and becoming a designer, I’d recommend our program at Bloc (Learn Web Design with a Mentor | Bloc). We do one-on-one mentorship with experienced professionals who will help you become a better designer.
4. Hone your craft
The best way to learn is to put your knowledge and skills to action, and continue learning. Learn by doing. Find a project and begin working on it. Once you complete that one, find another and build it. Build something for yourself. Build something for a friend. Build something for fun. Build something just to build something.
Disclaimer: I am the UX Design Director at Bloc (http://www.bloc.io), where we offer one-on-one mentorship for people wanting to learn how to develop for the web, create mobile applications or become a designer.
See Questions On Quora