Wanting To Get Into UI & UX Design Career-Wise

Howdy everybody!

I’m new to this whole web development thing… well not really. I’ve been coding for a while now, and that’s where my confusion on my position lies.

I’ve been doing programming using languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP (and a little MySQL too) for a few years now; I’d say I started getting serious with it around 2010).

After spending a few years doing game and graphic design for a living, I’m realizing that I want to branch my career out into UI & UX Design. The problem, though, is that I’m not really sure what I need to be doing in order to make this kind of transition.

My brother-in-law mentioned coding bootcamps, but I’m growing more skeptical the deeper I dig into that angle. I already have some formal education in web design and development through physical and online courses I’ve taken over the years (e.g. Rutger’s, Scottsdale Community College, Boston University).

If someone could advise me as to what I should try doing, that would be terrific.

So many different things you could be doing that I can easily see how one could get lost!

You wanting to transition to UI/UX is great, because now you have a specialty you want to double down and spend time to become great at that. Personally, I would be doing 2 things:

  1. Practice UI/UX. Create a portfolio online showcasing your work. Show that you are UI/UX person by creating work like that.
  2. Talk to people in the industry around you. Online or meetups, find people who have job that you want to have and ask them how they got there. Do not ask for a job, but if they ask you, “what do you do”, answer “I’m UI/UX Designer, here is some of my work:…”

Once you have those conversations with people already in the field, you may have better idea where you need to go.