How To Start UI/UX Design the Right Way

How To Start UI/UX Design the Right Way by Tommy Geoco

After 13 years, this is how I would restart as a product designer

1. Practice a UI tool like Sketch
– Recreate Gusto’s Workbench components
– Read Atomic Design by Brad Frost
– Recreate Spotify’s “Add to Playlist” workflow
– Design an experimental feature for Slack

how to start UI UX Design

2. Study institutional knowledge
– Gestalt Psychology
– Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics
– WCAG 2.1
– Jakob’s Law
– Hick’s Law
– Weber’s Law
– Miller’s Law
– Progressive Disclosure
– “Chunking” in cognitive psych

3. Create my reusable design scaffold
– Study Material’s Design System
– Study Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines
– Study Window’s Fluent Design System
– Choose 1 grid
– Choose 2 typefaces
– Choose 1 icon library
– Choose an accessibility tool (e.g. Stark)

4. Learn common research methods
– Read Metrics Versus Experience by Julie Zhou
– Behavioral vs. Attitudinal
– Quantiative vs. Qualitative
– User interviews
– Surveying
– Usability testing
– A/B testing
– Field studies
– Read The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick

5. Learn how to leverage rough ideas
– Practice 60 minute time-boxing
– Read Sprint by Jake Knapp
– Prototype a product idea
– Ask a related group for feedback

6. Learn how to talk about product ideas
– Read Distribution by Ben Horowitz
– Learn how to write user stories
– Read Writing Product Specs by Gaurav Oberoi
– Create a PRD for a product idea
– Create a Webflow landing page for the idea
– Ask a related group for feedback

7. Learn to create basic processes
– Use a note-taking app daily
– Pareto Principle
– Read Deep Work by Cal Newport
– Read The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
– Plan next week for 60 min on Sunday
– Plan tomorrow for 30 min every night

Check More on my portfolio: Yakubu Hayim

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