Hi! I’m Harshavarthini. I’m doing my bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering in Chennai, India. I’m currently interested in user experience design, I’m planning to apply for masters programs abroad for fall 2021. I have been working on few personal UX case study projects to build my portfolio for the application. So far I’m enjoying the learning process, but since I’m working alone I feel unsure about the design decisions I make in the process. Is it normal to feel like that or how do I overcome this?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Harshavarthini,
Ya, as a person who doesn’t have a design Bachelor’s degree, I can confirm that it’s completely normal to feel insecure and overwhelmed when I first started to learn design by yourself. I think the key to mitigating this feeling is to get feedback from either
- Other UX professionals, or
- Users of the product you are designing
To expand the first point, thankfully, there are many online/offline communities that allow you to reach UX professionals:
- Share your work on Behance or Dribbble to get some exposure and feedback.
- Interact with other designers/researchers in events in your local area: CreativeMornings, Meetup, Eventbrite, etc.
- Audit design classes in your local universities. I did this in college and formed some relationships with professors/students that I wouldn’t have a chance to interact with otherwise.
In terms of the second point, it’s about validating your concept by running user interviews/testings. For example, if most of users you talk to are able to easily accomplish their task with the app you design, it is a positive signal that your design is in the right direction. Therefore, you should feel more sure about your design decision.
Hope this helps! 