How to Learn UX Design and Become a Self-Taught User Experience Designer

There is an assumption in User Experience work that you are building, devising, and designing products and experiences for other people.

It naturally follows that starting your UX educational journey by understanding people, and placing them at the center of all that you do, is critical.

If you are serious about learning User Experience (UX) design, you first need to understand the basics of design thinking.

Design thinking, as I have written about in freeCodeCamp before, is a holistic way of applying critical thinking to solving design related problems that matter to people.

Specifically, design thinking is a way to learn about, gain insight into, and deeply understand human beings.

Before learning UX, and learning to speak the language of this discipline, you need to learn about people and understand what they care about, who they are, and how they will use your solutions.

An introduction to UX therefore starts by placing the human experience – what people want, need, and value – at the center of your world view and all that you do.

How to Understand People

In order to learn UX design you must learn how to ask questions, and the right ones.

You might find this overly simplistic. Nevertheless, question asking is where your self-taught user experience skills will first develop.

We ask questions every day. But how often do we ask follow-up questions? How often do we practice active listening to help guide further questioning of others and ourselves?

The process of becoming a self-taught UX designer is multi-faceted.

But above all else the process starts with placing humans at the center of how you ask questions and listen to answers.

Here is a UX experiment that you should try. Ask a friend or peer “5 Follow-up Questions” to more deeply probe their behavior and uncover interesting revelations.

Adam Question #1 to Interview Subject: “What was the last thing you purchased online?”

Answer: “The last thing I purchased online was a Gorilla Grip Anti Fatigue Comfort Mat.”

Adam Question #2: “Why did you buy this product?”

Answer: “I purchased this product to protect my ankles and knees and to feel comfortable while working from home and standing at my desk.”

Adam Question #3: “Why do you want to protect your ankles and knees?”

Answer: “I love to play sports and want to ensure that my body remains healthy.”

Adam Question #4: “Why do you love playing sports?”

Answer: “Playing tennis enables me to release tension.”

Adam Question #5: “Why are you tense?”

Answer: “I find my job stressful and too demanding.”

In this real example we can see how one set of questions led us down an interesting and unforeseen path.

By asking my friend about his online purchase history I gained new insights into his work and life. Probing questions (and follow up questions) enabled me to glean a deeper and better understanding of this person.

If I were doing user experience design for the Gorilla Grip company perhaps I would include messaging that suggests that the mat helps reduce work stress as well.

If you want to understand people you need to understand a person’s motivations, fears, and key personal drivers.

Only by asking why repeatedly (or some variation of why) can you truly understand the customer. Start with humans and work backwards.

Before Asking Questions of Others, Ask A Few of Yourself
Before asking questions of others you must ask and answer some questions about yourself.

Are you good at asking questions? If so, why? If not, why not?

Are you good at actively listening to answers?

Do you pay close attention to words, body language, and feedback?

Do you have a strong memory for detail recollection? Do you take notes or memorize answers?

You need to hone in on these answers. User experience designers need to pay close attention to details.

How can you improve your detail oriented capabilities?

Here is a fun and low cost way to practice. Watch a TV show or movie or read a long and informative article.

After consuming the content, try to answer the following:

List a few names mentioned in the show/article
If a show: what outfits were some of the characters wearing?
If an article: who was the author?
What was the main point of the show/article?
If you are like most people, answering question #1 was moderately difficult for you. Questions #2 and #3 were very challenging. And question #4 was straightforward.

Think about these questions.

Why are some so hard and others easy? These questions trigger different aspects of our memory and how we categorize and store information.

When starting to engage with users you need to be mindful of the questions you ask and the answers you get back. Answers have implicit and explicit connotations and biases.

It is not enough to hear what users are saying.

You need to understand what is being communicated, remember it correctly, and use that input as a guide.

When starting on your self-taught user experience journey remember that your users are your guides.

But you are a guide as well. The types of questions you ask of others are critically important.

Sample Questions: Self-Taught UX Sessions
I want to now provide UX questions you should read though and incorporate in order to conduct your first UX study or research session with real users.

Here are UX questions I deployed to friends and colleagues when I started building a website to help people work remotely.

Try using the questions as a script or guide. Feel free to amend as you see fit.

We’re going to be looking at a webpage called WFH Adviser. And I’d just like your honest feedback about what you see. There aren’t any right or wrong answers, the goal isn’t to test you, but to test the site so that I can improve it.
You won’t hurt my feelings with any of your feedback (haha, smile) OK?
WFH Adviser is a website that helps remote workers understand how to work efficiently and effectively from home.
On the site you can read articles about new work from home products, how to manage your career remotely, and find remote jobs. Any questions?
Have you ever used a website engagement tool?
Let’s say you visit the home page. This is what you see. (Show a screen straight away to your product sample).
What do you think you are seeing here?