During the course of a career in UX Design, I guess we all make mistakes. Learning from them is important if you want to keep going up that career ladder. Listing a few common ones that happen:
- Jumping into your laptop the moment you get the client brief
That is the biggest mistake you can ever do. And what I mean by this is jumping in to design the solution immediately. Please don’t do that. When a brief comes to you, take your notebook out, a pencil and start ideating. Make sketches, low fidelity mockups, have brainstorming sessions either with yourself or with the team, list solutions, research, talk to users … do all this first before firing up your laptop and opening tools for designing the solution. - Assuming Great UI = Great UX
Nope. You got yourself wrong over there. There is a lot of misconception when it comes to the terminology even today, but great UI is not equal to great UX. A jazzy, fancy screen which doesn’t solve the user’s problems is not going to win you any brownie points. Delivering an experience that is seamless for the user will go a long way. Great user experience along with great user interface design will get you to the goal post. - Client Communication
During the course of the project, we sometimes might slip up on communications with the client. That can happen once or twice, but making that mistake too often is not good either for you or the company. Keeping the clients in the loop of what’s happening every step of the way ensures the client knows what’s happening, how the project is shaping up and when it might get completed. Educate your client on the process and deliver the process – they will absolutely appreciate it in the long run. - Not accepting criticism and taking feedback
Oh, none of us like it, don’t we? But taking in feedback and a little bit of criticism will go a long way in helping you to improve your skills as a designer. You need to take in all kinds of suggestions and ideas that you get, have a healthy debate on solutions, collaborate with the team – all these are hallmarks of being a good UX designer. - Being a know-it-all
Let’s accept it, no one knows everything about everything. Being that person who thinks he/she knows everything will not get you any points from the team. Be open to learning new things, open to listening ideas from others and your team, instead of being an insufferable know-it-all. Being receptive to everyone’s ideas and thoughts will get you places. - Staying in the comfort zone
It’s a cosy space, but that doesn’t take you places, does it? Don’t just stick to one particular skill set, a particular tool or software, or a particular design style, etc. Explore, learn and understand more about the field, learn new tools, experiment with UI styles and layouts, and keep yourself informed about things happening in the tech and design world. Expanding yourself can open a whole new world of opportunities you never thought existed.
