How to Become a UI Designer Without a Degree

There is no one specific path to becoming a UI Designer. While around 71% of UI Designers hold a four degree, hiring managers still prefer experience and proven skills over education. Thus, it is possible to become a UI Designer without a degree. However, to land an entry-level position in UI design, you will be required to demonstrate competency in industry concepts and skills.

What is a UI Designer?

A UI Designer designs user interfaces, usually for digital applications such as the web, mobile, or video games. They build visual and interactive elements such as buttons, menus, and widgets. They also develop prototypes and refine their designs based on information gained from user research. Primary job duties of UI Designers include:

• Developing and enforcing a style guide that establishes a consistent visual “look” across the application.
• Designing each screen and individual elements within that the user can interact with.
• Making decisions about layout and visual elements that drive an intuitive user experience.
• Creating animations.
• Building wireframes and prototypes.
• Ensuring layout responsiveness across various screen sizes.

UI Designers craft designs for various industries, such as financial and banking, healthcare apps, retail apps, education, automotive, and gaming. A UI Designer’s primary goal is to design applications so that users intuitively understand how to use them and perform the actions or find the information they need without learning how to use the application first. UI Designers play a significant role in influencing how we use digital technology in our daily lives. 

Read more about what a UI Designer does.

Can You Really Become a UI Designer Without a Degree?

As UI design combines graphic design concepts and computer science, many degree holders only possess a sound knowledge of one or the other. Thus, individuals who choose to attend four-year universities will likely still have more to learn about UI design. For this reason, some individuals choose to forgo a college education and instead attend a 3-6 month UI design certificate program. 

Individuals with a degree in a field unrelated to UI design may also choose to attend a certificate program rather than more years of college. Other aspiring UI Designers may forgo professional training entirely and instead seek to self-learn skills and gradually take on small jobs to gain industry experience. However, this path can take much longer than the others, resulting in skill gaps. It is not generally recommended, but doable.

Steps to Become a UI Designer

There are several steps to becoming a UI Designer. Though the steps listed below are straightforward, everyone’s path to breaking into UI design is slightly different. You might not complete every one of these steps, and you might even do some of them out of order. You should review the steps provided and create a plan for the path you wish to take to UI design. And don’t be dismayed if that path changes.

Step #1: Surround Yourself in UI Design

A good place to start learning UI design is to set out to absorb as much information as you can. You can begin by reading UI design blogs, following industry trends, joining UI design forums and communities, and experimenting with UI design tools. Set a goal to do something UI-related every day. This can be as simple as reading a blog article. Surrounding yourself with UI design ideas and trends will give you the headstart you need to develop skills and networks, as well as locate further resources for learning UI design.

Step #2 Consider a Bootcamp Course

Professional training isn’t required to become a UI Designer, but courses designed to teach UI design can be informative and cover any skill gaps you might have from self-learning. Bootcamp courses in UI design are specifically structured to feature comprehensive learning, enough to jumpstart a new career. Many even offer services such as portfolio workshops or job search assistance.

If you aren’t ready to attend a professional course, you can move this step to anywhere else on the list.

Step #3: Learn the Fundamentals of UI Design

UI design is built on the principles of interaction and visual design. You can use free resources such as seminars or training videos from skills-sharing websites to learn these core concepts. In the end, you’ll need to feel confident in your understanding of how elements such as graphics, text, space, and layout influence visual aesthetics, as well as how users interact with a digital product.

Step #4 Learn the Industry Tools

The industry uses various UI design tools, so you’ll need to research and decide which ones you want to learn. The most popular are Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator, but there are others, such as Sketch and Adobe XD. You’ll likely learn various tools throughout your UI design career. So, a good place to start is by choosing whichever tool seems the most intuitive to you. You can also review job listings to see which tools employers are looking for.

You don’t need to learn every tool. Ultimately, you need to be comfortable building wireframes and prototypes, as these are crucial UI design skills. Many tools offer free trials and learning resources, so you can begin practicing independently at no cost.

Step #5 Build Your Portfolio

You’ll need a portfolio to showcase your skills to employers. If you’ve elected to attend professional training, you can start your portfolio with the projects you completed in class. With or without coursework, you’ll need to build your own projects. Several online websites offer UI design prompts, case studies, and fake client requests to jumpstart your projects. 

Remember that a portfolio showcases more than just finished designs. You should document the need your project was designed to fulfill and show each step of your creative and technical process. Be sure to go into detail about the methods and tools used.

Step #6 Network

Networking can make a huge difference in finding a job in UI design. They can also be excellent resources for getting feedback on your portfolio or resume, advice on which skills you need to improve, and locating additional training resources. Use websites like LinkedIn or Twitter to find and connect with industry professionals, including designers, entrepreneurs, and recruiters. You can also build connections in online forums and communities. If you’re lucky, you might find UI events or meet-ups in your local area. 

Step #7 Find a Mentor

A mentor is someone with years of industry experience in UI design and who can guide you on your path to becoming a UI Designer. They can provide insights into the industry and offer personal feedback on your skills. If you choose to attend a UI design bootcamp, your instructor commonly serves as a mentor during your time with them. If you foster a relationship, they may even agree to mentor you after the course. Otherwise, your network is the best resource for finding a mentor.

If you struggle to find a personal mentor, you can find a UI Designer whose work you admire and who shares their advice and expertise online through blogs, video tutorials, and social networks. Study what they have to teach, learn the paths they took to UI design, and dig into their favorite learning resources. 

Step #8 Gain Experience

It may be necessary to gain real-world work experience before landing an entry-level job in UI design. Look for volunteer opportunities in UI design or website development (which shares similarities with UI design). Your network might even have some work opportunities for you. Freelancing for a time is also a viable option.

If your UI design job search isn’t working out, you may need to take a position in an adjacent field, such as visual design, graphic design, interaction design, or web development. However, you can gain experience and later transition to a role more suited to your desires.

Step #9 Continue to Grow

UI Designers never stop learning. Technology is constantly changing, and industry trends follow along with it. Any successful UI Designer has to stay on top of these emerging ideas. Even when you find a job in UI design, don’t assume you’re done. Go back to steps #1 and #6. Continue to immerse yourself in UI design and keep up with your network of professionals. Stay in contact with your mentor or find a new one with new insights to pass on. Attend conferences and events and strive to learn new skills.

Learn the Skills to Become a UI Designer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers several UI design classes for those seeking professional instruction in pursuing a career as a UI Designer. Classes are small and feature expert instructors and free retake options. Courses can be attended in person in NYC or online from anywhere. 

The UI Design Certificate is designed to prepare students to launch a career in UI design. You’ll learn essential design principles as well as how to use the most popular UI design tools: Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Throughout the course, you’ll complete a number of hands-on projects and build a portfolio to showcase your skills to potential employers.

Should you be interested in UX design as well as UI design (the two fields commonly overlap), you can pursue the UX & UI Design Certificate. You’ll learn the design principles and industry tools of both UX & UI design, build a professional portfolio, and receive one-on-one job preparation assistance. 

Bootcamps are also available where you can learn the ins and outs of the most popular UI design tools, including Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. These courses are open to pure beginners and are designed to guide you to mastery of the program. 

If you’re not ready to jump into a full UI design course, you can explore Noble Desktop’s learning hubs. These hubs are designed to inform you about a topic and offer learning resources, including free tutorials and self-guided education. UI design learn hubs include:

• Learn UI Design
• Learn Visual Design
• Learn Adobe XD
• Learn Figma
• Learn Sketch