My UI/UX Journey: How it began, Lessons learned and the next steps

Ever since I was a kid, I have had an eye for design. I can distinguish between good and bad designs, even though, at that time, my judgments were based on colours, font styles, and layouts. I loved sketching, drawing, and colouring at that time. I've always been interested in design but never really thought about it as a career path. That all changed when a friend of mine advised me to join a Design Bootcamp organized by Friends of Figma Africa with design tracks on UX Research and UI/UX Design. I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did.

Lessons learned

The first week of the Bootcamp covered a wide range of topics, including:

• The basics of UX design

• An Introduction to the UX design process

• The Different areas of UX design

• The skills you need to be a UX designer

• Tips for your first great UX portfolio

• How (and why) to become a professional UX Designer

I was surprised at how much I learned in a week. The course instructors were clear and concise, and the lessons were well-organized and easy to follow.

Some of the most important things I learned were:

• The importance of understanding your users and their needs

• The importance of testing your designs with users to get feedback

• The importance of creating designs that are both visually appealing and easy to use

• The importance of making your designs accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities

One of the biggest challenges I faced during the course was learning to use Figma, a popular UI/UX design tool. I had never used Figma before, so it took me some time to get used to it. However, with a little practice, I was able to start creating wireframes and prototypes.

Overall, I had a great experience in my first week of the Design Bootcamp, and I'm excited to continue learning and growing in this field.

Reflection and next steps

At the end of the Design Bootcamp, I plan to use my UI/UX design skills to create better user experiences for all kinds of products and services. I'm particularly interested in designing for people with disabilities. I believe that everyone deserves to have access to products and services that are easy to use.

I am also interested in learning more about front-end development so that I can build my designs into working websites and apps

conclusion

I'm grateful for the opportunity to have taken a bold step by joining the Design Bootcamp. It opened my eyes to a new and exciting career path, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.