Good luck with that. My 19 month old already thinks she knows best with everything.
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The one consistent tip I give people new to UX is to start testing stuff with users as soon as possible. Donât wait for permission, donât wait for someone to tell you how, just get out there and try it. Itâs not rocket surgery (see Steve Krugâs book).
When people apply for a job or chat to me about how they want a career in UX, the first thing I ask is how many users they have tested in the last month. If your answer is none, then youâre not really doing UX. Youâre just guessing and assuming what users need.
It might feel a bit scary, but thatâs because itâs something new and youâve not done it before. Itâs the same when you try anything new. Once you sit with someone and ask them to use something while you watch, all of those concerns will turn to wonder as you see what UX is all about. Itâs not cool UI trends, itâs not about awesome ideas and creative designs, itâs about learning what users really need and solving problems for them.
Phew, sorry this turned into a bit of a rant didnât it. My apologies, I obviously need to dial down the caffeine a bit 
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What you are saying totally makes sense to me but where I run into a problem is actually recruiting the people face to face to participate in the test, once they agree to do it, Iâm all good. Itâs going up to, often, complete strangers to ask them if they would mind participating and if I could observe them that weirds me out!
It really depends who the users are. If its just about getting some experience of testing, and building it into your process then you can be a lot less fussy about who they are. You can get friends, familiy and collegues to test stuff. Obivously as you get more advanced and your output matters more, then you can start worrying about getting the target users. But for the start, just go out there and test people you know. Or buddy up with someone whoâs good with strangers and get them to do the awkward bit 
Iâm sure we all go through this! Although, I would add, when I changed jobs I realised that my previous boss had actually been holding me back and emphasising these feelings - he would tell me not to speak up in meetings in case I asked a stupid question, micro-manage me and make me doubt myself. Now I am full of confidence, always asking âstupidâ questions, and not being afraid to speak my mind. So make sure itâs not anyone else holding you back.
My number one tip for new UXers would be to read. Read lots and often! Read everything! Blogs, newsletters, books, forums, technology news, and especially creative novels. Reading uses the creative side of your brain, and reading things related to design and UX will help you gain knowledge.
I rotate the stack of books on my desk often so that if Iâm stuck I can flick through them and get ideas. I have a mixture of coding books, art books, and ux theory books (donât make me think) etc.
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Thatâs awful! Good on you for recognising it and getting out.
I would also add this: You should also be able to empathize with your team members as well as your users! When you have a good understanding of what possible in a limited time, you can make a better connection with developers, Product Managers/Owners and other team members. Have a good understanding of their professional lifestyle and limitations can make you the favorite person in the team which enables you to have much quicker solutions as a UX designer.
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Yes! This is something weâre thinking about a lot this month with our Make Meaningful Work theme.
We have an AMA along these lines (cohesive teamwork) with the lovely @natalie_eustace next month.
Hi @damian Couldânt agree more! UX Research is the foundation for the entire design decision making process - without deeply understanding the research you canât design. As we know, straight to wireframes is the biggest, baddest UX idea ever. Thatâs why I suggest all my âUX transitionâ mentees get out there and learn the fundamentals of usability testing FIRST, gradually, step by step. I felt so strongly about this I wrote an article How to Master the Art of Usability Testing to inspire others to show them why itâs important.
Thanks again for pointing the importance of this out.
Warmly, Louise
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Listening patiently to users and clients responses. This helps me a lot in ultimately finding out the specific features they are looking for. So, thatâs my favorite UX tip.
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Adding few more
- Communication skill should be excellent to express ideas and solutions.
- Should have analytical view, very observant, be curious, be a good listener.
- Always questioning everything, Will think how to improve the product/app/experience.
- Open minded & Keen for knowledge
- Should have thick skin, Good UX designers thrive on critical feedback.
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Very well put @ali_eslamifar I agree a 100%.
In my opinion, the #1 skill to develop as a UXer is the ability to listen to and understand users. Simply because theyâre the main purpose of our work and the best measure for good results.
New tools will come and go. New devices will come and go. Processes are always introduced and improved. Itâs hard to predict what kind of interfaces weâll be designing in a few years, let alone HOW weâll be doing it. If we always focus on the user weâre building for (and why), we can be sure itâs the right direction.
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Lots of great points on this thread.
Adding to the list:
Goal oriented UX: Have a clear goal before you being UX research. What are you doing this research for? What is it that youâre looking to find?
Quoting from my blog post on this topic:
Lets consider two scenarios.
- Problems: Sometimes you need to work on existing problems in a product. Youâve done your user research, and identified the critical problems. The next logical step should be coming up with suggestions for eliminating the problem. Lets say the problem is âThe page displays ads at page load, and the users leave before any engagementâ. Even if you removed the ads, how would you measure if that change was successful? Would the parameters be average user time spent? Would it be number of users clicking a button? It important to identify these success parameters.
- New goals: Say your company comes up with a new goal. They want to push ebooks more than paperbacks. Since this is not a problem, the approach to this would be a little different. You come up with a design solution and do usability tests on it. Once the design is deployed, how would you know if youâve met the goal? What parameter would say definitively that the design is successful?
There should be a goal, a measurable goal.
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Always ask âwhyâ. In my experience, projects with a clearly defined âwhyâ stand the best chance of success.
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There are a lot of UX Design Techniques and Tips that you need to follow. Also, neither clients nor users are interested in the design techniques you use. In fact, the only thing they care about is the final result of your work. That is why it is up to you which methods to choose. Make a decision by reference to complexity and duration of the project. Also, consider your own experience and the experience of your colleagues. Try to start from reading this short article - 6 Quick UX Design Techniques That Really Work
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Its a team sport. Lots of contact!
Unlike some other disciplines UX cannot be done effectively on your own.
You gotta âget out of the buildingâ as Steve Blank put it.
If you not comfortable with taking to customers or users. Think of it as just another skills, like learning to wireframe, It needs practice. The more you do the better you get and the easier its becomes.
Paddy
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There are conceptual qualities a new UX designer must have including creativity, understanding what the user may want and create a user oriented design which improves the user experience.
The basic tools in which a new UX designer should be good at are : photoshop, adobe illustrator, Invision - visual representation.
After being good at using these tools a new ux designer can be able to execute his/er design on the screen. As implementation of a designerâs thoughts on screen is the most basic part of ux design other than being creative as well as conceptual.