The UX design domain is demanding and constantly changing because of the evolving technology trends and creative needs.
To cater to the dynamics of UX design, hiring the right UX talent is paramount. If you’re a designer looking for a career switch to UX design, it’s essential to understand what makes you a good fit to pursue a UX career.
As a recruiter, hiring a UX designer can be quite challenging with shrinking budgets but growing skill demands.
Even after getting some qualified candidates into the interview queue, what characteristics should you look for to determine the right hire?
Looking for these qualities can help evaluate a potential UX design candidate while letting your team provide relevant and constructive feedback to someone.
Aside from the apparent practical knowledge and skills that a designer needs on the UX principles, research fundamentals, and techniques, there’s a flip side to the coin related to a person’s traits and mindset.
This blog will discuss the must-have traits of a UX designer sought by every design-first enterprise.
Solving Problems
The secret to succeeding as a designer is to love solving problems in design. Designers must recognize that the present reality is changeable through reasoning and the right technique.
Great designers look at a problem from multiple angles and regularly question things. If something doesn’t make sense, they’ll ask more questions with a liberal frame of mind. They would also persuade the end-users to engage in the design.
A UX designer puts himself/herself in the end-user’s shoes and goes beyond just checking off a task. They would probe further to understand the actual user need by testing the design in multiple environments.
They go even further to suggest alternate solutions or are quick to determine if a specific problem needs solving.
Prioritizing problems is another unique trait of a UX designer. UX designers are more of the explorer with the motto “never take the straight line,” driven by curiosity.
A good designer is a continuous learner that is focused on holding the bull by its horns.
User-centric Disposition
A self-centric UX designer can never see the ocean beyond the shores. An empathetic designer always wins the end-user support and comes up with a successful design.
They must not fear criticism and be egoistic for the best outcomes.
The end goal should always be the best product for the end-user and for the business creating it.
Practical UX designers would understand where research, prototyping, and testing fit the design process and user’s needs. They would add value to the user’s digital design journey through generative vs. evaluative research.
An intelligent UX designer would listen to the end-user, provide valuable inputs, and empower the customer by applying user insights to their designs.
Here’s what empathetic UX designers do.
- Practice listening more.
- Allow conversations to be as open and detailed as possible.
- Empathize with people with whom your ideas may not align.
- Validate others’ viewpoints/perspectives with examples.
Strategic and Analytical Thinking
This includes the systems thinking approach, where they look at the big picture while working through details.
A design-conscious designer would demonstrate where a product fits into a design ecosystem in multiple scenarios. An analytical mind can solve problems faster and make ad hoc changes to a design based on customer demands.
Good designers explore the quantity and quality of ideas with information as a valuable asset.
They should be critical strategists who are visionaries in the design domain. They think of using proven patterns and interaction models before using new and untried ones.
A compelling UX expert always works on calculated risks instead of shooting in the dark.
The considerations to make while grooming an analytical mind include:
- Set aside time to determine how data affects design.
- Gain experience in providing design rationale.
- Use patterns and user data to design digital products.
Communication
In addition to being engaging presenters, an ideal UX designer must clearly articulate their design rationale.
Since communication is a two-way lane, customers look for UX designers who are good listeners.
Customers prefer subject matter experts who would answer their questions directly without reservation.
Team communication is another critical area that contributes to the success of design projects.
Here are some tips that would help:
- Look for common ground and build a connection.
- Listen actively.
- Keep track of deadlines and work allocation.
- Assign responsibility and accountability.
- Ask the right questions.
- Be genuine with communication.
- Embrace the art of storytelling.
Leadership
The one who leads the pack leads the design. Leading by example is a fundamental quality of a UX designer that is respected by all.
Leadership is a rare quality that is a necessity in many UX design teams. UX designers must lead a team to consensus instead of letting them hang by a thread.
They would take ownership not just of their actions and decisions but of the collective team as well.
Taking tough decisions and smart risks would entitle the UX designer to become a good leader at work.
A UX designer with crucial leadership skills would steer the ship in the right direction while being responsible and responsive.
Mission-oriented
Many UX designers start well but lose focus somewhere along the way in their design journey.
Catering to mission-critical projects open-mindedly is a great plus. Just focusing on meeting deadlines could kill the creativity of a UX designer.
The main ingredient for a mission-oriented approach is the passion for design and experimentation.
A UX designer must understand the core values of the company and its mission.
Pulling in the right resources, techniques, and people to enrich a design project comes with a mission-oriented approach to design.
Cultural Contribution
Setting into and representing the company values are essential traits of a successful UX designer.
Being culturally-oriented and paving the way for cultural unity through design is crucial in a global business environment.
UX designers must contribute unique skills to the team. This requires a unique blend of multiple cultures that inspire. A profound respect for corporate and personal culture will help a UX designer understand a person’s background and merge it with a company’s vision.
Through valuable cultural contributions, a UX designer can inspire the best in his/her team.
Innovation
What is design without innovation? The real value for innovation in design is derived from its designer, who puts his/her best foot forward.
Sticking to elementary design principles and practices is essential. But, customers always look for something new or fresh.
Research is the primary catalyst to design innovation. Functional designs are born from innovative thinking from UX designers.
Having an aptitude for learning new things and applying them makes UX designers pioneers in their field.
User experience is a broad and cross-disciplinary domain. Continual learning and upskilling is key to mastering new design tools and techniques.
Copying a design is a subconscious tendency but coping with innovation needs a conscious application of knowledge.
Paying Close Attention to Detail
A UX design is all about detail and functionality, in addition to aesthetics and appeal.
A good design takes effort, concentration, and time. Detail-orientation gives designers the ability to dish out compelling designs in less time without much negative feedback from critics.
The resultant design becomes more effective while the risk of making significant mistakes is minimized.
Employers tend to expect deeper and quicker attention to detail from their designers. This trait helps designers churn out accurate and high-quality designs.
A right eye for detail is a gift that helps deliver ROI-generating designs in less time.
Developing attention to detail is easy with the following:
- Use checklists often.
- Iterate ideas and review work with the team more often.
- Practice dividing big tasks into smaller ones.
- Channelize your positive energies in the right design endeavor.
- Practice shutting off distractions.
Collaboration
A UX designer’s strength is his/her capability to collaborate because UX design is a team effort.
A UX family that designs together succeeds together.
Understanding colleagues, peers, and managers and responding to their needs help UX designers remove doubts, inconsistencies, and fears.
UX designers must gauge what their primary contributions are to their team.
A good UX designer would be a team player with a good understanding of vertical and peer communication.
This includes high levels of transparency in communicating with product managers, engineers, and researchers.
Being flexible at work and open to feedback are the two significant traits every manager looks for in a designer.
Dealing with conflicts and navigating team challenges would make for a promising UX designer capable leader at heart.
With team collaboration, you can:
- Understand how others think and reason with a design process.
- Understand how effective your design is.
- Open up to new experiences.
- Gather valuable inputs from experienced and skilled people.
Wrapping up
Being a UX designer is a lot of effort, but it’s a rewarding experience.
To chase your dreams as a designer, we recommend mastering the design and the traits mentioned above.
You may never know how these qualities would inspire a genius design.
At Radiant Digital, we evaluate a designer with 1-on-1 interviews, team presentations, in-person work sessions, reference checks, cover letters, and emails.
Above all, we work with passionate designers who check the boxes for these essential qualities.
