Ask HN: Resources and courses for learning UI/UX design | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Resources and courses for learning UI/UX design

8 pointsWorld_Peace3 comments

I'm close to graduation and after doing a few SWE internships I've become increasingly interested in learning graphic and UI/UX design in the hopes of a starting a design agency like MetaLab or Designjoy.

I was hoping to get some guidance from HN in making this pivot, there are loads of popular design courses out there and I'm not sure how to vet them, especially given the price tag for some of these.

If I were to instead pursue a career in design, do these certificates have any real weight in hiring decisions? I'm assuming my portfolio would be most important when interviewing.

I'd also appreciate any thoughts from those with experience running an agency, particularly about early client acquisition.

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You'll find a few threads about design courses on HN, here's the last one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38591437

If your goal is to open an agency, certificates have close to 0 impact. Maybe for some government work, if they are fooled by flashy credential like Stanford (online). Previous work is always the most important, combined with a well-oiled sales pitch.

I'm currently of switching to a design studio, so my experience is more as a freelancer, but the early start for both should be similar:

Start with people you know. Friends, family, past coworkers, local businesses, meetups. Get any real experience, do a great job, and leverage it as much as possible. Ask for references and intros, present the work to new prospects on the sales call, etc.

Lead generation isn't a solved problem for me. So far my work came from a mix of referrals, people reaching out on socials and freelance platforms. For the last one, I had a much better outcome with the platforms where recruiters tried to place you in companies. But you'll usually need a few years of experience to be on them.

maggie appleton recently shared this on twitter, i am not a design person but the resources seemed nice

https://maggieappleton.com/ https://smart-interface-design-patterns.com/ https://www.ooux.com/people/sophiavprater https://www.amazon.in/UX-Magic-Daniel-Rosenberg/dp/170806161... https://shiftnudge.com/

> increasingly interested in learning graphic and UI/UX design

You will need some kind of niche because you will be competing with the likes of Fiver and Upwork and other gig economy places for the lower end of the market work.

So you need a USP around a certain specific task or a specific industry/domain area that you have ability/network in.

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