Community: Education

In this edition of Ask UXmatters, our experts discuss whether UX professionals need to have degrees or certifications in areas of study relating to user experience to practice in the field and the value that they provide.

In my monthly column, Ask UXmatters, a panel of UX experts answers our readers’ questions about a broad range of user experience matters. To get answers to your own questions about UX strategy, design, user research, or any other topic of interest to UX professionals in an upcoming edition of Ask UXmatters, please send your questions to: [email protected].

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The year 2020 was a big one for many of us—and not for the best reasons. It was the year of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) Year of the Nurse; and working, teaching, and schooling from home. That year may also become known as the Year of User Experience—when UX design graduated from something nice to have to being essential.

According to a LinkedIn Learning survey of “The Most In-Demand Hard and Soft Skills of 2020,” UX design ranked #5 worldwide on their top-10 list of hard skills. User Experience dominated four of the top seven job titles in Onward Search’s world of creative, marketing, and technology careers. The 2020 Salary Guide placed product designers and UX designers in first and second place, respectively, with UI designer and user researcher in the fourth and seventh places. Read More

This is Part 3 of my three-part series on the state of UX design education. In Part 1, I discussed the role of undergraduate education in User Experience, looking at arts and sciences programs versus design programs. In Part 2, I reviewed graduate degree and certificate programs. Now, in Part 3, I’ll look at the future of User Experience. Based on self-reported data from UX professionals and industry trends, I’ll consider what hard and soft skills will be most in demand. I’ll also provide my professional take on where User Experience could and should grow, both in the near term and the future. Read More