My Reflections from Smartcademy's Intro to UX Design

Before entering the course, I was like a blind rat trying to find my way through the maze that is UX Design. I thought that UX Design simply meant designing websites or applications that looked aesthetic and maybe with a sprinkle of consumer psychology in it. During the circuit breaker period, I tried to find internships for UX Design without any knowledge about it. Understandably, I got shot down for all my internship applications. So I went ahead and tried to upgrade myself by taking courses on SkillShare and learning both the essentials for Adobe XD and Figma. I even started reading books such as the Bible of UX Design: "The Psychology of Everday Things" by Donald Norman to learn more about what makes great design.

I was then introduced by a friend to Smartcademy's Intro to UX Design and I have completed it just recently.

Looking back, I was so naive about what UX Design is. I learnt through the lessons and projects how important design thinking and RESEARCH was in the whole UX design process. Building a solid foundation through thorough market and user research is what makes or breaks a product. I also found out through the recordings of my user interviews that I cannot speak without filler words like "um" and irritated me so much when I was transcribing the interviews.

Nevertheless, the course really opened up my eyes to the world of UX Design and I am so motivated to continue on this journey to be a UX Designer!