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Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/print-on-demand/best-printify-alternatives

In this article, we’re going to be exploring the best Printify alternatives, for those who want an alternate solution for POD selling. For Print on Demand, there are some names which often stand out more than others. Printify is one of the better-known companies in the POD landscape.

However, it’s not the only option. Like dropshipping, print on demand has emerged as an extremely popular business model in the current market. This has led to an influx of reputable POD resources appearing worldwide.

Alternatives like Printful give companies a range of options for where they can source their products, ideal for situations where Printify might not have the items you’re looking for, or the quality of service you need.

Let’s take a look at some of the top Printify alternatives on the market today.

1. Printful

Printful is possibly the most popular print on demand company in a lot of countries today. Known for it’s wide selection of products, excellent shipping times, and handy mock-up generator, Printful has a lot to offer. Printful offers a host of ways to make your brand stand out when you’re producing POD products too, with solutions like cut and sew, sublimation printing and embroidery.

Part of what makes Printful so attractive is a commitment to helping companies dive into the POD world as quickly and easily as possible. Everything is simple and straightforward, from the moment you sign up, you’ll be guided through the process of finding the products you need. There’s even a handy mock-up generator, where you can add your designs to the products you want to sell.

You’ll be able to integrate Printify with your online stores, to help with speedily listing products. You can even add things like branded labels and unique packaging inserts into the mix, to help ensure you make the right impact with your brand image. Overall, it’s an excellent alternative to Printify.

Printful also promises excellent customer service, so if anything does go wrong with your shipping or printing process, you can reach out and get answers as quickly as possible. This is crucial in a POD landscape where your customers are reliant on you to deal with problems.

Pricing ?

There’s no monthly or setup fees included when you start using Printful. Similar to Printify, the amount you spend will depend on the kind of products you want to order for your customers, the branding options you choose, and the speed and destination of shipping. There are various calculators on Printful to help you estimate costs.

Pros:

Lots of branding and customization
Fulfillment centers around the world
Great customer service and support
Huge range of products
Mock-up builder helps with designing products
Sample order discounts
Integrations with leading website building tools

Cons:

Can be difficult to establish shipping settings
Profit margins are a little low

Who is it Best For? ✅

Widely considered one of the top print on demand products available, Printful offers a huge range of products and excellent customer service for companies from all backgrounds. There’s even a mock-up generator for creating your designs.

? Read our Printful review.

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2. Print Aura

One of the leading printing services on the market for simple but effective apparel printing, Print Aura offers an affordable and easy way to start your online store. There are tons of items to get started with building your product selection, with options like aprons, hats, masks, and mugs. You can even create phone cases, children’s clothing, and pillows.

Print Aura is also wonderfully efficient. The average turnaround time is usually around 3-to-5 days, which is excellent if you’re trying to deliver the best possible experience to your target audience. There’s also a wide range of customization options, to ensure your brand stands out.

While Print Aura may seem a little basic at first glance, compared to other market leaders like Printify, it’s an excellent pick for many business leaders. There are no minimum orders, and the printing quality is always excellent. You also get the added benefit of global and US shipping.

Print Aura also gives you a number of assets to help with starting your sales online. Alongside a design tool for mock-ups, you’ll also get a range of how-to guides, amazing customer support, and plenty of tips. The Print Aura Guarantee ensures every print is high quality.

Pricing ?

Print Aura’s pricing will depend on the kind of items you’re going to be purchasing and shipping to your customers. Keep in mind you’ll spend a lot less if you’re choosing simple items with simple branding options. Sweatshirts, for instance, will cost around $8.50 on average, while pillows are around $11.50. Though some of the items are pricey, you do get an excellent shipping calculator, and high-quality products.

Pros:

Lots of branding options to make your products stand out
No setup or subscription fees
Mockup generator to help with your designs
Track customer items whenever they ship
No minimum order requirements
High quality products

Cons:

Customer service responses can be slow
Some shipping costs are expensive

Who is it Best For? ✅

If you’re looking for a wide range of excellent products and decent delivery speeds, Print Aura is a great choice. There’s also the added peace of mind which comes with a product guarantee to ensure you’re getting good quality.

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3. Gooten

Gooten is one of the better-known names in the Print on Demand market. Known for offering a wide variety of easy-to-use services, Gooten makes sure you can get your designs on the web and selling as quickly as possible. This fantastic product ensures you can sell your own designs with speed. There’s also the option to purchase designs of other artists too.

Once you sign up for an account with Gooten, it’s simple to start selling. There’s plenty of tools like a mockup generator for checking out what your product is going to look like. There’s also an automated system for delivery and order tracking.

Gooten has more than 150 product options, and integrates with leading website creation tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Etsy. There’s also excellent speed of service with Gooten. Not only can you send products to more than 70 global routing locations, but you’ll have access to 2.8-day average production, and 3.9 day average shipping.

Gooten has earned a lot of recognition over the years for its excellent service and fantastic selection of high-quality items. You can even print products you might not find elsewhere, like yoga mats and gym bags.

Pricing ?

Pricing for Gooten will depend on what you want to sell. There aren’t any set-up or monthly fees. You simply calculate the product costs, add in your shipping costs, and determine how much you’re going to spend on branding.

Pros:

Excellent broad product selection
Easy to use with lots of great tools
Integration with top website builders
Global shipping and fast shipping feeds
Fast production times
Automated order tracking

Cons:

Prices can be somewhat high
Not a lot of marketing tools available

Who is it Best For? ✅

If you want to transform your existing website with POD technology, Gooten integrates with a huge selection of website builders, to help bring your dream to life. The company also offers some of the fastest shipping and production times.

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4. Teespring

Another fantastic Printify alternative, Teespring offers a wide range of beautiful print-on-demand items, for affordable prices. There are plenty of famous brands and influencers already selling their merchandise on Teespring, so you know it’s trustworthy. While the company started out selling only custom T-shirts, today’s entrepreneurs can sell everything from mugs and stickers to artwork.

Similar to most POD companies, TeeSpring simplifies the process of building your ideal business. You can use the mock-up generator to estimate what your items are going to look like before they reach your online store. There’s also plenty of room for experimentation with branding options to make your products stand out.

You’ll be able to cross-sell your products across a range of channels, download images of your mockup products, and even donate your profits to charity if you like. There’s even the option to add multiple people to a Teespring account, which is ideal if you’re running a business with a handful of employees all working together.

The Boosted network offered by TeeSpring is fantastic if you need extra help reaching potential buyers too. This allows you to highlight your items to customers on places like Amazon and Etsy.

Pricing ?

Similar to may POD solutions, you’ll be able to start selling on TeeSpring for free, paying just the costs of making and shipping your items. You will have access to options like “rush shipping” in some cases, which can cost more.

Pros:

Lots of products to choose from
Plenty of marketing help with the boosted network
Straightforward fulfilment and ordering
Easy-to-use mockup generator
Rush shipping options
High-quality products

Cons:

Can be a little tricky to get used to at first
Limitations on customization

Who is it Best For? ✅

If you’re looking for a print on demand company to help you start making an impact online, Teespring could be the ideal choice. The boosted network is great when you need help drawing attention to your products as a new brand.

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5. Spreadshirt

A beautifully straightforward solution for print on demand, Spreadshirt is a German company with a host of fantastic products on offer. There are more than 200 items to explore, and you can sell in up to 12 different languages. The range of customization options on Spreadshirt is great too, with step-by-step guidance to ensure you make your products look amazing.

Spreadshirt stands out as one of the more appealing solutions on the market due to its versatility. If you don’t have any ideas for a product yourself, you can simply use one of the designs made by the artists in Spreadshirt’s community. There’s also a number of eco-friendly production processes in play, to ensure you’re not having a negative impact on the environment.

Spreadshirt simplifies the process of selling gifts, clothes, apparel, and more. It’s also one of the few print-on-demand companies with transparent manufacturing methods. With items from photos and t-shirts, to Christmas gifts, you’ll have no problem finding things to sell. Plus, you can boost your chances of getting a sale with the Spreadshirt marketplace.

Pricing ?

The price you pay when selling on Spreadshirt will depend on which items you want to ship to customers, and how you’re going to customize them. You’ll also need to pay for the storage and shipping costs associated with creating your products.

Pros:

Excellent for finding existing customers
Lots of ways to customize your items
PayPal payments are available
Artists to give you extra design options
Easy-to-use environment

Cons:

You’ll deal with most of the marketing yourself
Some products can get quite pricey

Who is it Best For? ✅

If you’re looking for an easy way to start selling online, even if you don’t have your own designs already available, Spreadshirt is a great choice. Thanks to the available artists on the platform, you should have no trouble building a product portfolio.

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6. Modalyst

Another great option for building your e-commerce business via print on demand, Modalyst connects your existing website to drop shippers all around Canada, Europe and the US. You can build an ecommerce business quickly and easily with Modalst, creating custom products from scratch, without compromising on quality.

The vast supplier network from Modalyst allows you to add a range of products to your ecommerce platforms, such as bags, t-shirts, hoodies and more. You can experiment with custom printing options, and get samples sent to your home so you can test the quality of everything you make.

One of the best things about this Print on Demand service, is Modalyst only ever connects you with high-quality suppliers, so you never have to worry about a low-quality print provider ruining your business reputation.

Pricing ?

Modalyst has a selection of pricing plans, all available on Monthly and Yearly plans. The first option is “Hobby” for $0, then there’s “Start-up” at $35 per month, and “Pro” for $90 per month. The different packages give you more access to a higher range of trending products from top t-shirt printing companies and creative providers.

A higher priced package can also help you to reach your customer base across the USA and Europe faster, as the dropshippers offer faster delivery times.

Pros:

Very reliable dropshipping services
Great for finding and selling trending products
Fulfillment centers around the world
Merch, leggings, home decor, and many other options to choose from
Rapid order fulfillment

Cons:

Can be expensive to access some unique products
Hefty transaction fee on a variety of products

Who is it Best For? ✅

If you’re looking for a dropshipping solution that can offer a wide range of product designs upfront with no compromise on quality, Modalyst is a great choice. The solution will give you access to leading luxurious brands – but you will need to be willing to pay the price.

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Choosing Your Printify Alternatives

There are no shortage of Printify alternatives to choose from in the current dropshipping markets. Each solution comes with its own benefits, from templates for your designs to reduce the hassle of creation, to extensive integration functionality for your existing Wix or Shopify store.

The right Printify alternative for you will offer more than just competitive prices for your dropshipping products. You’ll also need to find something you can trust to deliver excellent, high-quality items to your customers as quickly as possible.

Beginners will need a service that’s convenient and easy to use, while developers and tech-savvy business owners may want more advanced features like API access and connections to platforms like eBay and Amazon. Good luck finding the service that works best for you.

The post The Best Printify Alternatives for Print on Demand in 2022 appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Original Source: https://smashingmagazine.com/2021/12/designing-better-links-websites-emails-guideline/

Why are “click here” and “by this link” poor choices? And is it acceptable to use “read more”? All these phrases have become so common that many people don’t see any problems with them.

How many times have you encountered or composed the following on websites, in emails, or intranets?

Fill in this form by the end of the day.
Check the equipment policy by the link.
You can find more information here, here, and here.

In this article, I’ll explain popular wording and formatting mistakes and will show more accessible and informative alternatives. Let’s go!

Meaningful Links
Exposing URLs
Download Links
Links vs. Buttons
Link-Rich Texts
Link Accessibility
Distinction
Color Contrast
Focus State
Optimization For Screen Readers
Duplicated Links

Meaningful Links

So what exactly is a hyperlink? It’s a combination of a web address (URL) and a clickable element (oftentimes a word or phrase, sometimes an image). While this is a vast topic, we’ll focus on text links, namely their usability and accessibility.

Thoughtfully composed links express respect to readers, whereas jumbled-up ones cause confusion and suspicion. When a link is presented as “here” or “this,” it’s harder to aim it with a cursor or finger. Also, it lacks transparency. What is hidden behind it: a page or file, an article or web form? One should re-read the whole sentence or paragraph to guess.

On the contrary, URLs attached to concise self-explanatory phrases inform people about the destination and are more convenient targets for clicking or tapping. Moreover, a well-composed link makes sense out of context and typically combines a topic (e.g. security, brand, marketing) and format (questionnaire, request form, guideline, policy, and so on).

Exposing URLs

If a web address is short and doesn’t look like M$c0P88%X4LHr&dxQ1A, then exposing it right away will work quite well, too, especially if the audience is supposed to copy it and paste it somewhere else.

And if you’ve got a long indecipherable chain of symbols, exposing it isn’t a great idea in most situations. In this case, consider embedding a URL into a succinct phrase or shortening the address in tools like Bitly or Cuttly.

However, these tools aren’t silver bullets: you do get a shorter link, but its meaningful parts will be replaced with random symbols, which are suspicious and not informative. Customizing shortened URLs is possible, but it’s typically a paid feature.

Compare the following examples:

bit.ly/30SjUa4y (suspicious and unreadable);
bit.ly/smashing-books (readable topic);
smash.ing/30SjUa4y (recognizable domain);
smash.ing/books (fully transparent).

Download Links

A link that guides to some downloadable resource needs a slightly different treatment. Besides embedding it into a meaningful phrase, you should also inform users about the file format and size:

The format gives clues to what you can do with this data (e.g. if the information is read-only or editable);
The file size is crucial for people with costly internet, slow connection, or limited local storage.

When you share a bunch of files (let’s say in different formats or versions), it’s not enough to design each link correctly. The whole series should be well-scannable and easy to use.

Links vs. Buttons

Not all links on a page or in an email are equally important. Authors often want their audience to click on the primary link, whereas other links can be skipped. If you’re going to draw people’s attention to the main action, think of presenting it as a button:

“Subscribe to the newsletter”
“Buy tickets”
“Get the white paper”
“Download the recording”

If you cannot create a button because of technical or time constraints, go for a quick-and-dirty solution: put that link in a separate line, make it bold, add spacing above and below, and so on.

Of course, button text should follow corresponding patterns so that you don’t cross the line between motivating readers and manipulating them:

Be concise (up to 4–5 words);
Ideally, start with a verb (e.g. “get”, “buy”, “download”, “apply for”, and so on);
Call the action honestly (i.e. avoid hushing up unpleasant steps like watching ads, registration or submitting personal data).

Compare “Download the report,” which assumes that downloading starts immediately after clicking, and “Get the report,” when a user downloads the file in exchange for their name and contact details.

Link-Rich Texts

Links enable the functioning of the Internet, however, vigorously pumping URLs into each sentence isn’t a good practice (of course, unless you contribute to a Wikipedia-like knowledge base that is cross-connected by nature).

Step zero is to make sure you really—really—need all the links. If you can edit something out, there won’t be a problem to solve. Otherwise, try to group the links: as a bulleted list, on the side of related paragraphs, or under a suitable title (e.g. “Recommended materials” or “Resources”).

Grouping the links helps a lot, but if the goal is to trigger action, the primary link should stand out. So, why not make it a button, then?

In the previous sections, we figured out how descriptive links increase usability and accessibility. At the same time, such links are longer, and consequently, can appear divided in a paragraph, when the first part of a link remains at the end of the previous line, and the second part jumps to the next line. It seems trivial compared to bigger flaws, but distorted links are a bit annoying in link-crowded texts.

If a paragraph width is fixed, compose text the way all links fit into lines, for example, try to start a paragraph with a link. However, browsers and devices render content differently, and links will still shift for some users. That’s why lists are a safer option for a set of links.

Link Accessibility

Accessible links are not only the ones that look tidy and clear; they should also be properly working. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the world’s most famous digital accessibility standard, includes recommendations about hyperlinks, including some non-visual features.

Distinction

One of the WCAG requirements is not to rely on color only when you want to distinguish a button or link from the rest of the text. Painting links in blue or another color doesn’t suffice since it still might not be visible for people with color blindness. The most typical method is underlining links; they can also appear in bold font.

Color Contrast

Links are essential interactive elements and have to comply with contrast recommendations. WCAG has two levels of contrast compliance:

AA: medium, used by many websites for a mass audience;
AAA: high, primarily applied on governmental sites and by communities of people with disabilities.

For example, the AA level requires maintaining a contrast between a link and background of at least 4.5:1 for normal font size and 3:1 for large text.

Note: You can always check your colors with the help of the online Contrast Checker or Figma’s Contrast plugin.

Focus State

Like all interactive components, links should have a visible keyboard focus. All popular browsers have an embedded accessible focus by default (you might have seen this bold blue frame around input fields, dropdowns, buttons, and links in Google Chrome). Unfortunately, on some sites, focus gets manually removed or visually customized so that a focused link can look even less noticeable (e.g. faded out).

Optimization For Screen Readers

Blind users don’t see the web — they listen to it by means of “screen readers,” assistive programs that transform a written text into fast robotic speech. They navigate with a keyboard and remember dozens of handy shortcuts to jump between headings, buttons, or links instead of obediently listening to the entire content on a page.

So, when you remove wordiness for sighted people (for example, in the lists of different language versions or formats), it’s important to keep links clear for screen reader users, too. Otherwise, blind visitors will hear the following:

“Ukrainian — link, English — link, German — link”

The self-explanatory should be heard instead:

“Download project plan template in Ukrainian — link, download project plan template in English — link…”

And probably the most annoying thing on a news website is to hear this:

“Read more — link, read more — link, read more — link”

Sighted people can guess that “Read more…” relates to the nearest title, and blind people need individualized read-mores. Fortunately, the HTML attribute aria-label comes in handy here; it enables attaching explanatory text for screen reader users.

It’s often a designer’s responsibility to compose accessibility-related text and collaborate with a developer around optimal implementation, so here is a simplified code example:

<h4>News</h4>
<p>Eleks Design Team will participate in the Space Hackathon.
<a href=”aerospace-hackathon.html” aria-label=”Read more about Eleks participation in the Space Hackathon”>Read more…</a>
</p>
<p>Projector Tech and Creative Institute launches five courses on web accessibility this year.
<a href=”new-courses.html” aria-label=”Read more about new courses on accessibility by Projector Institute”>Read more…</a>
</p>

As you can see, each “Read more” has an extended explanation for screen readers. However, you won’t need to take care of article links with aria-label if each title is a link itself.

<h4>News</h4>
<h5><a href=”aerospace-hackathon.html”>Eleks Design Team will participate in the Space Hackathon</a>
</h5>
<h5><a href=”new-courses.html”>Projector Tech and Creative Institute launches five courses on web accessibility this year</a>
</h5>

Duplicated links

Multiple identical links are yet another widespread controversial practice. For example, on a web page, it means that the same web address is attached to an article title, hero image, and intro sentence. At first glance, nothing’s wrong: wherever you click — you get to the article. But for blind users, it means repeating the same information thrice, which extends the time they need to sift through content to what they are interested in.

An important note: We are now talking about identical destinations, but a card can include different ones, for instance, a link to the article, author’s profile, and tags. In this case, minor links can appear “wrapped” in the main one.

Now, emails. Let’s say we have an invitation to some online event, where a Zoom link repeats several times. In the event description, “what/when/where” section, and closing part. Not only will it create an impression of mess for sighted users, but also visually impaired users will be troubled with jumping between duplicated links.

Recommended Reading

In this article, I wanted to suggest options instead of showing the topic in black and white. There are multiple shades of good design, and you can find yours on the overlap of best practices and your particular case. Meanwhile, some additional reading on this topic:

“Using aria-label For Link Purpose,” Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
“How To Make ‘Read More’ Links Accessible,” Vision Australia
“Writing Hyperlinks: Salient, Descriptive, Start With Keyword,” Marieke McCloskey, Nielsen Norman Group

Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/free-virtual-private-networks/

According to Google, people are spending an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes a day on the internet. Browsing and accessing several sites, making them vulnerable to cyber thefts and hackers, and most…

Visit hongkiat.com for full content.

Original Source: https://1stwebdesigner.com/sencha-grui-delivers-rich-and-high-performance-grids-for-react-applications/

Sencha GRUI is a perfect modern enterprise solution for React UI that comes with 100+ data grid features. With GRUI, Sencha has re-built the Ext JS grid from the ground up to use modern JavaScript, and a whole new architecture that will deliver all the same great features and even better performance in an easy to use React API.

Here is a quick overview of some of the features:

Ability to handle millions of records.
Large feature set (filtering, grouping, infinite scrolling, and more).
Full customization control.
Data Export capabilities (csv, tsv, html, pdf, xls).
Pre-tested across a wide range of platforms and browsers.
Easy UI component integration to the grid.

With incredibly fast data processing, massive amounts of data is never a problem. Utilizing client and server side buffered store, the Sencha Data Grid is able to load and manipulate large data sets within milliseconds!

Key Features

Virtual Columns

Virtual rendering of rows AND columns
Rendering of visible columns even when configuring an unlimited number of columns
Huge performance increase for large numbers of columns

Infinite Scrolling

Refreshes the viewed rows from the page cache as needed

Slider Paging Toolbar

The paging toolbar allows you to paginate forwards and backwards in the record sets with the slider buttons and input field

Column Drag and Drop

Reorder columns with the intuitive drag and drop interface

Column Editors

Each column can be edited, and you can create custom editors using React components

Sencha GRUI has robust documentation to help you get started quickly, and it is built with Sencha GRUI as an interactive demo so you can see how it works while you learn how to use it.

Pricing

The pricing for Sencha GRUI is simple and transparent, on a per developer basis. $499 per developer gives you a perpetual license, unlimited end users and products, and a year of updates and technical support. There is also a Free plan that offers all of the same features and benefits, but it requires an attribution watermark. However, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial to see if Sencha GRUI will work for you and your projects, so that makes it very easy to get to know the product and determine the route you will take.

Conclusion

Mission critical apps rely on the performance of their data grid components. With custom layouts and simple integration with React, GRUI by Sencha renders unparalleled performance to enterprise applications. The extensive documentation should make this easy to get acquainted with and utilize in your projects, and the pricing – especially the free trial – makes it a no-brainer to give it a try. We recommend you give Sencha GRUI a run and let us know what you think!

Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2021/12/how-to-kickstart-your-ux-career-in-2022/

As a UX designer, you get to work on creative, rewarding, even life-changing projects. It’s an industry with flexible working and countless opportunities. All this, and you get paid well too.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not a creative prodigy, or a tech grandmaster; you can learn to become a UX designer with the right mindset, a few tools you pick up along the way, and some committed learning.

By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll be well on your way to designing your new career.

You can do this, let’s get started…

What is a Career in UX like?

Every career is different, but generally speaking, a UX designer works on making a user’s interaction with a product or service (normally websites) as intuitive as possible.

Just as a golf architect designs the layout of a golf course to flow through greens, tees, and holes, with buggy paths for access, and the odd bunker to add a challenge; so a UX designer creates the optimum experience for a site. A golf architect doesn’t need to reinvent the game of golf, and neither does a UX designer need to reinvent websites.

A golf architect will not design a course with a 360-degree sand bunker surrounding a tee (well, they might, but they really really shouldn’t), or a hole too small for a golf ball. In the same way as a UX designer, you’re not going to design an ecommerce site with a cart in the bottom left, a non-existent search feature, or hidden pricing.

The best thing about being a UX designer is that you don’t need to spend years in formal education to get qualified. The flipside is that if you want to be a great UX designer, it’s not a walk in the park.

Every designer is different, but some of the main traits of successful UX designers are: an enjoyment of problem-solving; good listening skills; curiosity; open-mindedness; attention to detail; creativity; communication skills; process-driven; and adaptability.

Before committing to this career path, check out a few podcasts, and read a few blog posts, to dip your toe in the water.

Still interested? Excellent, the next step is…

Getting Certified as a UX Designer

UX design is a practical skill. It’s all well and good knowing the theory, but without practice putting the theory into action no one will give you a chance to prove what you can do. So how do you get practical experience? You get certified, and there are three popular options: online, in-person training, or self-taught.

A good UX syllabus will include portfolio-building projects, tool mastery, networking opportunities, and even 1-2-1 mentorship. As well as learning the fundamentals of UX, you’ll cover user research and strategy, analysis, UI design, and more.

Option A: Online Course

Online courses tend to be much easier on the bank balance, as well as being flexible, which means you can fit them around your current job. You can work at your own pace, and in many cases choose modules that interest you, once you’ve completed the basic introduction.

There are many online course providers, including Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, and Career Foundry.

Whatever option you choose, it is a good idea to get as broad a perspective as possible, so consider following more than one course — perhaps mix and match a paid course with a free one.

Option B: In-Person Training

This could be a university course, or a local boot camp where you physically sit in with an instructor and classmates.

This is more expensive, but it provides benefits that nothing else does. Firstly, you’ll have classmates you can bounce ideas off, collaborate with, keep motivated, inspired, and accountable. You can also get real-time, intensive coaching and advice from someone who’s been there, done that, bought the T-shirt (and redesigned it so it fits better).

Seach local boot camps and workshops, check out workshops at local conferences, and ask your local college what courses they offer.

Option C: Self-Taught

Being self-taught is the cheapest of all options. Work at your own pace, where, and when you want to. Watch YouTube videos, read blogs, garner information anywhere you can find it.

This option involves a lot of stumbling around in the dark. The biggest challenge is that you don’t know what it is that you don’t know. For this reason, it can pay to follow the syllabus of a local college course, even if you’re not enrolled and don’t attend lectures.

In reality, all education is self-taught to an extent, even the most prescribed courses need self-motivation.

Some of the most in-demand UX designers in the world are self-taught, so why not? Start exploring UX blogs like Nielsen Norman Group articles, Google Design,  UX Planet, and UX Matters.

Mastering UX Tools

Recruiters and hiring managers will seek your technical ability and your experience using popular tools from user research, to wireframing, to prototyping. When you get your first job in UX, the tools you use will be determined by your project manager, so it’s a good idea to have a passing familiarity with the most popular. These will include Maze, Userzoom, Sketch, XD, Figma, Marvel, and Hotjar.

If you’re following a guided course you should get an introduction to at least a couple of important tools. Once you understand one, you can probably pick the others up quite quickly… because, after all… they should be intuitive.

You do not need to know how to code, but understanding the roles, and restrictions of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is very beneficial. When you get your first UX job, you’ll need to be able to talk about how technologies fit into the plan.

Building a UX Portfolio

Your portfolio is your résumé. The golden ticket. The silver bullet. Amassing a content-rich portfolio is paramount. You don’t need a real-world job to build your portfolio, and you should already have content to add from your course.

You need to demonstrate knowledge of UX tools and processes (what future employers will look for). Case studies that incorporate research, problem-solving, strategy, imagination, and (if possible) results are the best way to do this.

There are a variety of ways of building a portfolio, but the best is taking a real website, and redesigning it. Don’t worry if your first few projects aren’t the best; as long as you demonstrate improvement and growth, that counts for something. 

You can showcase your portfolio on sites such as Behance, Dribbble, or preferably create your website.

Landing Your First Job in UX

Start combing the job boards to see which companies are looking for UX designers. There’s a global shortage of qualified UX designers, so if you can’t find anything you’re looking in the wrong place! Make sure your whole network, from your Mom’s hairdresser to the barista at your favorite coffee place know that you’re looking; you never know where a good lead will come from.

Some companies are looking for UX skills as part of other roles. Others are looking for full-time UXers.

Don’t be disheartened if “Junior UX Designer” positions require 2 years of experience; HR just throws this in as a pre-filter. If you think you can do the job, apply anyway, if your portfolio’s good you might get an interview regardless, and if you get an interview they think you’re worth taking the time to meet.

If you don’t get the job, don’t be downhearted. Remember: every time someone else gets a job, that’s one less person you’re competing with for the next job.

Quick Prep on Some Common UX Interview Questions:

What’s your interpretation of a UX Designer?
What has inspired you to become a UX Designer?
How do you take constructive feedback and non-constructive feedback?
Who, or what companies, do you look up to in this industry, and why?
What’s your process with a new project?

Good Luck!

So, now you know what it takes to get into the field, it’s time to start applying yourself to this newfound and richly rewarding career. As the great writer Anton Chekov said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” So get out there and practice, practice, practice. Add and add and add to your portfolio.

To become a UX Designer, enroll in a great course, build your portfolio, network, apply for roles, and always be learning. Always be open to new ideas and suggestions. There’s a lot of leg work, but the juice will be worth the squeeze. 

 

Featured image via Unsplash.

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