Most UX beginners start with tools, methods, and UI kits. But here’s the twist: start with yourself.
UX isn’t just about users. It’s about you understanding people. It’s psychology, empathy, problem-solving, and storytelling—powered by tech.
✧ Phase 1: Shift from Tools to Mindset
Instead of starting with Figma or a UX Bootcamp syllabus, start with:
- User Journaling: Keep a 7-day diary of your own frustrations with apps, devices, services.
- Empathy Routines: Once a day, sketch a user story for someone not like you (a parent, a delivery driver, a teen gamer).
- Micro-Missions: Go to a café or library and observe how people use digital interfaces in the wild. What’s their body language? Where do they struggle?
➡️ This builds the intuition great UXers have. It’s about cultivating your inner “UX radar”.
✧ Phase 2: Learn UX like You’re Training for a Heist
Think of UX as planning the perfect digital heist (but legal, obviously).
- Blueprints = Research → Learn the layout. What are the user needs?
- Getaway Plan = Flows → How do users escape pain and reach value?
- Tools = Design Systems → Your toolkit for pulling it off.
- Team = Users → Without them, nothing matters.
This mindset turns learning into a game. And UX should feel like solving puzzles with empathy and intention.
✧ Phase 3: Build in Public (Even If It’s Ugly)
Document everything. Even the “bad” wireframes. Start a “UX Logbook” or a Notion page where you post:
- Your daily UX thoughts
- Bad UI screenshots + how you’d fix them
- Simple redesigns of existing flows
- “I don’t get it” moments and what you learned
🎯 Recruiters love to see people who reflect, iterate, and self-learn.
✧ Phase 4: Join a UX Cult (The Good Kind)
Find 1-2 UX Discord servers, Slack groups, or LinkedIn collectives. Ask “dumb” questions. Offer feedback. Show up.
This isn’t about networking—it’s about feeling that you belong to the tribe.
✧ Phase 5: Find a Problem You Actually Care About
Don’t just “design an app.” Solve something real:
- Help your grandparents with digital banking
- Fix your friend’s online portfolio
- Improve a public service interface
It’s not about case study polish—it’s about impact and meaning.
TL;DR – Your UX Starter Kit:
🔹 Curiosity
🔹 Reflection
🔹 Empathy
🔹 Observation
🔹 Community
With these, even junior UXers can craft senior-level insights.
Tools follow. Titles come. But mindset is forever.