Top resources every UX designer should know

UX design is a field that is big enough to confuse and overwhelm anyone new to this field. However, you can learn UX design and access the best UX resources. 

We have gathered the best resources UX designers must check out to build a better understanding of the field and its dynamics.

Best UX websites and blogs to follow

Websites and blogs are great UX resources for staying updated with the latest trends, case studies, and insights, getting fundamental clarity, and finding relevant information. As these resources are regularly updated, ensure you revisit the routinely updated websites with new information and content.

Nielsen Norman Group is a leading research-based authority in user experience. Their website is filled with reports, findings, and analytical evidence to help you design solutions that enhance user experience. One of the best UX resources, this is a representative website of the legendary duo Norman and Nielsen, who coined the term “User Experience.”

Created by Jon Yablonski, here you will find a collection of maxims and principles that UX designers can learn and implement while building user interfaces.

A public-friendly platform asking people to share their voices about UX design and visual and product design. Based on Medium, it runs as a blog where designers and thinkers share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

One of the most popular UX resources dedicated to educating and sharing knowledge, IDF offers courses, boot camps, and masterclasses for all levels of UX designers. In addition to this, you can also check out their collection of knowledge bases meant to help UX designers move ahead in their careers. 

The website offers weekly insight, tips, and resources for UX designers. It provides updated information on industry trends and will help you understand the practicality of UX design principles.

Usability Geek blog shares practical advice and insights on UX design and related topics, including usability, UX, and human-computer interaction, among others.

The user experience section of this magazine brings the best tips and experiences from other UX designers to help you learn the craft. Using the existing experiences and blogs, it’s easier for upcoming UX designers to learn, grow, and improve their skills.

Another of the important UX resources, you must visit this website regularly to get insights and inspiration from experienced professionals in the UX design field. Moreover, you will also find stories by novice UX designers.

Dribbble is a website you must check out daily for visual inspiration. It has web designs created by fellow designers with whom you can check out and interact.

Besides sharing detailed insights on user experience, this website has dedicated sections on UX for learners, user research, careers, etc. You can explore various topics and find the ones that are relevant to you. 

Mobbin brings design-related inspiration to its community every week. The featured content library at Mobbin has over 300,000 screens and thousands of UX design flows and patterns to check out.

This website is dedicated to sharing misunderstandings and false ideas about UX design. The information you see on the website is backed by research and expert opinions, as it shares what UX designers should and should not do. It’s a simple website with all the myths shared on a single page.

A leading UX resource for staying updated with user experiences (UX) best practices and guidelines, this website is ideal for professionals, serving practitioners, and students. In addition to finding relevant information, Usability.gov shares accessibility guidelines digital designs must follow to align with government recommendations.

Here are some must-follow YouTube channels for UX designers:

While written content may get boring for some people, videos are more entertaining. Moreover, it’s fundamental to human nature that we understand more through visual and auditory stimulation than reading something, but exceptions are always there. 

Here are the top YouTube channels as UX resources every UX designer should have subscribed to. 

AJ&Smart is a design studio based in Berlin, and its YouTube channel specialises in sharing videos on product design, co-creation workshops, design thinking, design sprints, and user experience, etc. It’s an excellent UX resource, as the creators explore a wide range of topics related to UX design, offering step-by-step guidance on various aspects of the design process.

This YouTube channel is dedicated to designing and front-end development. The channel’s creators offer a comprehensive and accessible approach to teaching UX, UI design and web development skills. This channel stands out from others because of the creator’s learner-friendly teaching style. You will come across practical tutorials and real-world projects leading to hands-on learning.

A UI/UX designer, Caler Edwards teaches you how to use Figma to create designs. In addition to this, you will also learn other UX design tools and technologies like Figma, Tailwind CSS, and Firebase, among others through tis UX resource.

Created by a graphic designer, Chris Do, this YouTube channel shares tailored content for designers, creative professionals, and UX designers. The videos focus on designing, branding, business, and innovative entrepreneurship.

Regarding UX, you will find practical advice and actionable tutorials on branding, typography, business strategies, etc. The author also shares real-world examples, problem-solving, and design principles. 

Best podcasts for UX designers

Podcasts are excellent UX resources for learning and entertaining you must use while you are on the go. Use the spare time to learn about user experience design by listening to the following UX podcasts;

It’s a UX podcast that shares interviews with researchers worldwide. Strategist Tina Lickova hosts it; the podcast shares personal stories, case studies, latest trends, best practices, expert opinions, and more.

Available on: Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube

Hosted by Jane Portman, the UX podcast shared interviews with industry experts who talked about UI/UX design, product strategy, trends, and industry practices. This is a good podcast for upcoming UX designers who want to stay updated with the latest trends and best practices.

Available on: Apple Podcast, Spotify

Hosted by Anfisa Bogomolova & Ioana Teleanu, the hosts share conversations about UX design careers and challenges designers face and discuss portfolios, among other things related to UX.

Available on: Spotify

 

Top UX boot camps for aspiring UX designers

UX boot camps offer accelerated learning delivered through an intensive curriculum and hands-on project completion. While some boot camps help enhance learning, others aim to help UX designers advance their careers through practical education and training. They provide opportunities to build networks within the UX community, create portfolios through hands-on projects, internships, and collaborations with other UX professionals.

 

Enhanced learning comes from the boot camp’s intensive curriculum, real-world projects that are a part of the course, and expert mentorship that provides guidance and constructive feedback. 

 

At the same time, these crash courses have strong industry connections driven by expert and mentor participation, enabling students to network with professionals and potential employers. While the students receive extensive training, they also get the opportunity to work on different projects as a part of their curriculum. 

 

These projects turn out to be among good UX resources for the students to showcase their skills and capabilities. They get to learn from the experts and use a variety of UX tools to learn and create designs, while building their portfolio. For a fresher UX designer, this portfolio is one of the ways to get new projects. 



A popular course featuring experiential learning for those looking to transition into a UX designer’s career or advance.

Online course with full-time and part-time schedule

Course work:

  • Basics of UX design
  • UX design skills (wireframing, prototyping, user research, usability testing, visual and user interface design). 

The full-time training course runs for 12 weeks, and the part-time course has a runtime of 32 weeks. While there’s classroom learning, the students can also get 1:1 support when needed. 

The coursework makes students eligible to work as UI/UX designers, product managers, product designers, UX architects, and interactive designers. 

 

DesignLab’s boot camp is designed for novice UX designers, and the course follows mentor-based guidance where professionals guide students. In addition to the course, the students receive six months of career coaching to help them secure work in the UX field.

The course will cover UI basics and introduce students to tools like Figma. This boot camp, like others, also offers 1:1 mentorship from industry experts like Poyi Chen, Jane Tran, and Lucas Blondheim.

Online course, 4 weeks

Known for its student-focused learning approach, CareerFoundry’s UX bootcamp combines mentorship and expertise into a single course. The students learn about UX design in three phases: 

  • UX: Design thinking, user research, user personas, information architecture, wireframing and prototyping, and usability testing.
  • UX Immersion: Thinking like a UXer, understanding the user, prototyping and fundamentals in design, usability testing, refining a design, and end-to-end design. 
  • Specialisation: Voice user interface design, UI for UX designers, frontend development for designers, AI in product design. 

 At the end of the program, the students will receive a certificate, which they can use to explore employment opportunities. 

Online course with a flexible schedule

IDF’s UX bootcamp takes around 8 weeks to complete, but the time spent on this course will be highly valuable. Added with specialised theory and practical learning, it includes everything a UX designer must know and understand.

The curriculum includes;

  1. Introduction and importance of UX design and UX tools;
  2. Role of a UX designer;
  3. Navigate UX career path;
  4. Use practical methods to improve your own work; 
  5. Transfer existing skills to build a career in UX design;
  6. Difference between good and bad user experience.

As a part of the course, students will learn from industry experts like Alan Dix, Ann Bradford, Frank Spillers, Mike Rhode, and William Hudson.

Online course

Essential design resources for every UX professional

UX design is an expansive field where you must use many tools and platforms to create a single project from right from ideation to launch. The resources below will help you create impressive designs that delight your clients.

 

UX Tool or Platform

Purpose and benefits

Figma Community

  • Download UI templates, plugins, widgets, and design files. 
  • Share and discover design resources

Unsplash

  • To download images for the UI design

Flaticons

  • Access and download free icons in different formats, themes, and designs.

The Canvas Revolution

  • Download templates related to design thinking and workshops.

UI8

  • Find and download pre-designed UI kits for different platforms and styles.

Miro

  • Digital whiteboard for brainstorming, mind mapping, and design collaboration. 

Conclusion

Your journey from a novice to an expert UX designer will take you through several websites, courses, projects, and whatnot. One common thread that goes all along the way is your consistency and determination to learn. 

The secret to finding success in UX design is continuously updating your skills in the field by using a wide variety of UX resources. In addition to gaining technical proficiency, you must constantly work on your non-design skills, like storytelling, creating narratives, and empathise with the users to make an impact. 

So, keep on learning and improving your craft. All the best!

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