What software do you need to master?
Software operation ability is the most fundamental threshold for your design. If you can't even handle the software foundation, no matter how many ideas you have, you can't recover well, which is tantamount to a fantasy. Software is just a tool. Knowing the software doesn't mean knowing the design. Knowing the design is a level you must pass. Let's see what software foundation you need most.
1.Adobe Photoshop
This is the first software to learn and it is very popular. As long as you master the current situation skillfully, it will be of great help to learn some previous software. For UI designers, this software is mainly used for: interface planning and design, image processing and decomposition, illustration creation, operational requirements design and so on.
2.Adobe Illustrator (AI for short)
AI software is a vector graphic design software, which has great advantages in vector illustration, icon design, LOGO graphic design, font design, typesetting and so on. With PS software, our professional efficiency will be greatly improved. The learning method is the same as PS, as long as you learn PS software first, then this software will get twice the result with half the effort.
Step 3 sketch
This is a lightweight and easy-to-use vector design tool, and it is also a very hot software in the UI design field in recent years. As long as you have the foundation of PS and AI software, this software is very easy to use, just for a week or two. Unused designers can't feel anything, but you will like this efficient software when you get in touch with it.
4.Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a design tool specially provided for UX/UI designers. Designers can use this software to stop the use of mobile phones, web design and prototype manufacturing.
5.Axure RP
Axure RP is a professional rapid prototyping design tool. Although some interaction designers in some companies are also using sketch software to stop it, AXURRP is still the choice of more interaction designers. AXURRP users mainly include business analysts, information architects, product managers, IT skeptics, user experience designers, interaction designers and UI designers.
6. Dynamic effect design software
At present, many software war platforms have completed dynamic special effects, such as Adobe After Effects (AE), Principle, Adobe Flash, Pixate, Origami, Hype 3, Flinto and so on. AE software is generally promoted by the group, without operating system restrictions, and there are many learning resources on the market.
7. mindmanager
Mind mapping, also called mind mapping, is an invalid graphic thinking tool to express divergent thinking. Complex but ineffective, it is an applicable thinking tool. No matter what you do, you must clear your mind first, so that you will not be confused, and you will be clearer when you implement it, so that you can better get through the process before and after the project.
There are many softwares for mind mapping, and there are some tools on the Internet, such as Mindnode, MindManager, XMind, Popplet, FreeMind, MindMeister, Baidu Brain Map, MindLine and so on. I won't list them one by one here. You can choose according to your own habits.
8. Proposal demonstration tool
In the company, we often need to stop the design proposal from the director or the demander. If you send a few pictures at will, your professional attitude is not that of a professional designer. No matter the size of the project, we should stop the demonstration and production of complex design schemes. At most, you should make a demonstration PPT with more than three pages.
The tools for making PPT will be different according to the operating system and everyone's habits, mainly including: keynote, PowerPoint, WPS Office and so on. Keynote is often used in groups and can also be used in combination with some design software. For example, some small icons can be copied directly to participate in keynote to stop typesetting, and some processed pictures can also be stopped quickly, and the magical action in the animation effect is not bad.
What skills are needed?
Besides mastering basic software operation, you need more soft power. Knowing software doesn't mean knowing how to design. Let's see what skills you need.
1. Product direction
If we consider the product direction, besides satisfying the visual design, we need to have a fundamental product idea. Usually, the main function direction of this local UI designer is product design direction, while our design is to deal with users' needs and guide users to achieve their goals through design. You should not only make beautiful designs, but also meet the user experience and business needs. You need to experience products from time to time and improve your interaction design skills.
2. Visual user interface performance level
Based on the concept of product consideration and interactive experience, the design should also be aesthetic and enhance the user's sensory experience. Pay more attention to new design trends, track the iterative intention of some large platform products, and keep your design in sync with the times. It is also necessary to strengthen daily practice, improve design efficiency, and apply new design expressions to practice drafts at any time, so that the current project needs can keep up immediately.
3. The operation design can be improved.
Although more UI designers don't want to design operation-related content, the ideal is always biting. Special page design, banner design, promotion map, etc., are always hard to prevent. You need to have basic operational design skills.
4. Illustration design ability
Everyone has heard that technical things need a little persistence and repetition, and then stop repeated reinforcement. Emotional illustrations can enhance the affinity between products and users, which is also the fundamental talent demand of UI designers.
5. Brand concept and foundation
No matter what products are made, the design is to convey the service value of a certain brand. At the moment of homogenization, more products seem to come from the same plastic surgery institution, and we are all stupid enough to lose our reputation.
The threshold of future UI designers not only needs the ability of product interaction, but also needs to constantly reflect on how to design differentiated products. It is also necessary for us to dig deeper from time to time and stop expressing according to the characteristics of the brand.