Building a Great Workspace — The Top 8 External Soft Skills for UI/UX Designers (Part 2).

Picking up from where we stopped in the last article, the other 4 essential external soft skills for UI/UX designers are

Curiosity

Curiosity asks the why, what, when and how. It enables innovation, creativity and in-depth understanding of the product. It entails investigating deeper into problems to explore and learn new things to build better products that meet users needs..

From the Restaurant case in the previous article, we see Curiosity in play in the Empathy section where the designer interviews the restaurant’s customers to understand the gravity of the problem.

Curiosity asks for an in-depth understanding of the user. It wants to know the existing procedures for a case.

Curiosity makes you, the designer ask the Product manager why he believes the sign up page for a particular product should include the user’s mobile number and why it shouldn’t be left in the profile page settings only.

Curiosity asks why 3 onboarding screens are needed instead of 2 or even 5!

Curiosity wants to know at all times and this leads to BETTER RESULTS OF THE PRODUCT because you would see alternative possibilities, become more observant and understand processes better.

Story Telling

Have you ever been in a conference where the speaker tells stories and tries to engage with the audience?

They are usually the BEST because not only do you learn what they are pitching, it also creates an unforgettable picture in your memory.

Storytelling is a big part of design processes–it runs from the start of the process to the execution. It helps to focus the process on the USERS–their needs and the value you want to give them. It helps to interact and create a safe ground for the User because you are telling them what they want to hear. It entails using visuals like videos, illustrations, images to get the attention of the user.

Your design should paint a story for the users; help them understand the product and aid easier navigation through the app or website.

Flexibility and Adaptability

The world is evolving every day. The cars our grandfathers’ drove isn’t what we are driving and is definitely not what our grandchildren would drive. This is the same with phones and technology at large. It is essential that designers familiarize themselves with emerging technologies, trends, styles, etc.

Imagine you are a recruiter and want to hire a junior designer. The two top candidates you have are highly skilled with beautiful portfolios, but the only problem is that the design tool used in the company is different from what they are both familiar with. You’d definitely employ the one who is enthusiastic about learning the required tool over the one who tries to convince you that their tool is better than yours.

Adaptability is the ability to adjust yourself to meet the needs of a situation or environment. It means being open to design challenges you are not familiar with. It also means you should be ready to educate yourself about different technologies, products and even trends–not being too attached to your ideas

As a male designer, would you shy away from a pregnancy tracker app design just because you can’t relate to it or would you take up the challenge, collaborate with women and build a valuable product while gaining knowledge in the process. Would you shy away from a Cryptocurrency design because you just don’t want the headache of having to understand what cryptocurrency entails?

Adaptability is a necessity in our fast changing world with increasing technologies and diverse demands from users.

Receiving Feedback

Feedback is needed to ensure that you are on the right track. Irrespective of how flawless and beautiful you think your design is, feedback is given to help you understand why your design is great but needs changes here and there or even why it is so perfect! It’s easy to get disappointed or angry when you receive negative feedback, but you need to remember that it is another form of learning.

How to receive feedback effectively (Center for Teaching Excellence- University of Waterloo )

• Listen to the feedback given — pay attention to what the person is saying.
• Be aware of your responses — Actions (like your body language and voice tone) speak louder than words
• Be open — be receptive to new ideas. You may learn a lot from what the person says.
• Understand the message — You need to properly interpret the message. Ask questions if need be.
• Reflect and decide what to do-access the feedback, seek the opinion of others regarding it.
• Follow Up on feedback — implement the feedback or ask more questions if need be.

Conclusion

External soft skills are necessary for designers — in fact, EVERYONE. They help you create a conducive workplace for yourself and others too, they help you do a great job and ultimately become a better person.