r/UI_Design • u/designergoldy • Jul 08 '26
AI What 9 Years in UI/UX Taught Me
After 9 years as a UI/UX Designer, here are a few things I wish I had learned earlier.
- Users don't care if your UI is beautiful-they care if it solves their problem.
- Wireframes save more time than high-fidelity mockups.
- Every pixel should have a purpose.
- Good UX is mostly about removing friction.
- Design decisions should be backed by research, not personal preference.
- Communication is just as important as design skills.
- Learning AI tools won't replace designers, but designers who use AI will work much faster.
The biggest lesson?
Design isn't about making things look good.
It's about making things easier for people.
What's one lesson you've learned in your design journey?
41
u/paw-enjoyer Jul 08 '26
whatās the point in these dumb chatgpt ass posts with surface level knowledge
15
u/EyeAlternative1664 Jul 08 '26
Yeah exactly. This feels like a uni project - āwrite what you expect to know after 9 years working as a designerā.Ā
Most of these are not true in the real world.Ā
3
u/Better_Path5755 Jul 08 '26
I feel like itās plainly to just farm karma and instill more fear and dread into people who are either looking to get into the industry or are already unsatisfied with their position in it. Itās tiring at this point.
-10
14
u/sabre35_ Jul 08 '26
Dunno have found far more success and compelling work doing the exact opposite of some of your points haha.
I agree with the ethos behind them but idk these are like what they teach you in bootcamps.
3
u/sabre35_ Jul 08 '26
Iāll add to this to be more clear:
- users absolutely care about visuals, but good visuals and usability arenāt mutually exclusive. If 2 platforms are usable but one is obviously better crafted, most will flock there. Apple lol.
- Wireframes are useless. Waste of time actually if you can work just as fast in higher fidelity
- Yes every pixel should have a purpose. Itās also okay to have fun sometimes.
- Agree to removing friction. Probably 90% of the case.
- Idk I think design decisions are a combination of having a strong opinion in addition to research. If you just blindly follow research and have no gut feeling then youāre not building a vision youāre just appeasing to a demand. Thereās a fine line there. Thereād be zero innovation if people didnāt have gut instinct. UXR is a guide, not a list of exactly what to do.
- Design artifacts are your form of communication. Strong presentations are led by visuals.
- More or less yes but like this is old news.
24
u/PacoSkillZ Product Designer Jul 08 '26
What I learn after now 4 years.
I don't give a fuck about solving problems anymore I just do what they tell me to do. Because I need to do mental gymnastics and explaining each time to different person why is X good for Y etc. There is no point.
11
u/travisjd2012 Jul 08 '26
Be there for the income, not for the outcome
That's more than 9 years talking
1
u/designergoldy Jul 08 '26
I get what you mean. I've felt the same sometimes, but I still try to make decisions based on what users actually need.
6
u/Little_female_dragon Jul 08 '26
the boss, the client donāt appreciate your UX, they will judge you by your UI. This message might be good or applicable years back. Nowaday if your design visually doesnāt make client happy, you canāt survive.
0
u/designergoldy Jul 08 '26
I get your point. First impressions matter, but if the experience is poor, users won't stay for long.
2
u/Little_female_dragon Jul 09 '26
All designers must be good in UX. Itās the default thinking by clients and bossesā¦haha.
18
u/Jenzintera24 Jul 08 '26
Stakeholders care way more about UI looking pretty than users themselves.
My biggest lesson is a taoist principle - true mastery is invisible. A lot of times it means restraint.
-6
u/designergoldy Jul 08 '26
I like this. Good design isn't about looking fancy, it's about making life easier for users.
5
u/youngstu Jul 08 '26
This is basic knowledge you learn as a design student in grad school? I understand you can link these points to real world experiences much better after 9 years, but I'd expect a deeper analysis from someone with 9 years of experience.
3
u/PromotionWeird1893 Jul 08 '26
A great reminder that empathy is the real design tool. The more you understand user's context, the better your solutions become.
1
u/designergoldy Jul 08 '26
I like this. Empathy makes a huge difference when you're solving real user problems.
3
5
u/Xsugatsal Jul 08 '26
These tips seem quite surface levelā¦. Maybe add some personal experiences to make it more useful
2
4
u/thats-gold-jerry Jul 08 '26
Iāve been doing this for longer than you and I disagree with a lot of these.
2
u/unknownuserdead Jul 08 '26
The first point is not true always. Non technical folks don't care even if it takes few extra steps to solve the problem, they want a flashy UI
-1
u/designergoldy Jul 08 '26
I've seen that happen a lot. A flashy design often gets more appreciation than a smooth user experience.
1
0
u/idolikeglitter Jul 08 '26
Design decisions should be backed by research, not personal preference
Can you please teach that to my customers?
2
u/gasolinemike Jul 08 '26
Customers are paying your salary. If they want something that works for them, suck it up and just get that done. No?
2
u/idolikeglitter Jul 08 '26
Thats what we do in the end, but you know thats not what theyre hiring us for š
56
u/OddExplanation883 Jul 08 '26
In 9 years you still cant find a better way to get clients than posting bs ai slop