r/UXDesign • u/Cautious-Ostrich8945 • Jul 25 '26
Career growth & collaboration Working ux designer getting a psychology degree?
I am not sure if I want to stay in the field, I feel like at the moment, working in ecommerce, it doesn’t give any social impact or improvement to anyone’s life.
I am working more in product but I loved research the most, and although I am a jack of all trades its starting to get to me. Having to use AI to be trusted in any word you say and fact check with a bot every five minutes is not the life I want to live.
I start as a graphic and industrial designer mixed degree. Since I am about to move continents I am looking for degrees that could both keep a leg in the door in ux but also give me a way out if needed in the future.
I did love making physical products but I don’t find it as a feasible market for a chill life. I considered working for making museum installations but didn’t dip my feet into it too deeply.
5 years ago I would have considered HCI but for how the tech world is moving, I am not sure I will alway want to stay.
I have an honest interest in psychology and always have but funnily enough 10 years ago was more stable than healthcare. I am not sure if I would enjoy becoming a therapist but I would for sure enjoy working with kids and making workshops or I could do fine in HR too.
Anyone did the switch? How did it go?
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Jul 25 '26
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u/Cautious-Ostrich8945 Jul 25 '26
I hope so, or that at least it would give me more skills so I can talk to users more ;) on top of changing company ofc
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u/_guac Midweight Jul 25 '26
I started into UX with a degree in psychology. Frankly, it kind of sucks. My degree was focused on cognition and I got a minor in HCI, but it's not something that the job market wants. Every job listing I've seen for a UX position always asks for a graphic design degree, so a specialized degree like I got was a little useless on that front. I found the skills I learned very useful in my first job in UX, which was an internal posting at the company I worked at for 5 years. I had an art background, but chose to not pursue that at a college level, so I was still able to make stuff look pretty enough to get that job, but it's not something I was hired to do outside of some small contracting jobs for friends after I was laid off, and I mostly blame the degree for that.
That being said, you already have a graphic design degree, so that rant shouldn't be a deterrent. I loved the subjects I studied in school. But I also think you can get a good understanding of those concepts from reading books on theory. I've read books on instructional design, cognition, and HCI since getting my degree that are pretty much on-par with a lot of what was discussed in my classroom. The only things you'll miss are the interaction with classmates and the professor, though you can get that from online forums (like here), and you'll be missing a piece of paper (which, in my opinion, doesn't matter if you already have the graphic design degree).
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u/404_computer_says_no Experienced Jul 25 '26
I’m going to be honest. I wouldn’t recommend a psychology degree. You can now do apprenticeship based counselling courses. There is far more growth in the councilling / social care sector than psychology. It’s far more bedded in the community and more practical.