The Most Important Soft Skills of UX Designers
- Avital Donner
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
There are seven most important soft skills that a UX designer can have. With these skills, the UX designer can work effectively and efficiently with clients and non-designers to design an amazing product. These seven soft skills are communication, listening, ability to deal with criticism, self-awareness, problem solving abilities, critical thinking, and speed & flexibility.
Communication and listening are very important when designing for a client or working with a design team. Communication is built on the ability to give constructive feedback, articulate design decisions well so that its easily understandable by the audience, discuss design with the right vocabulary and philosophy, and have the right presentation skills.
Listening is closely related to communication and involves practicing active listening, asking a lot of why questions, not interrupting others, avoiding taking control of the conversation, keeping in mind your own biases, and paying attention to body language.
The way a person deals with criticism can make or break their design career. It is important to take criticism well and constructively use criticism. It is important to remember to not take criticism on your work personally, and instead use it to learn and grow. Similarly, practicing self- awareness and introspection will help you fight your own ego and steer you away from biases. Learn about your strengths and weaknesses and observe your reactions and thoughts. Be honest with yourself and learn from your mistakes.
The ability to problem solve and think critically will get you far in UX design. It is important to ask a lot of questions and avoid jumping to solutions. Additionally, thinking rationally and logically will enable a lot of good parts to your design process. Finally, the ability to react quickly and adapt easily to new situations will help you immensely in a design career.
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