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Is a Bachelor's in Psychology a good start to becoming a UX/UI Designer?

I've been researching UX Design for months and am very interested in it, as it seems to be a perfect fit for my skill set. I applied to college as a Psych or Cognitive Science major, but I'm wondering if this is a smart path to take to begin a UX Design career. #uxdesign #uidesign #psychology

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Sarah’s Answer

Hello Sherry!

This is a great path for those who have studied psychology! My boss from my previous job was a psychology major and he loves UX. He is able to bring psychology into his day to day work while designing interfaces.
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Neil’s Answer

It definitely relates and will help you, though you will still need to have some experience or education in UX/UI. A co-worker of mine got a BA in Psychology and then a masters in Human Centered Design and Engineering, which could be an option. I've also seen quite a few design researchers who have psychology backgrounds as well.

Another thing to consider is visual design - are you hoping to use creative skills to establish the look& feel of an experience, or are you more interested in defining the interactions and system of the product? If it's the former, you may want to thinking about taking classes in design, or even diving into youtube tutorials and personal projects to see how much it interests you / if you think a formal design education is right for you.
Thank you comment icon I appreciate this, thank you for the advice. Sherry
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Kelle’s Answer

I'd say no its not, unless you want to get into UX research. The UX designer skills and tools require specific training. I would not hire a psychology major into a UX team unless it was for a UX researcher, and even then, I'd expect them to have at least a certificate in UX research methods.
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Ana’s Answer

Even though psychology is not a direct path to UX it's definitely one of the disciplines within the multidisciplinary field that UX is, and it can provide you with great advantage when later switching to the field.

If you want a more direct path, I'd recommend Human-computer Interaction (HCI) or Interaction Design (IxD) instead.

It, of course, will also depend a lot on the area you want to specialize later as well. UX/UI or UI/UX are usually terms to describe more generic roles, though they technically relate to the "UX designer" role when it's more generalized within a company. If you want to later specialize just in UI, the suggestions above are also relevant.

If, on the other hand, your focus would be research, for example, I'd say that social sciences, psychology, and even an advanced degree can put you in advantage for a career in UX research.

Ana recommends the following next steps:

Check some articles on different UX roles, I recommend the NNg careers report at https://www.nngroup.com/reports/user-experience-careers
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