UX Design

Here are 100 essential skills a UX Designer with a formal design degree should ideally develop—covering research, design craft, psychology, strategy, collaboration, and business impact.

 Research & Discovery

1. User interviews
   
   

2. Usability testing
   
   

3. Survey design
   
   

4. Contextual inquiry
   
   

5. Field studies
   
   

6. Ethnographic research
   
   

7. Diary studies
   
   

8. Stakeholder interviews
   
   

9. Competitive analysis
   
   

10. Market research
    
    

11. Data synthesis
    
    

12. Affinity mapping
    
    

13. Insight generation
    
    

14. Hypothesis creation
    
    

15. Research planning
    
    

16. Recruitment of participants
    
    

17. Remote testing methods
    
    

18. Moderation skills
    
    

19. Note-taking & observation
    
    

20. Research reporting
    
    

 UX Strategy & Thinking

21. Human-centered design
    
    

22. Design thinking frameworks
    
    

23. Systems thinking
    
    

24. Journey mapping
    
    

25. Service design
    
    

26. Problem framing
    
    

27. Opportunity identification
    
    

28. Value proposition design
    
    

29. Design ethics
    
    

30. Accessibility strategy
    
    

31. Inclusive design
    
    

32. Sustainability thinking
    
    

33. Business alignment
    
    

34. OKRs & metrics awareness
    
    

35. Product discovery
    
    

36. Prioritization frameworks
    
    

37. Risk assessment
    
    

38. Innovation facilitation
    
    

39. Roadmapping collaboration
    
    

40. Experience visioning
    
    

 Interaction & Interface Design

41. Wireframing
    
    

42. Prototyping (low → high fidelity)
    
    

43. Interaction design
    
    

44. Information architecture
    
    

45. Navigation design
    
    

46. Flow diagrams
    
    

47. Task analysis
    
    

48. Micro-interactions
    
    

49. Motion design basics
    
    

50. Responsive design
    
    

51. Mobile UX
    
    

52. Web UX
    
    

53. Platform guidelines
    
    

54. Component libraries
    
    

55. Design systems
    
    

56. UI layout
    
    

57. Visual hierarchy
    
    

58. Grid systems
    
    

59. Iconography
    
    

60. Typography
    
    

 Usability & Evaluation

61. Heuristic evaluation
    
    

62. A/B testing
    
    

63. Tree testing
    
    

64. Card sorting
    
    

65. Accessibility audits
    
    

66. WCAG standards
    
    

67. Cognitive walkthroughs
    
    

68. Error analysis
    
    

69. Metrics interpretation
    
    

70. Analytics literacy
    
    

 Visual & Design Craft

71. Color theory
    
    

72. Branding basics
    
    

73. Gestalt principles
    
    

74. Composition
    
    

75. Contrast & readability
    
    

76. Visual storytelling
    
    

77. Illustration fundamentals
    
    

78. Design trends awareness
    
    

79. Layout consistency
    
    

80. Asset preparation
    
    

Tools & Technology

81. Figma
    
    

82. Adobe XD / Sketch
    
    

83. Prototyping tools (Framer, ProtoPie)
    
    

84. Miro / FigJam
    
    

85. User testing platforms
    
    

86. Accessibility testing tools
    
    

87. Design token tools
    
    

88. CMS familiarity
    
    

89. Front-end basics (HTML/CSS)
    
    

90. No-code tools
    
    

 Collaboration & Communication

91. Stakeholder facilitation
    
    

92. Workshop design
    
    

93. Storytelling & presentations
    
    

94. Design critique skills
    
    

95. Giving & receiving feedback
    
    

96. Documentation
    
    

97. Cross-functional teamwork
    
    

98. Conflict resolution
    
    

99. Client communication
    
    

100. Leadership & mentoring