It pains me that this is mainly a list of (well, first it pains me that this is a list at all and the idea anyone would seek to learn from it is heartbreaking) of apps that happen to be current in the field as though knowing what submenu in Photoshop contains a certain option is useful. I’ve been lucky to work with a number of talented visual designers and UX designers. At no point did I marvel at their ability to navigate their apps.
These "skills" might be frequent keywords in job ads, but if you're hiring a designer -- or trying to become one -- I think the following are better predictors of success:<p><pre><code> 1. Empathy: observing and understanding others
2. Creativity: coming up with new ideas, often by recombining old ideas from various fields
3. Knowledge of behavioral science: mining research and theory for useful insights
4. Communication: discussing, explaining, and presenting designs
5. Project management: keeping track and keeping up
6. Ambition: a drive to be exceptional</code></pre>
Agree with the general sentiment here about the skill checklist being garbage.<p>However, one key take away is how the mighty is falling, and it is heart warming to see that. Adobe is one of the worst software product development company who still manages to make boatloads of annual revenue and profit.<p>Hope not for very long.
> But what if I ask whether a person without any tech skills can become a design guru?<p>Usability isn't something you just pick up, although a distinct lack of arrogance and reading some good books will get you a long way. The rest is experience, lots of. Has to be said that not having tech skills might be an advantage - from memory, the xerox parc guys when designing the Star user interface said that it was easier to take psychologists and turn them into programmers than the reverse ("the design of the star user inteface" - very highly recommended) Programmers (like me) tend to be crap at it. At least I'm aware of that; many aren't.<p>You will NOT get good UI design from a junior. They don't have the experience and they rarely have the attitude (they usually think they know it all and they invest their ego into their precious creation. TBH that's a difficult trap to avoid for the best of us).<p>CVcompiler doesn't distinguish between UX and UI, probably because they don't know what the difference is. Yes I'm being snide but as they're the top skills that should have triggered something for the author.<p>Elsewhere on the site they say "This data is based on the error stats ofCV Compiler, a tech resume analyzer which has already processed about 15k resumes". W00t! I recently worked on a system that had parsed well over 400,000. But actually the rest of that part is pretty good (<a href="https://cvcompiler.com/blog/what-happens-with-your-tech-resume-after-you-apply-for-a-job/" rel="nofollow">https://cvcompiler.com/blog/what-happens-with-your-tech-resu...</a>). Trouble with CVs is very much as outlined there; there's no reliable way to filter a good guy from a bullshitter. The only thing I noticed was really good people have noticeably quiet, understated CVs.<p>Always was amused by CVs that claimed they were "great team players with a huge passion for ((whatever))" - dja really think anyone's going to be suckered by that? And if they are do you want to work for them? Recruiters just tune it out. My CV just lists the facts and I make sure I can back up every single one of them.<p>Sadly it matters little how good you are. Drop into the average company and bad management will fuck you over. I really, really valued the few good managers I have had.