What skills do you need for XR Design? / Pro XR UX Designer reacts

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Do you have a different take on this? What were your aha moments? What are your burning questions around XR UX design? Let me know here in the comments. Time for a change: (0:24) Building my own future: (1:32) Accessible XR Tools: (4:20) XR Companies: (5:45) Big Tech Skills: (6:40) Startup Skills: (8:14) XR UX Skills Assessment: (9:17) Hunger to learn: (9:28) Different design hats: (11:13) XR Design Principles: (13:20) Think in 3D: (14:03) Spend time wisely: (15:33) Certificates don’t matter: (16:41) Share your experiments: (18:48) Join an XR Community: (20:01) Advice about trolls: (21:07) Learn more: (22:13)

[@elijahclaude3413]

This is interesting to see!! I've been in this space for like 2 and half years now and my own experience is fairly different than either of yours. For me, I've kind of crafted my own unique space as an XR designer that is more focused on the storyboarding side, since the (small) company I work for creates mostly training simulations for large clients. Further, my own background does not come from UX. I stumbled/carved my way into this field thanks to my passion for emergent technology (same as you there), but primarily through my job working at a VR arcade, where I got to play dozens of XR games PLUS see thousands of people actually engaging with those games. I'm with you on the UX for XR thing too. I don't even use 3D software much at all. We have 3D artists specifically for that, as well as Unity devs on the programming side, but none of them know much, if anything, about UX or storytelling. I find that a Huge missing piece in (t)his video is the importance of storytelling for XR design. Being able to tell stories in an immersive space is So different than any other type of design. I've found myself learning from movie directors, video game level design, urban planning, L&D, and fiction writing in addition to UX principles. But yeah, definitely need to be able to solve problems. But even that comes down to creating/finding a process that allows you to do so consistently and rigorously. And the dude is kinda toxic, indeed you need rest. And no company should demand you to work so much when at the end of the day, they will drop you as soon as it becomes financially expedient. If they want you to work so much, even if you are getting paid, they almost certainly dont care for your mental/physical health. I work a 9-5, very very occasionally we may have a bit of 'crunch' time, but we do our best to avoid it, and its always fairly optional. Spending time outside of work just doing stuff you enjoy is different, though and can help you grow as a person. No need to mistake one for the other. However, I do need to share my work online more! That's something I've been slacking on a lot! But I got plans for that. Thanks for this channel!! Interviewing all those years ago and seeing your growth has been incredibly inspiring and motivating.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Elijah! I've missed you :) Want to get together and talk about this on stream one Thursday?

[@elijahclaude3413]

@@ninjarobotstudiollc I missed you too!! Sorry I kind of had my head down a lot this past year. Definitely would love to talk soon, on a stream or whatever!!

[@WhitneyHess]

I’m soooo grateful to be included in this video, and to have the honor of being part of your journey. You have designed a beautiful life full of passion and give so much to the world. Thank you!

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Thank you for being a part of my journey :)

[@elijahclaude3413]

Oh, and to call out specific skills I think people should look to foster as an XR Designer, here's my own list: - Strong writing and verbal communication skills --- able to communicate complex ideas through engaging yet succinct descriptions - Immersive Storytelling abilities/interest --- able to (learn how to) write a script or storyboard for an XR experience - Aptitude for spatialized thinking --- able to visualize, explain, and/or depict spatial concepts - Cross-departmental communication skills --- able to work with developers, artists, project managers, clients, end-users, etc and communicate on their level - XR hardware familiarity --- able to troubleshoot, demonstrate, and communicate the limitations/advantages of different XR hardware - Strong user-centered design principles --- able to communicate the value of user-centricity and imbue it into every part of the design/development process - Accessibility advocacy --- able to transfer known accessibility standards, and discover XR-centric standards to every project Then you have your tool-based skills which are fairly easy to pick up, such as proficiency with Confluence or some other wiki-like tool for documentation, as well as Figma/Adobe/etc for UI, and whatever you use for user flows and presentations. Finally, ability to use/learn some tool for visualizing XR concepts, like ShapesXR or I guess Bezi. I think XR Design is a fairly generalist discipline. Though I do think 3D design skills or Unity skills could of course be helpful, I think any job that requires that of you is going to be less about the actual UX design aspect, and more about the art or dev implementation of whatever design is decided upon. The reality is that coding and 3D design are their own disciplines. They only really cross-over to UX XR design tangentially. I'd personally hire a (real) UX designer (ie not one who is actually UI designer), over a 3D artist or developer to train into an XR designer.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Awesome feedback, and I agree. UX is a different hat that needs to separate itself from the distraction of the polish and code. Sometimes you have to wear multiple hats, but it's pretty hard to do and one thing or the other will end up suffering because of it. It comes with experience.

[@designtechi]

I was just facing this topic this morning. Much of what I see for desirable XR design jobs are more pushing for XR prototyping - so outright programming - with familiarity with design. This is an entirely different discipline and not even the only other skillset they ask so even though I am a generalist and spend alll my time upskilling, seeing mostly developer-designer roles isn't great when you specifically want to design and strategize. Great comment!

[@elijahclaude3413]

@@designtechi I haven't been looking at job listings, but I can imagine why that would be the case. Unfortunately, many companies have never been particularly UX-friendly in the first place. Often looking for pretty products rather than actual user centricity. Doesn't surprise me that they would do the same for XR design as well. Hopefully one can convince them though by showing the benefits of really solving problems rather than just prototyping. Wishing you all the luck in finding your ideal role!

[@designtechi]

@@elijahclaude3413 I really appreciate your helpful insights! If its okay, I reached out on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear more about your work something - I thought your comments on this vid was a treasure trove! Either way, thanks again!

[@elijahclaude3413]

@@designtechi Thanks for the kind words! Definitely would be happy to connect. I havent been active there either, but probably will be in the year to come.

[@AndresTheDesigner]

This will be a 500K+ (likely more) YT channel. Phenomenal storytelling. Jam-packed with value. So good.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Wow, thanks for the encouragement. I really appreciate it.

[@joshuabirdine8864]

Thank you for this video, and your insight. Helped clear some things up on my path. Watching your udemy courses now.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Great to hear!

[@tonyK_72]

OMG you're awesome. This video is so useful and couldn't be more timely. Thank you so much this has really helped me, A LOT! thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Wow, that’s awesome. I’m really glad:) What other questions do you have?

[@sunlord75]

Thanks for making this video. I'm in the middle of transitioning myself to traditional flat to the world of XR. Can you share to me some online community in any case that I'm ready to share my future works? Thanks!

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

You're welcome, and welcome to the community. Dan has a thriving community in Discord. You can find the link in this KZbin channel www.youtube.com/@XRDesign

[@NeroPop]

Thank you so much for this video!! Super interesting things discussed

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

You’re welcome! I’m glad it was useful :)

[@thatkirsten]

This is so helpful - love your perspective. Appreciate you so much!

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Hey, Kirsten :) It's great to hear from you :) I'm glad it's useful.

[@jordanpoyner442]

Only thing I'm struggling with is seeing if I can break into the industry without a CS degree (seems very math oriented) or can I do all of this self-taught and with courses & professional college certificates. Other than that, I want to give this a try. Edit: I finally got to the section talking about certificates don't mean shit, your work speaks for itself. So glad I didn't take out a loan to get into this professional certificate program lol.

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

You can get certified in software like Unity, but certificates for completion don’t mean anything. And the “certified XR designer” designation doesn’t exist. There’s no formal certification for that - not like architecture or interior design. Not in the US anyway. Glad I could save you some money.

[@ashishraju5546]

Hey, I loved your views. I am UX Designer from India with 5 years experience. I have already reached the point where I feel saturated. So, I have decided to learn XR design and I felt that it can give better experience than any other device so i started learning and designed few prototypes using figma. I want to get into XR industry as a XR designer as am based out of India there are very minimal chances so can you help how i can get into industry in any part of the world ?

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

Nice to meet you. I'm so glad you've found the video insightful. I'm not a professional career coach, so I can only share my observations. From what I've seen, regardless of the country (XR is an international community) you need to experiment in XR and put your work out there, and get involved in that international community. Just working on ideas in Figma isn't enough to help you grasp all of the nuances of the XR digital 360 space. There is much to learn by getting out of 2D tools and into 3D. Bezi is a free tool you could experiment with and use with a cardboard headset if budget is an issue. Speaking of Bezi, they're getting ready to run a design competition that will be judged by people from some well-known XR companies. I can't stress enough how important it is to get involved in the community and put your work out there. I wish you luck. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZvMkpKfrc2chKMsi=yyMnAzNiwtuVubtj

[@nissrinnissrin5039]

thank you so mush it's was a great video i learnt a lot about the most important points i should focus on

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

You're so welcome!

[@sonjamir7751]

I am considering a career change and XR seems so amazing and interesting. Are there opportunities for newbie juniors (since experience in ux is mentioned)? How developed is the job market?

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

It depends on how much experience you already have in the UX field. Also, it depends on how hard you work to put yourself out there and network. I've never gotten a job ever with cold applications. And there are XR jobs, they're just not all made public. That's why you need to network. Here's my free Udemy course if you want to know more about transitioning from 2D UX to XR UX design www.udemy.com/course/transitioningxrux/

[@Vicky-ym3dp]

Is coding required to get into the XR design field, or can I become an XR designer without coding knowledge?

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

It depends on the type of job you want and the company you want to work with. I personally don't know any code. You can use tools like Unity without deeper coding knowledge. Check out this short for instructions on assessing your current skills. kzbin.infoEe8mxPwkCQI?feature=share Then follow the instructions and use this XR UX Skills Assessment Workbook to figure out where you want to start your focus www.figma.com/community/file/1301258709466814611/xr-ux-designer-skills-assessment

[@Vicky-ym3dp]

@@ninjarobotstudiollc Thanks for the reply. What kind of freelancing can we do in the field of XR designing?

[@ninjarobotstudiollc]

@@Vicky-ym3dp It all depends on your network and your ability to put your work out there for people to see. If you convince people of your value by getting involved in the XR community, people will approach you for opportunities. You could also try agencies like mine, which is Aquent LLC. That's actually how I get a lot of work.