Despite speculation that designers would end up replaced by AI, the demand for designers is growing. And with more of the world working remotely than ever before, new opportunities and new challenges are presented for both designers and hiring managers. 

As a designer, it can be hard to prove your design skills. Sure, a portfolio shows that you can create a design that looks nice. But what about all of the design skills that aren’t able to be shown visually? Things like user research, your design thinking process, and your overall design philosophy aren’t exactly easy to show in a portfolio. You need a way to quantify your skills to companies looking to hire designers like you.

On the employer side, many hiring managers aren’t designers and don’t necessarily know how to verify a designer’s skills and how to hire UX designers. Many aren’t even really qualified to review a designer’s portfolio. That means that some talented designers can fall through the cracks, while others who aren’t well qualified may not advance past the initial resumé review. 

Whether you’re a designer looking to get hired or a company looking to hire a designer, some way to verify UX design skills is becoming more and more necessary. That’s why Uxcel has launched design Skill Tests as a way to verify a designer’s knowledge and skills in specific areas. For hiring managers, it means a way to verify that designers possess the skills they list on their resumés. And for designers, it’s a way to prove that you have the right skills for the job you’re applying for.

How Skill Tests help designers

UX Assessment is a way for designers to prove their professional skills. There are a lot of talented designers in the world who have little or no formal training. They’ve learned skills in their own way, fuelled by their passion for design. But that can make it difficult to compete with designers who have a degree or certification that allows them to “prove” their skills and knowledge. 

Uxcel’s Skill Tests level the playing field. They allow designers — regardless of their professional training or background (or even experience) — showcase their skills in interaction design, research, content strategy, and other essential design areas in an objective, verified manner. 

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Ready to try out a skill test? Head on over to Uxcel and pick one of the available Skill Tests you’d like to take. You’ll have 20 minutes to complete the test (we recommend using a desktop browser to take the test, and be sure you’ll have uninterrupted time to complete the entire thing). Your results are kept private unless you decide to share them. If you pass the test — score in the 70th percentile or above — you’ll have the option to add a verified skill badge to your profile. 

If you don’t pass, don’t worry — you can brush up on your knowledge and retake the test in 30 days. And your results won’t be shared unless you choose to share them! We’ll also point you toward resources for brushing up on your skills, including Uxcel’s UX design courses. 

The best designers in the world are committed to continuously improving their skills and the quality of their work. But before you can improve, you need to figure out where your skills aren’t quite up to par compared to other designers. Taking skills assessments shows you exactly where to focus your efforts to improve. And understanding where your skills are strongest let you focus on jobs where you’re more likely to be successful. In fact, 68% of professionals have said they’d prefer to assess their competency in a skill before applying for a job. You want to make sure that your skills align with what an employer is looking for so you don’t waste your time (or theirs). 

Speaking of job boards for UX designers and UX jobs. When you verify your skills with Uxcel, we’ll send you relevant job recommendations as they’re posted. Want access to more jobs? Just verify your mastery of more in-demand skills. Plus, you’re more likely to get hired if you can prove your skills — LinkedIn has shown that you’re about 30% more likely to be hired. 

Uxcel is on track to release more than 40 skill- and tool-based assessments in the coming weeks. That means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to show exactly what your strengths are to potential employers.

How Skill Tests help recruiters and hiring managers

Recruiters and hiring managers often don’t have a lot of specialized design knowledge. And assessing the skills of designers applying for positions can be difficult even for those who are professional designers. Reviewing resumés and portfolios only tells part of the story. After all, just because a designer can create designs that are attractive doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re good at solving design problems or understand all of the nuances that go into a truly effective design.

Objective design skill assessments can improve hiring process. When the person responsible for hiring a designer can be confident that a designer actually understands the design process and is effective at creating truly functional designs, they can hire better people.

Assessments also make it faster to hire designers, which in turn can reduce costs. Asking designers to complete test projects is time consuming and expensive to review. Plus, it can deter designers who are already working full time, as they may not want to spend their free time creating projects with no guarantee of any payoff. That means some of the best designers may not make it through the hiring process, even though they’d be the best fit for the position.

Asking designers to spend 20 minutes completing an assessment is much more efficient than asking them to spend a day working on a test project. Plus, you’ll get quantifiable results without spending time reviewing a more subjective test design. In turn, this helps remove bias from the hiring process. When you have actual data to base your hiring decisions on, you’re more likely to hire the best candidates without allowing personal biases into the equation.

Uxcel revolutionizing the way designers get hired

If you’re a designer looking to prove your skills and propel your career forward, knowing exactly where your skills stand in comparison to other designers can help you improve your work while also making you more hireable. Being able to prove to potential employers that you understand the nuances of great design will set you apart from other candidates.

As an employer, hiring manager, or recruiter, being able to verify that a designer is actually proficient in the skills they list on their resumé allows you to make more informed hiring decisions. Hiring designers can be an expensive process to begin with, but hiring the wrong designer can have catastrophic consequences for your design team. When you can verify that a candidate can not only talk the talk but also walk the walk increases the chances that new hires will be a great fit.

Design Skill Tests are just one part of Uxcel’s solutions for hiring better designers. We’re revolutionizing the way designers are hired, allowing for better decision-making based on quantifiable data that reduces costs while also reducing bias.

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