Newsflash … nothing is an overnight success.
A lot of people ask me for shortcuts in UX. People want to know tricks and the paint by number way to do something. One thing I know for sure is that there are no shortcuts.
The first time you do something, it’s messy. It takes longer than you think it will take. You’ll likely have to backtrack and you will probably want to quit. It’s a lot of work. But then, when you do it the second, third, tenth time — it’s much easier.
There are no shortcuts, but things do get easier over time. So if you are looking for shortcuts in UX, then I’m not the woman to listen to! Yes, I try to teach you how to do things and I try to recommend tools and resources. But beyond that — you have to put in the work. You have to think. You have to take what I teach you and tweak it to fit the context of your company or the product you’re working on.
With anything in life, there’s rarely a one size fits all approach. But if you apply your critical thinking skills — power through the first time of anything — it becomes easier.
The only trick I can offer is that you stick with it. How can you stick with it? You have to have a tribe, a community, a group of people who are also committed to the thing you want to do or learn. Surround yourself with them and you’ll feel less alone, more motivated, and you’ll have a group of like-minded people to bounce ideas off of and learn from.