What's the best way for a research psychologist to enter the UX field?

Hi Bestica community,

I'm considering entering the User Experience field. My background is in experimental social psychology research (PhD) and management consulting. I have limited programming skills for now, and it seems almost all of the job postings, even for UX Researchers, require fluency in multiple programming languages.

What's my best way into this field? 1) Learn a couple of programming languages and build up a developer portfolio, 2) Find an entry level research position at a large company that has room for specialists in the psychology-side of the equation, 3) Look for a post-doc position in human factors / UX, 4) Any other ideas?

Thanks for the guidance!

Scott

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Graham on February 8, 2013 at 3:06pm

Hi Scott,

There's quite a bit of variety in what employers mean by UX. Many of them want experience in web and mobile projects. Others ask for wireframing, which might be a place to start, to see if you like it. Try a tool like Axure. Others will ask for Photoshop, and some will ask for programming. Part of the appeal for me is that I often get a nonlinear path, lots of variety in the project requirements. With your background, I might try looking at someplace like Gartner group, a place big enough that they might have a department for psychology research specifically. So I guess I vote for #2 for you. :)