Side Hustles for Aspiring UI/UX Designers that You Can Add to Your Portfolio
It’s hard landing a job in UI/UX design for people like me who have no formal education and experience in the field. Having a solid portfolio is one thing that every UX designer needs just to get their foot in the door at a company to get an interview. These side hustles are what I did to learn, practice my skills, and earn money in the process.
1. Usertesting
Usertesting is a customer insights platform for companies to get insights on MVPs, new updates and features, and overall user experience. What I love about this platform is that apart from earning $10 per session just by giving your opinion on products, as a UX designer, you learn what kinds of questions to ask consumers. Usertesting helps me see things in the perspective of the user but at the same time, learn what kinds of insights a company wants to learn from consumers, which is fundamental in being a UX designer.
In the past 2 weeks alone, I’ve earned $260 through this platform, paid directly to my PayPal account.
Sign up here.
2. Upwork
This is a no-brainer. Upwork connects freelancers of any skill-level with companies and individuals. I started out designing powerpoint presentations for clients who needed to do fundraising and sales pitches. Once I got my first few reviews and my profile optimized, I transitioned into doing entry-level UX design work to boost my portfolio. This can be little things like doing mock-ups for apps and web pages, which can grow into bigger projects once clients trust you and your skills.
Not only does Upwork help you earn and build your portfolio, but it also helps you learn to build things for different industries, along with knowing what it feels like working with a variety of people with different working styles and personalities.
I’ve earned more than $1,000 in the first 3 months since I started Upwork, working only 6 jobs.
Sign up here.
3. Sell Wordpress Themes
If you have awesome web design concepts that you only dream of working on, this is your chance to do it. Selling Wordpress themes are a great way to earn passive income, only increasing your hourly income as more people purchase your themes. For example, you spend 8 hours creating a theme that you sell for $5. Your hourly rate increases by $0.63 each time you sell a theme ($5* no. of themes sold / 8 hours). This may look like a small amount, but imagine increasing your income to by $67/ hour for every 100 themes sold without doing anything!
This is something I have yet to try as I develop my web design skills, but I am definitely going to sign up for marketplaces like ThemeForest to start.
4. Friends and Family
Now, this may not be applicable to everyone. I personally asked family and friends on my social media accounts about any potential design work that they needed done. Luckily, since my network is filled with business school students who were building apps and websites on tight budgets, I was able to find a few friends that knew what my skills were and trusted me to take on different projects. One friend liked my work so much that they recommended me to a pre-seed startup, who took me on for 4 months helping me earn $6,000.
Don’t be afraid to let friends and family know that this is something you’re aspiring to do! Help will come only if you ask for it.
Conclusion
These 4 side hustles are a great way to start your UX design career and help you boost your portfolio while earning an income. I’ve personally had a lot of growth since starting my side hustles.