UI/UX Design Roadmap – 2025 (Beginner to Advanced)
Phase 1: Foundation (Beginner Level) – 1st Month
Goal: Understand what UI/UX design is and its core concepts.
• What is UI vs UX?
o UI = User Interface (visual)
o UX = User Experience (user journey)
• Design Principles
o Alignment
o Contrast
o White Space
o Visual Hierarchy
o Consistency
• Color Theory
o Color wheel
o Complementary/Analogous colors
o Accessibility contrast ratios (Use WebAIM)
• Typography Basics
o Font pairings
o Readability & hierarchy
o Variable fonts in 2025 trend
• Basic Tools Familiarity
o Figma (Main UI/UX tool in 2025)
o Adobe XD (Less popular now)
o Pen & Paper (for wireframing)
• Basic Wireframing
o Low-fidelity mockups
o Tools: Figma or Balsamiq
Phase 2: Intermediate UI/UX Design – 2nd to 4th Month
Goal: Learn to design real user interfaces and structure experiences.
• Design Process (UX Flow)
o Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test
• User Research
o Surveys & Interviews
o Empathy Maps
o Personas
• User Flows
o Creating flowcharts of user actions
• Wireframes to Mockups
o Mid to High Fidelity wireframes
o Responsive design (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop)
• UI Kits & Design Systems
o Use Google's Material Design
o Apple's Human Interface Guidelines
o Use Design Tokens (2025 trend)
• Accessibility Design (a11y)
o WCAG 2.2 Guidelines
o Use semantic HTML if coding
o Keyboard navigation
• Essential Tools
o Figma → Auto Layout, Components, Variants
o FigJam (for brainstorming)
o Icons: Feather, Lucide, FontAwesome
Phase 3: Prototyping & User Testing – 5th to 6th Month
Goal: Build interactive prototypes and conduct usability testing.
• Figma Prototyping
o Smart Animate
o Page Transitions
o Micro-interactions
• User Testing
o Remote usability testing tools: Maze, Useberry
o A/B Testing
• Gathering Feedback
o Heatmaps (e.g., Hotjar)
o Analytics-based UX (Google Analytics, Mixpanel)
Phase 4: Advanced Concepts – 7th to 10th Month
Goal: Deep-dive into UX psychology, motion design, collaboration & frontend integration.
• UX Psychology
o Hick’s Law, Fitts's Law, Jakob's Law
o Cognitive load, Mental models
• Micro-Interactions & Motion Design
o Tools: Figma Smart Animate, LottieFiles
o Use Framer Motion for prototypes
o Principle or After Effects for animation
• Design Handoff
o Dev Mode in Figma (2025 update)
o Export assets for Web and Mobile
• Design Systems (Advanced)
o Create component libraries
o Use Tokens Studio for Figma
o Use tools like Storybook for code-based systems
• Frontend Basics (Optional but Strongly Recommended)
o HTML, CSS, Responsive Layout
o TailwindCSS
o React (only for designers wanting to collaborate deeply with devs)
Phase 5: Real Projects & Portfolio – 11th to 12th Month
Goal: Apply everything you’ve learned. Build a portfolio. Prepare for jobs/freelance.
• Project Ideas
o Redesign a popular app (e.g., Spotify, FoodPanda)
o Create your own SaaS product concept
o UX Case Study for an NGO or local business
• Build a Portfolio Website
o Platforms: Webflow, Framer, Wix
o Include: About, Case Studies, Resume, Contact
• Behance & Dribbble Presence
o Post high-quality UI Shots
o Case Studies with full UX flow
• Job Prep
o Mock Interviews
o Understand UX Metrics (NPS, CSAT, Bounce Rate, etc.)
o Read latest trends (like AI-powered UX tools)
Extra Skills (Optional but Useful)
• UX Writing
• UX Analytics
• AI & UX (e.g., ChatGPT prompts in UX research)
• No-Code Tools
o Framer, Webflow (2025 trends)
Recommended Resources
Type Source
Course Google UX Certificate (Coursera)
Book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug
Blog NNGroup (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/)
YouTube Jesse Showalter, Flux Academy, Kevin Powell
Figma Tips Figma YouTube, Figma Community
