Core Skills

research techniques
ethnography and discoveryuser goals, motivations, and work patterns
user modelingpersona and scenario creation; role-playing
product designproduct-level interaction principles and concepts
interaction designfunction-level interaction principles and concepts
interface designcomponent-level interaction principles and concepts
information architecture and information designcontent structure and
presentation principles

Business Skills
project management
time management
stakeholder or client management
basic business writingletters, email messages, meeting notes, and summaries

Communications Skills
rhetoric and persuasive writing
expository writing and composition
technical writing
public speaking and presenting
visual communication

Interpersonal Skills
mediation and facilitation
active listening
interviewing and observation
team-building
collaboration

Usability Skills
knowledge of usability testing principles and methods
knowledge of principles of cognitive psychology

Media Skills
understanding of bit-depth, pixel-density, and resolution issues
managing color palettes
icon design and pixel-level design
graphic user interface (GUI) screen layout and composition
page layout and composition
animation
sound design
prototypingpaper, Visual Basic, HTML/CSS, Director, Flash, or other methods
knowledge of file formats and tradeoffs
Technical Skills
understanding of basic computer programming principles, tools, and technologies
GUI development principles, tools, and technologies
database principles, tools, and technologies
understanding of software and hardware development processesspecification,
coding, and testing
knowledge of existing and new technologies and constraints
knowledge of mechanical engineering and manufacturingfor hardware devices

Tools Skills
PowerPoint or Keynote
Visio or OmniGraffle
Adobe Creative Suite

Personal Attributes
empathy
passion
humor
skepticism
analytical thinking
ability to synthesize information and identify salient points
ability to visualize solutionsbefore they are built

Design some software, get it on one of the dozens of options to showcase your work,
then start sending the link to every startup you can find on AngelList
(company) or CrunchBase.

It will work.

Balsamiq
Mockflow
Mockingbird
Hotgloo
Pencil
Pidoco
Sketch
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Experience Design
Axure
Invision
Flinto
Keynote (mac only)
PowerPoint
If you want to become an expert UI/UX designer, you have to act like one from the very
beginning. Consider yourself the user, understand your needs, identify your thinking
patterns and choose the most suitable product/approach for you.

I would suggest consistency. If you find that product, stay with it until the end.

For example, if youre starting with the beginner status, choose something that will lead
you through the intermediate and advanced process as well. Let it be the same source,
otherwise a mixture of techniques might confuse your thinking patterns.

The best resource I can think of for your situation is the Interactive Design Foundation:

User Experience Online Courses

They provide top-notch free articles, books and very affordable courses irrespective of your
prior level of training.

If you are a beginner, there are courses to learn UX from scratch, in a simple and structured
way that will make the learning process very pleasurable.

Become a UX Designer from scratch

If youre intermediate, the courses get a bit more academic, while preserving their practical
purposes, which is great.

If youre advanced, youll get even better after following the advanced courses.
At the same time, take your time and study other sources as well, in order to take a
calculated decision. I will highlight just a few of those that are worth taking a look:

designboom magazine | your first source for architecture, design & art news
Design Gallery, Articles & Community
Journaling ideas since 2003
Designrfix | Graphic Design Inspiration - Tutorials & Web Design Resources
Why not try a few online blogs and journals?

Brian Lovin
News
Changethethought
http://www.designquotes.com.au/
Cool Hunting
Magazines:

User Experience (UX) & Web Design Agency

Co.Design | business + design
User Experience & User Testing Blog | Goby Savvy
Graphic Design Inspiration, Blogs, Business & Career Advice | HOW
Free Web & Mobile Prototyping (Web, iOS, Android) and UI Mockup Tool |
InVision
Groups on Facebook:

Design (UI/UX)
Digital Art, Illustration, Painting , Graphic D
Product and User Experience (UX)
User Experience Professional Association (UXPA)
UX - Experience Design
UX Budapest
UX Club
Books:
 Envisioning Information - Thomas R. Tufte
Smashing UX Design - Jesmond Allen and James Chudley
The UX Book: Process and Guidelines for ensuring a Quality User
Experience - Rex Hartson and Pardha Pyla
Simple and Usable: Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design - Giles
Colborne
Designing Web Usability - Jakob Nielsen
Mobile Usability - Jakob Nielsen & Raluca Budiu
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices that
Matter) - Susan M. Weinschenk Ph.D
Forms That Work by Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney
Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert
Think First by Joe Natoli
I feel like I could go on forever. If you need more sources or info, generally speaking, hit me
with a comment or a private message. Good luck and welcome among us, the UX designers!