Free · 7 min read · in Ukrainian
How to become a UI/UX designer from scratch: a 6-month plan
A step-by-step plan to start in UI/UX design: what to learn first, how to master Figma, where to get practice and how to build a first portfolio. No “in 2 weeks” promises.
- What to learn first and what you can skip
- How to get fluent in Figma on real tasks
- Where to get practice and feedback for free
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- Join in 1 click
The plan, step by step
- 1
Month 1
Understand the profession and the basics
- 2
Month 2
Learn Figma by doing
- 3
Months 3–4
Practise with constraints
- 4
Months 4–5
Finish two or three projects end to end
- 5
Month 6
Build a portfolio and look for a first job
- 1,504
- community members
- 8,915
- messages with questions since July 2024
- 9
- design games since September 2024
- 759
- people wrote in the chat
This plan is for you if you are
Starting from zero
You're curious about design but don't know where to start or what to learn first.
Switching careers
You want to move into UI/UX from another field and need a realistic plan, not magic.
Learning without practice
You've watched courses and videos but have no finished projects or feedback yet.
In short
- Start with the basics: typography, grids, colour and contrast, component states, core UX principles.
- Learn Figma on real tasks, not from a feature list: redraw familiar screens with auto layout and components.
- For every hour of theory, spend an hour on practice. The best practice has a deadline and other people's eyes on it, like a design game.
- Two or three finished projects with explained decisions matter more than ten pretty pictures.
- Show your work early and often: community feedback saves months of solitary mistakes.
The plan, step by step
- 1
Month 1
Understand the profession and the basics
UX is about how a person reaches their goal in a product: which steps they take and where they get stuck. UI is the visual language: grid, typography, colour, components. Start by observing: open an app you use every day and write down where you had to stop and think “where now?”. In parallel, cover the basics:
- text hierarchy and line length;
- spacing based on one base unit (for example, 8 px);
- text-to-background contrast and why colour can't be the only carrier of meaning;
- Jakob Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics, the short list most UX decisions rely on.
- 2
Month 2
Learn Figma by doing
Learn what you need every day: frames, auto layout, components and variants, text and colour styles, prototypes. The fastest way is to redraw three to five screens of familiar apps, then change the frame width and fix everything that breaks.
💡 Redrawing is training, not portfolio material. Only put work where you made the decisions into your portfolio.
Don't learn alone
In the Spaceberry Telegram community, beginners ask questions, share their work and join design games together with experienced designers. It's free.
Join the communityFree. 1,504 designers are already in the community.
- 3
Months 3–4
Practise with constraints
Theory without tasks fades quickly. Take tasks with a specific user, goal and deadline:
- simplify a process that annoys you: booking a doctor, paying bills, finding a timetable;
- design onboarding for someone opening an app for the first time;
- add missing states to an existing interface: empty list, network error, a very long name;
- join a design game: the same brief for everyone, a deadline and a community vote.
- 4
Months 4–5
Finish two or three projects end to end
A finished project means the whole path: the problem in one sentence, talking to three to five people who face it, sketches of several options, a clickable prototype, a test with a real person, iteration, and only then the visuals. Write down what you decided and why; that becomes your case study.
Stuck on a step? Ask the community → - 5
Month 6
Build a portfolio and look for a first job
Turn your projects into case studies: context, task, process, solution, result. Prepare to explain your decisions in interviews, consider internships and volunteer projects, and keep a table of applications. More on case studies in the guide How to build a design portfolio.
💡 A rejection isn't a verdict on your talent; often it's a mismatch with one specific role. Ask for feedback after every interview.
You're not alone with these questions
We counted what people ask about most in our community. Learning, portfolios and Figma are the top three, and that's exactly what this plan covers.
Messages by topic in Spaceberry Community, July 2024 — November 2026. Keyword search.
Practice with a deadline and live feedback
The best teacher is a task with a deadline that other people see. That's why the community regularly runs design games: the same brief for everyone, a deadline and a vote.
Design game · January 2026
NAOMA website redesign
The academy's home page through the eyes of an applicant, a student and a teacher. Three finalists; the community chose the winner.
AI challenge · May 2025
A landing page made by AI
Logo, copy and visuals made only with AI tools. Four entries, an anonymous vote, and participants shared their prompts.
Workshop · April 2026
Figmosha: AI in Figma
The tool's author showed how to generate interfaces in Figma and analyse a design system.
Free. 1,504 designers are already in the community.
How to join: 1 minute
- 1
Tap the button
Telegram opens with the Spaceberry community.
- 2
Join
It's free: all you need is a Telegram account.
- 3
Introduce yourself
Say where you're starting from and ask your first question.
Questions and answers
Didn't find your answer? Ask it in the community.
How long does it take to become a UI/UX designer?
There's no honest universal answer: it depends on how many hours a week you practise and whether you get feedback. The plan in this guide is designed for about six months of regular work up to a first portfolio.
Do I need to be able to draw?
No. UI/UX design is mostly about logic, structure and clarity. Observing people and explaining your decisions matters more.
Which tool should I start with?
Figma: it's the main tool in most product teams, and the free plan is enough for learning.
Can I do it without paid courses?
Yes, the basics can be learned from open materials and practice. Courses give structure and deadlines, but without your own projects and feedback they won't make you a designer.
Is the Spaceberry community paid?
No. Spaceberry Community is free; it's supported by Spaceberry Foundation, a non-profit public organization.
The first step is the easiest
Join 1,504 designers who learn, share their work and play design games. The next game is announced right there. The community talks in Ukrainian.
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