I find that many designers are sadly missing a solid foundation.
Everything by Tufte is worth reading.
The design of everyday things, Norman.
The humane interface, Raskin.
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coming from a data/ BE background I feel extremely familiar with reasoning about systems and performance from the cloud-infra to the pipeline stack level. Or I'm super familiar with data visualization.
I feel like falling off a cliff when trying to extrapolate that knowledge to the more customer-facing world.
Despite having some tool ideas in the past, I realized I shy away from going towards the front end because I really lack any conecptual frame of how to think about and subsequently implement UI or UX.
I don't mean that in a nitty-gritty-designer focussed way but more like first-principle understanding:
What makes a good color scheme?
What makes a great wording and why?
What's a good form of presenting information?
I feel like I can recognize good UI/UX when I see it (as is often the case with HN company LPs), but I'd totally fail at distilling check boxes that such good examples tick.
Any pointers to how I can learn about these worlds and develop an understanding of what principles UI/UX should follow?
Norman is ace. Although his books turned me into a usability weirdo unable to switch off my usability sensors... be careful! :-)
As is Raskin - whose interface "notation" (click-drag-click etc) I think isn't talked about enough.
Can I also throw in these...
Don't Make Me Think: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/032... - I found this a REALLY useful book, and great to share with people too.
A Pattern Language https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Construc... - OK, this is a bit esoteric, but it's so valuable and lots of geeks/UX-ers kind of aim to create their own pattern language as opposed to a UX-dogma.
Information Architecture https://www.amazon.co.uk/Information-Architecture-Beyond-Lou...
Visual Language https://www.amazon.co.uk/Visual-Language-Global-Communicatio... - a kind of fundamental - hard to find.
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There are dozens of methodologies to learn, and put into practice. I would put it that you don't really learn UX, you do it, and revise - in order to solve problems and make things better. Once you've digested some of the ideas you need to start trying the methodologies out. This is harder than it sounds. Even companies that claim to support UX, sort of bugger things up.... in that UX can't "fix" crap... it needs to be in at the beginning.
My favourite activities / methodologies, that produced REAL results were
* Ethnography - kinda just hanging out and observing what actually goes on. One client used to print off every page to proof read their changes cos the font sizes were designed by 21 year olds and they were 60+. The applause I got for raising the font size would never have been found any other way than sitting in the corner. * Card sorting - often collaboratively with armfuls of post its to decide on categories/navigation * Wireframing - I had less success with paper prototyping, but still ... * Personas + Use Cases
...and Eye Tracking - which tbh was SO VALUABLE, not because of the insights it provided, but for the EVIDENCE (video and heatmaps) that you could use to persuade the big wigs.
So find a way to start getting yourself into trying out various methodologies, to fix problems. Doing UX when things are "kind of OK" can be quite hard imo, especially at the beginning.
Your background will be so useful, again imo and experience, you will be able to use UX to provide guidance and ideas and then MAKE THE BLOODY THING which lots of UX-ers can't do. I liked the cross-over - I code a bit and sometimes found it easier to make what I wanted, rather than specifying it or creating "designs".
Good luck!
Tom