Getting back into interaction/interface work

I made the jump from ID->UX while at my previous job, and was able to do so since our team had both functions under a single umbrella (which worked out well in my advantage).

Interaction design like ID has a lot of smaller niches and learning about them and experimenting may try to decide where you want to focus. Similar to how ID has skills in sketching, CAD, model making, user research, etc - the Interaction field requires an understanding of information architecture, wire framing, interaction design, prototyping, visual design, development. You ideally want to be very strong in one or two areas with a basic understanding of the other skills, at least enough to drum up a portfolio. (You don’t need to be a killer visual designer to do UX, and if you are a killer visual designer you probably don’t need to be a wizard at coding or prototyping).

As a fair warning for someone who hires, I cringe a little bit when I see General Assembly courses on the resume, not because they are “Bad” per se, but many people take a GA course and assume they’re ready to go. Since you have an actual design background, I think you will probably understand the importance of a portfolio, how you present your work and process much more then the average biz school grad who wants a career change. You can look into it and see if it seems like it’s for you since I assume with one Master’s you’re not looking for another.

One benefit with building web sites or apps is the barrier to entry is very low. Consider starting your own pet project to learn some of the basics (iOS or Web is a good place to start vs Android). Even if you make something crappy, just making it you will learn a ton. There are tons of online courses, youtube videos, Lydia.com courses etc that have intros to HTML/design that you could watch through in your spare time to get a sense of the skills.

Once you get the basic understanding of how to build something, you can then use your design skills to understand how to test it, improve things, and really start to understand interaction patterns for existing apps. A lot of good UX is about applying the correct patterns where appropriate (an architect doesn’t redesign a doorknob for every door they install) and where to make things unique to solve a problem that might not have been solved yet.

Happy to chime in more for any more specific questions.