Product designer of 6+ years here. As a beginner product designer you can read all the theory and resources you want - but if you don't practice actually making stuff alongside it your work won't improve.
Design, and UI design is a pretty hard thing to learn theory first. You gotta put it into practice by making something, thinking critically about it (and seek critique from others) and then remaking.
I’ll add the critical component of making something and watching others try to use it. My imagination is always getting pushed to imagine the ways people will use/misuse/misunderstand/repurpose something I’ve built!
I've considered trying to learn some product design skills as a developer both for my own personal project benefit and for work. This looks like a solid resource. Thanks!
Don’t learn it if you don’t want to and don’t need to.
On the other hand, if you want a lighter introduction to design, try watching one of Gary Hustwit’s films like Helvetica, Objectified, or Rams. Or read the Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
I can vouch for the Design of Everyday Things too (granted I got the advice from another HN post). It's a brilliant book that exposes you to some of the common pitfalls of product design and gives you many mental frameworks to work with to embrace your designs' shortcomings and, most importantly, address them.
Design, and UI design is a pretty hard thing to learn theory first. You gotta put it into practice by making something, thinking critically about it (and seek critique from others) and then remaking.
Just to throw another approachable resource in. https://www.refactoringui.com/
Open figma and start making something!