Key Takeaways

The biggest thing I learned in this course is the importance of focusing on the user. As obvious as it sounds, keeping the user at the center is vital to create a product that will be successful and enjoyed the by them. This is why spending adequate time in the research process is critical because it will help guide the entire rest of the process.

Week 1: Foundations of the user experience (UX) design

Careers

Interaction designer
Visual designer
Motion designer

VR/AR designer
UX researcher
UX writer

UX program manager
UX engineer
Conversation designer

Right now I’m mostly interested in being a designer, but could also see enjoying being a writer or even researcher. I’m fascinated by words, language, and communication, so anything that uses those things would be interesting.

Product Development Life Cycle

Brainstorm
Define
Design
Test
Launch

Characteristics of a good UX

usable
equitable
enjoyable useful

I’ve always been pretty obsessed with how things look and how they work. I don’t consider myself an artist, but arranging things to look a certain way or improve how I interact with them has always been an interest.

Role of a beginner UX designer

User research
Information architecture
Wireframing
Prototyping
Visual design
Effective communication

Teams UX designers work with

Engineer
UX researcher
Program manager
Product lead
Other UX designer

I think I’ll enjoy the wireframing and prototyping the most.

Week 2: The User

Types of design

Universal
Inclusive
Equity-focused *

Research questions

Impairment/disabilities
How familiar are they with technology?
How are they accessing it?
Were and when?
Consider all potential users

Accessibility resources

Google
Microsoft
Apple

UX Design Fundamentals

Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test

* Screen size, interactions, content layout, functionality

Designing cross-platform experiences

Desktop
Laptops
Mobile
Tablet
Wearables
TVs
Smart displays

Week 3: Design Sprints

5 Phases

Understand challenge
Ideate solutions
Decide what to build
Prototype solutions
Test prototypes

Retrospective

What went well?
What can be improved?

Week 4: Research

1st rule is – THE USER COMES FIRST

Product life cycle / research

Brainstorm (foundational – what to build, solve problems, my biases)
Define
Design (how should we build it?)
Test
Launch (did we succeed?)

Research Methods

Foundational

Interviews
Surveys
Focus groups
Competitive audit (strengths & weaknesses)
Field studies
Diary studies

Design

A/B testing
Cafe/guerilla studies
Card sorting
Intercepts

Post-launch

A/B testing
Usability studies
Surveys
Logs analysis

Types of research

Primary
Secondary
Qualitative
Quantitative

Biases in research

Confirmation
False consensus
Recency
Primacy
Implicit
Sunk cost

Preventing bias in data collection

Choose words carefully
Foster independent thinking
Avoid specific language
Limit the guidance you give users
Consider user’s time & body language
Be careful of your own body language
Plan research effectively
Remain open minded