Syllabus

• Week 1

  UX design challenges and personas

  • Welcome to the course

    Explore the course objectives and get orientated with UX design. How far back in history can we trace design principles and thinking? And how did modern UX design emerge? You’ll also get to share your story into UX design.

  • Introduction to UX

    What are the basic concepts of UX design and its business value? These are key questions to be able to answer. In this activity, you’ll also gain insight into how high-performing UX designers typically approach their work.

  • Design challenges

    Good UX design exists to address a human need or solve a challenge. In this activity, you’ll learn how to articulate design challenges to generate successful solutions that add value.

  • User interviews and personas

    Who are the humans you’re designing for? Knowing your users is essential – otherwise, you’re designing in the dark! UX designers use personas to give them a clearer idea of the people that will use the product or service.

• Week 2

  Tools to understand your user

  • Understanding user mindsets

    What’s the right mindset to be in when researching real-world users? You can utilise every tool and technique in the book, but approaching user research in the right way can mean the difference between success and failure.

  • Empathy maps

    Personas are great, but what other research techniques do UX designers have in their toolkit? Human-centred design emphasises empathy, and UX designers have a trusted tool for mapping the more human aspects of users' experiences.

  • Journey maps

    UX solutions aren't a single event; they're part of a user's journey that can be scouted and mapped. Journey maps build on personas and empathy maps and capture the current state of UX over time toward an optimised future state.

• Week 3

  Ideation and information architecture

  • Ideation in UX

    Why is ideation so important? Do UX designers really need guidelines to come up with solutions? In this activity, you will learn about the key principles of ideation in UX design and the benefits of using ideation techniques.

  • Brainstorming and card sorting

    One of the most well-known ideation techniques is brainstorming. Have you brainstormed before? Here you'll learn how UX designers do it and how they're structured. You'll also discover a lesser-known technique: card sorting.

  • Information Architecture

    Have you ever used an app that frustrated or confused you? You may have been struggling with the information architecture (IA). In this activity, we'll explore IA and how to use it to inform good UX design.

• Week 4

  Developing your ideas

  • Prototypes and wireframes

    What is prototyping and how is it used in the UX design process? In this activity, you’ll learn about this critical phase in the UX design process, how to choose the right method, and create a wireframe for a design challenge.

  • Usability testing with prototypes

    To know if a solution will succeed, you need to test whether it’s feasible and viable, which is where live prototypes and pilots come in. UX designers also consider usability testing to determine whether a solution is desirable.

  • UX designer skills

    What's your next move? In this final activity, you'll explore the professional UX design landscape and the skills required to become a great UX designer. You'll also have an opportunity to reflect on what you learned this week.

Who will you learn with?