UX & UI Design Certificate

UI Fundamentals

How & when to use common UI patterns

• Menus
• Tabs
• Bottom tab bar
• Buttons (including “Call to action” or CTA)
• Accordion
• Carousel
• Breadcrumbs
• Modals
• Forms
• etc.

Learn Figma

Create Visual Designs & Clickable Prototypes

• Learn how to use Figma to create clickable prototypes to show users for testing, or for clients to see your work.
• Design the UI (user interface of websites, apps, etc.) in Figma. 

UX Design Concepts

Intersection of Design, Technology, & Business

• Through critical analysis understand how user experience as a field sits in the intersection of different areas of the product.
• What is the difference between User Experience Design and User Interface Design?
• Learn about heuristics and apply heuristic evaluation to websites.
• Competitive Research

Knowing Your User

• Learn how to structure and conduct user interviews to better identify the needs and current behaviors of the user.
• Understand how to engage the user to work through assumptions and preconceived notions that arise during the process.
• Write down assumptions for your class project.

User Research Through Interviews

• Refine user interview questions.
• Interview classmates for your project.

Refining User Research and Creating Personas

• Create user personas from the interviews to represent the goals and behaviors of the users within the system.
• Develop user scenarios to show when and how the user engages with the system.

Synthesis of User Research, Journey Maps, and User Flows

• Continue to synthesize results of user research to find patterns.
• Create a journey map for your project.
• Think through the different features of the system by building user flows.
• Take the written narrative to the next level through sketching and improvising using techniques such as storyboarding and bodystorming.

Wireframing, Sketching, Prototyping

• Practice a sketching session for an existing website or mobile application of your choice. Start with sketching on a whiteboard or your notebook.
• Sketch wireframes for your class project.
• Learn the power of prototyping and testing an idea. Understand different methods of prototyping and their levels of fidelity.
• Discuss the motivation behind the prototyping, such as newly discovered user goals, business needs and improved functionality.

Prototyping & User Testing

• User testing methods and strategies.
• Do’s and don’ts of user testing.
• Do a user test on your project with a classmate.
• Clearly list the assumptions and test your concepts. Work on multiple iterations of the prototype based on the test results.

Iterating the Prototype and Further User Testing

• Report conclusions based on user testing.
• User testing reports.
• Rework the prototype based on user testing conclusions.

Case Studies

Building Case Studies

• Look at case study examples.
• Finish your clickable prototype.
• Using a compilation of user research, prototypes, and photographs, build your case study.
• Present class projects as case studies on-screen.

Creative Briefs

Getting to Know a Project: Creative Briefs

• What is a Creative Brief?
• What to Include in a Creative Brief