UX Design & User Experience Design Course - Theory Only

Heya so I will DM you the link to my little guide (I don't really share it because I don't want people stealing it lol) but in the mean time I was looking at Udemy for some recommendations and noticed some trends from my own journey from dev to UXer and designer.

One soap box argument I want to impress is that some people get very, very salty when you bundle UI/UX together like so because user experience transcends user interface and applies to any design system. Here's a lengthy anecdote about the importance of differentiating UX and UI:

When you make tea in the morning your process for putting on water, getting the mug, soaking the tea bag, removing the tea bag, disposing of the tea bag, and enjoying your tea are all parts of the process that create some user experience. For example, the lid on my kettle, by default, had the steam vents on the side near the handle, so I would be a little surprised every time I would lift the kettle. This was a poor UX! So I flipped the lid so the steam vent was closer to the spout than the handle and now I don't accidentally burn my hands anymore. If I were a designer for this teapot I would pitch, to the stakeholders, that they configure the teapot so that the lid, on delivery, is facing away from the handle. I would then want to A/B test with different individuals to see what they prefer and use that as evidence to conclude which design is more appropriate. For all I know some people may prefer steaming their hands or perhaps there's some other unknown use case I didn't think about. Regardless, you can see how the "research methods" part of your education can play a bigger role than anything visual. This is why it's important to separate UI and UX early and often; they do go hand in hand, but they are not the same thing, so that little '/' between UI/UX isn't fair (imo). However, you and I are developers and likely creating some visual interface, so its inevitable that these two concepts meet.

We often talk about lo-fi and hi-fi prototyping: Lo-fi is pencil and paper, whiteboarding, note cards, and otherwise easy to move/change design documents. These are less intimidating for the average stakeholder and so they are more likely to volunteer suggestions for change. Hi-fi prototypes are more polished; color, digital. It's essentially the fancy theater stage that "looks" like a castle until you look behind and realize it's fake; it's just an imitation. Despite this, stakeholders are subconsciously less inclined to want to make changes to something that "looks finished"; even if it isn't. We want to always start with lo-fi prototyping even though it's tempting to take the shortcut right to hi-fi because we want stakeholders to give feedback and not feel intimidated.

I started with Adobe XD to hi-fi prototype because it's what my colleagues used so I went looking for courses that use this tool and found a course that may be suitable. I watched the preview video and I'm confident that this is a good way to go, though I am a bit disappointed he lumped UI/UX together, which was the impetus for that soap box explanation:

https://www.udemy.com/course/ui-ux-web-design-using-adobe-xd/

He also does this shorter, theory only course that may actually be a better starting point, though I think it's a bit silly that it costs the same as the longer courses:

https://www.udemy.com/course/how-to-change-careers-and-become-a-ux-designer/

I actually didn't see a lot of other promising courses on Udemy. At least, not at a glance. A lot of them focus too heavily on the tools and not the theory or vice versa. I do think, more than other subjects, or maybe just like a good chunk of Computer Science, you just have to put it to use and practice.

After Adobe XD I started using Figma because it allows for some decent team collaboration but, if I had to choose, I'd pick Adobe XD every time because it's so easy to use and it is what I started with.

This is a lot more than you bargained for, I'm sure. fwiw I was thinking about running a workshop or course on this but would need to put it together. I may do it in the fall. I'm sure you could attend if you wanted.

Also fwiw I'm only like 3 years into my professional career after grad school so there is so, so much I can still learn.

Two courses I've been taking on Udemy have been great. I'm a web designer, so I have something to build on, but that aside, it's easy to pick up! Sometimes Udemy has sales; these are the two I've been learning from and wow are they good.

UI/UX Theory: https://www.udemy.com/course/how-to-change-careers-and-become-a-ux-designer

Adobe XD: https://www.udemy.com/course/ui-ux-web-design-using-adobe-xd

Hey,

I was that same kid. I designed signature banners on old anime forums way back when. I was incredible at following tutorials and learning how programs worked by working in them. I did not go to college for art, or design. Hell, I didn't finish college lol. It's not as easy to break into the career without a degree but possible. All of this to say, that UX Design is a younger profession. There's not as many barriers to entry as some other careers at the moment. Don't worry about not having a traditional education in the field. Your background in programming will be invaluable for a UX career.

To get started, since there's you don't have a specialized background, start a bit wide in your learning. Take a look at Refactoring UI for a quick crash course on UI design. Learn about the entire UX process with a course on Udemy, like this one, that covers the theory and principles behind UX Design.

From there, focus on more specific functions of a UX designer. Like the iterative design process. How to user test. Different fidelity designs and mocks.

Once you get an understanding of those concepts, or even during some of the later stages, start learning some of the more important programs like Figma, Invision, Sketch, or Framer.

The final step is to begin doing it from start to finish. Pick a project and start executing, and documenting everything. Do that three times, organize your information and put it in a portfolio. (I've made this last step sound easy, but it's not.)