Learn UX 101 -
The Basics of UX Design

1.1 - UX is Everywhere

Intro to what UX actually means. Exercise: annotate screenshots of good vs bad UX in everyday apps.

1.2 - The UX Designer's Role

What a UX designer does day-to-day. Exercise: match deliverables to the right stage of a project timeline.

1.3 - UX vs UI vs Product Design

Clarify the overlapping terms. Exercise: tag what's UX vs UI in a single app screen.

2.1 - Empathy First

Why designing for yourself is a trap. Exercise: highlight real user needs in an interview transcript.

2.2 - User Personas

Useful (not decorative) personas. Exercise: build a persona card from survey responses.

2.3 - Empathy Mapping

A faster, messier alternative to personas. Exercise: fill in a Says/Thinks/Does/Feels map.

2.4 - Jobs To Be Done

Reframe needs as jobs. Exercise: rewrite 5 feature requests into JTBD statements.

3.1 - Research Methods Overview

When to use interviews, surveys, tests, analytics. Exercise: pick methods for 5 scenarios.

3.2 - Writing Good Interview Questions

Open vs closed, leading vs neutral. Exercise: rewrite 6 bad questions with live feedback.

3.3 - Running a Usability Test

The basics of moderated testing. Exercise: spot 3 moderator mistakes in a simulated test.

3.4 - Making Sense of Findings

Affinity mapping and patterns. Exercise: cluster 20 user quotes and name the themes.

4.1 - Organizing Content

Mental models, categories, hierarchy. Exercise: run a mini card sort with 15 items.

4.2 - Sitemaps

Structure a product top-down. Exercise: build a sitemap for a restaurant booking app.

4.3 - User Flows

Map the path a user takes. Exercise: create a flow for signing up and booking a reservation.

5.1 - Sketching & Low-Fi Wireframes

Why ugly is good at this stage. Exercise: sketch 3 layout approaches for onboarding.

5.2 - From Wireframe to Mid-Fi

Add structure and real content. Exercise: build a mid-fi layout from your sketch.

5.3 - Interactive Prototyping Basics

Make screens clickable. Exercise: link 4 wireframes into a clickable prototype.

5.4 - Testing Your Prototype

Close the loop with users. Exercise: run 3 tasks on a prototype and capture what breaks.

6.1 - Visual Hierarchy

Size, contrast, spacing. Exercise: rearrange a messy UI to create a clear hierarchy.

6.2 - Typography & Readability

Font pairing for usability. Exercise: fix a poorly typeset page with spacing and sizing.

6.3 - Color & Accessibility

Contrast ratios and WCAG basics. Exercise: audit a UI with a built-in contrast checker.

6.4 - Design Systems Intro

Components, tokens, consistency. Exercise: build a mini system with buttons, inputs, and a card.

7.1 - Nielsen's 10 Heuristics

Evaluate real interfaces. Exercise: score a flawed screen across all 10 heuristics.

7.2 - Giving & Receiving Design Feedback

Critique without "I don't like it." Exercise: write feedback using Observation -> Impact -> Suggestion.

8.1 - The Brief

Receive a realistic client brief for a small product.

8.2 - Research & Define

Create a persona, empathy map, and 3 JTBD statements from provided data.

8.3 - Structure & Flow

Build a sitemap and core user flow.

8.4 - Design & Prototype

Wireframe 5 key screens and link them into a clickable prototype.

8.5 - Test & Iterate

Run a heuristic evaluation, document 3 improvements, and apply them.

8.6 - Present Your Work

Write a case study walkthrough: problem -> process -> solution -> learnings.