Learn Real World Ux

UX based on real world examples. Gain powerful UX skills you can use to start a UX career or improve your projects.

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.5

- Gain UX skills you can immediately apply to improve your projects and career
- Learn how to conduct effective and useful research
- Understand how to apply UX Strategy to set goals and define success

What you'll learn

Gain UX skills you can immediately apply to improve your projects and career

Learn how to conduct effective and useful research

Understand how to apply UX Strategy to set goals and define success

Learn what you need to know before you start designing

Learn to sketch smarter

Learn to effectively and persuasively present your work

Tips and guidance on staying up to date in the field (and entering it too!)

Impactful portfolio pieces (if you complete the projects.)

A complete

practical real-world foundation in UX

* Requirements

* This course was created for students of all levels
* but a basic familiarity with Adobe and Microsoft products will be helpful if you plan to do the class projects.

Description

Here's what students have said:

"This course is the most valuable UX course I've ever bought on Udemy!" - Jody T.

"Brendan's course is AMAZING! It helped me land my first UX job!" - Phillip C.

"First course, which I found useful from practical point of view. Not just some broad, abstract philosophical narrative about UX." - Viacheslav M.

"Great instructor! He's able to deconstruct complex ideas and easily break them down into digestible content. I really recommend this course for UX practitioners of all levels." - Nutte

"After viewing Brendan's lectures and completing the project, I felt much more confident about entering the field of UX and my project ended up being one of the best pieces in my portfolio. I used it during an interview to land my first internship" - Ana K.

"The instructor's enthusiasm shines through as does his deep UX knowledge and real life experience. Certainly one of the most thoroughly thought out and well presented courses I have experienced on Udemy. I believe this course is suitable for beginners and UX practitioners as each can get different outcomes based on experience." Simon C.

(All quotes from reviews below.)

Description:

User Experience, or UX, is an exciting field. It's essentially about empowering people to do the things they want to do, which is both fun and gratifying. And, having a great user experience drives business success.

Learning UX, however, can be a challenge. Since it's a relatively young field, there's no real gold standard yet for how things are practiced, or taught, which can frustrate people who are just trying to learn things the right way, in order to apply UX immediately to what they're doing, as well as students looking to become practitioners.

I created this course because I believe your time is precious, and you shouldn't have to hunt around to get a practical foundation in UX. Or watch 24 hours of videos. This course takes you through the key concepts and steps of UX, as they would occur across a real-world project, so you gain a complete understanding of how to practice UX - from Research, to Strategy, to Design. And the confidence that comes with these new skills.

There's a fair bit of material to share, but the content is mostly short, entertaining, to-the-point videos, followed by assignments where you'll apply what you're learning so it sinks in. And, I'm confident you'll like this material because I've already taught it to Thousands of professionals and university students who have enjoyed and benefited from it.

Whether you need to effectively learn UX and apply it immediately, or you're looking to supplement your skillset, or you're just curious about entering this fun and lucrative field, this course is designed for you

After taking the course you'll possess a powerful understanding of UX and the key activities related to the field. You'll also be able to take that knowledge, and put it to use to make better work and advance your career! (And, you'll have some great portfolio pieces if you complete the assignments!)

See you in class!

- Brendan

Who this course is for:

People who want to enter the UX field and become practitioners
Professionals who want or need to add UX to their skill set
Anyone at an agency or company who needs to quickly learn real-world UX fundamentals you can use on the job

Course content

8 sections • 81 lectures

Overview 10 lectures

Using this course Preview 01:58

Learn how to get thie most out of this User Experience course, based on your individual needs.

About you... Preview 00:16

The Two Main Parts of UX Preview 04:25

Learn about the two main components of "UX" - User Experience and Interaction Design. (We'll also briefly talk about Usability and Information Architecture.)

Early check-in :) Preview 00:24

Process Preview 02:13

We'll discuss different approaches to Process (Waterfall and Agile). We'll also introduce other factors that can affect how UX is practiced.

Flexible Process Preview 07:06

We'll introduce a flexible process and discuss how User Experience and Interaction Design fit into it. We'll also summarize the core of the UX process.

UX Activities Preview 06:19

We'll introduce some early, middle, and later phase UX activities. (Including: User Research, User Scenarios, Personas, Feature Prioritization, Experience Maps, Wireframes, etc.)

Staying On Track Preview 02:15

We'll discuss how to course-correct, and make sure you're working smart, heading for a successful product and happy users.

UX In Context Preview 05:03

We'll discuss three things that can influence how UX is practiced: People, Environment, and Deliverables.

UX Presentations Preview 03:28

We'll introduce the concept of presenting, and discuss why it's an important skill for a User Experience practitioner to possess and refine.

Introduction to Class Projects 3 lectures

Class Projects - Why? Preview 00:25

Class Projects - Overview Preview 00:46

Strategic UX Project - Pick a Service Preview 01:21

Discovery Learning - Understand Your Business Space and Users 13 lectures

What's "Discovery"? Preview 06:52

We'll introduce Discovery Research and discuss its importance to User Experience. (*Please excuse the different look/feel of these slides, we're in the process of updating the visual design of the course.)

Discovery Overview Preview 02:09

We'll introduce the early phase Discovery activities in more detail. (Including: Stakeholder Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Heuristic Evaluation, Secondary Research, and Primary User Research)

Stakeholder Interviews Preview 08:53

We'll discuss the significance of Stakeholder Interviews to UX, and how they can give initial direction and help create alignment later.

Strategic UX Project - Stakeholder Interviews (optional) Preview 00:21

Secondary Research Preview 03:23

We'll discuss the significance of Secondary Research to UX.

Strategic UX Project - Secondary Research Preview 01:08

Analytics Preview 09:03

We'll discuss the significance of Analytics to UX, and how you can get powerful quant data that can inform your strategy and designs.

Strategic UX Project - Analytics Research Preview 01:23

Competitive Analysis Preview 16:02

(Apologies, updating this lecture to remove the glitches at the end - 08/06/2015) We'll discuss the significance of Competitive Analysis to UX, and how you can use it to glean best practices for your space and find inspiration.

Heuristic Evaluation Preview 05:05

We'll discuss the significance of Heuristics to UX, and how they can tell us how we stack up to the competition and where we sit in the competitive landscape.

Strategic UX Project - Competitive Analysis Preview 01:40

Exploratory User Research Preview 04:44

We'll discuss the significance of Exploratory User Research to UX, and introduce some different approaches to conducting it.

How's it going? Preview 00:19

Discovery Learning (Continued) - How to Conduct User Research 14 lectures

User Testing Overview Preview 08:09

We'll discuss User Testing in more depth and introduce a five step process for conducting it.

Goals & Planning Preview 06:10

We'll dig into the first steps to prepare to conduct user testing - createing your user testing goals and test plan.

Strategic UX Project - Testing Plan Preview 02:33

Recruiting & Screening Preview 09:38

In this lecture we'll cover how to find, qualify, and select participants for your user testing.

Strategic UX Project - Screening Preview 01:29

Assets Preview 03:18

We'll discuss User Testing Asset, AKA "the stuf you show people" when you're conducting user research.

Discussion Guide Preview 08:09

We'll discuss the importance of the Disucssion Guide,and how to create an effective one. (This will help insure consistency and success when you're conducting your user research.)

Strategic UX Project - Discussion Guide Preview 00:48

Moderating Preview 09:13

This lecture should give you a good primer on how to perform this important activity. (Moderating is a great skill, which every UX practitioner should get an opportunity to practice.)

Findings Preview 03:36

User Research findings are the most important input for your UX Strategy as well as your Interaction Design work. Here's we'll cover different ways they can be used and shared with colleagues.

Strategic UX Project - Conduct User Testing Preview 01:35

Findings Example: Usability Findings Presentation Preview 08:17

Here's an example usability findings presenation. (This is a helpful tool for getting buy-in on making changes based on user research you've conducted.)

Findings Example: Usability Quick-Wins Memo Preview 01:50

Here's an example user research memo. (A memo is a good tool when less alignment is needed and the recommended changes are very tactical.)

Strategic UX Project - User Testing Themes Preview 00:46

Strategic UX - Define Users and Big Goals 15 lectures

Strategic UX Overview Preview 03:07

We'll discuss what we do next, as we shift from research into Strategic UX and goals-setting.

Strategic UX Project - Identify themes in your research Preview 00:48

Looking Ahead: Strategic UX Presentation Overview Preview 02:05

We'll do a quick overview of the structure of our Strategic UX presentation.

Looking Ahead: Strategic UX Presentation Example Preview 17:16

We'll look at an examople Strategic UX presentation, which helps us see what we're aiming for with these. (We'll see how the research in the beginning ladders up to our big vision for the experience, and then after that we explore different ways we might achieve that.)

Strategic UX Project - Strategic UX Presentation Template Preview 00:40

Defining Your Target User (Personas) Preview 12:56

We'll look at Personas, their relationship to User Research, and how we can go about creating them.

Strategic UX Project - Creating Personas Preview 00:35

Defining Key Tasks and Needs Preview 10:15

We'll look at User Scenarios (also called "User Flows") and talk about how we use them and when they are necessary.

Strategic UX Project - Scenarios Preview 01:01

Defining Your Strategic Vision Preview 05:55

Having alignment and direction is key to success. Defining the Vision is a key part of Strategic UX, and helps provide that direction.

Strategic UX Project - Your Vision Preview 00:57

Supporting Ideas & Sketches Preview 04:48

Initial rough ideas and sketches are a great way to illustrate what a strategic vision might look like when brought to life.

Supporting Ideas & Sketches Example Preview 03:03

Here's a very quick example of what sketches and ideas unpacking a strategic vision might look like.

Creating Sketches Preview 05:22

Sketching (and wireframing) are important design tools which every UX practitioner should develop. Here we'll look at some sketches and dscuss the style used to create them.

Strategic UX Project - How We'll Get There Preview 01:30

Presenting - Get Alignment and Move Things Forward 5 lectures

Why Presenting is Important Preview 02:34

We'll learn why presenting is not just important, but fundamental, to being a persuasive UX practitioner and creating designs that survive,

Creating Presentations: Best Practices Preview 03:47

We'll discuss some presentation-writing best practices, which apply User Experience and Interaction Design presentations, as well as storytelling in general.

Giving Presentations: Best Practices Preview 08:22

We'll cover some things you can do to ensure your sucess when you give a presentation. (These principles relate to UX, but also generalize to all types of presentations.)

Strategic UX Project - Refine Preview 00:36

Strategic UX Project - Record Presentation Preview 00:54

Interaction Design - Defining the Experience and Interface 17 lectures

What's Interaction Design? Preview 01:27

We'll discuss our shift from Strategic UX into Interaction Design, where we'll focus on making something real our users will eventually be able to use!

Requirement Gathering Preview 05:37

We'll cover the importance of identifying project requirements in different contexts, and then move ahead to discuss Sitemaps, Template Lists, and Feature & Functionality Matrices and how the relate to Interaction Design and UX.

Interaction Design Project - Your Brief Preview 02:19

Defining "Wireframe" Preview 01:16

We'll look at two important definitions for "Wireframe", and the concept of wireframing, which is the corner stone of the Interaction Design half of User Experience.

"wireframes" as a Communication Tool Preview 10:14

Wireframes are how we as User Experience practitioners and Interaction Designers communicate. They are the primary means by which we form our ideas and raise questions related to UX on our projects.

"Wireframes" as a Formal Deliverable Preview 01:28

Wireframes are also a very important design deliverable, which embody our Interaction Design work. (In client engagements wireframes are often packaged and presented, and mark important project milestones related to the UX phase.)

Your Different Audiences Preview 03:09

As User Experience practitioners and Interaction Designers, we often have several different audiences for our work and our wireframes. We'll discuss these in more detail and looks at some key perspectives you might encounter from Designers, Clients, and Developers who may be reviewing your wireframes.

Wireframing Process Preview 05:09

We'll reiterate the main purpose of wireframes, and then get into a step-by-step approach for creating wireframes. (Wireframing is a broad spectrum skill, which you improve upon with practice. Following this approach to wireframing will help you get accustomed to this way of designing, if it's new or unfamiliar.)

Interaction Design Project - Block out your pages Preview 00:43

Useful Tools Preview 00:57

Here are some great resources every UX person should be aware of. These will help you save time designing and provide you with inspiration when you get stuck.

Refining Your Style Preview 08:42

Here are some great design best practices for creating the most effective wireframes. (Remember your design skills will improve as you practice, and what seems new to you now will soon become intuitive and second-nature. Review this lecture periodically (I do!) and it will help your overall design sense and your wireframing skills!)

Interaction Design Project - Create your wires Preview 01:22

Interaction Design Presentation Overview Preview 01:48

We'll do a quick overview of the structure and goals of an Interactive Design presentation, focused on persuasively presenting wireframes and using them to define a user experience.

Interaction Design Presentation Example Preview 13:40

We'll look at an example Interaction Design presentation, and see how we connect our interaction design work and wirerames to our earlier strategic UX work. (Watch how the beginning ladders up to define the goals for our wireframes, priming our audience and building alignment so that they will be more receptive to our wireframe deisgns, which define the user experience.

Interaction Design Project - ID Presentation Template Preview 00:48

Interaction Design Project - Create your presentation Preview 00:55

Interaction Design Project - Record Presentation Preview 00:21

Next Steps - Moving Towards a Career in UX 4 lectures

Looking Back & Looking Ahead Preview 00:25

Typical UX Career Path Preview 04:31

We'll demystify User Experience and Interaction Design job titles, and what those roles typically mean. Next, we'll relate them to each other, as we go through what a typical career trajectory in UX might look like.

Breaking into UX Preview 16:34

In our final lecture, we'll look at ways you can break into UX and start a career as a User Expierence practioner or Interaction Designer, if that's one of your goals.