Advanced UX Techniques - Novice to Pro!

Are you looking to get into UX or want to get better at it? Here is what you’ll learn in this course.

• First, we will learn the basics about UX and the HCD process

• Next is a detailed look at the double diamond design process

• The last section covers your own UX process and personal development

As UX gains traction in the industry, the term is used for a  variety of things. We will learn what the best focus on to be  successful.                         

• Get the basics right: defining what UX is

• We will  learn what the most important aspects of influential UX are

• Improve your value by understanding your role

Most successful UX processes follow the same pattern. In order to  craft our own process, we need to understand why they follow the same  process.                         

• Understand how the double diamond works.

• Gather knowledge by removing assumptions

The term UX is often misinterpreted. In this video, let’s take a  look at the most popular preconceptions and how we can deal with them.                         

• Learn about the most common preconceptions

• Choose our approach to deal with those preconceptions

• Pick the battles we  can win

After all our previous research and design is finished, it’s time  to validate our design to make sure it will meet our users’ needs.                         

• We will learn how to validate our design using prototypes

• The whole design process is about eliminating assumptions

• Learn about the most useful design deliverables

UX is best done together, as it builds on everybody's knowledge.  One of the most important aspects for your success as designers is that  you know how to embed UX in your team.                         

• It’s not easy, especially if UX is new to the team

• Don’t settle for half-hearted UX

• Be a team player and know your teammates

In our fast-paced software world, it is key for a successful UX designer to be able to provide results fast.                         

• Usability testing is the best way to gather qualitative insights.

• Navigations and information architecture have to be validated too.

• It doesn’t always have to be a study. Ask your mate!

After all this information, it is time to get our hands dirty (not literally). We’ll practice two UX methods together.                         

• Create a low-fidelity prototype as you would in a real workshop

• Test your prototype with real users

You’ve probably heard of the famous quote “Design the right things, design things right”. But how do we do this?                         

• Generate as many ideas as possible

• Include as many different roles as possible

• UX design has both a short-term and long-term focus

It’s easy to build the same thing over and over again. But how do  we find innovative solutions that give us an advantage over competitors?                         

• Generate as many ideas as possible without limiting creativity

• Be inclusive while generating ideas

• Learn ideation methods

After this course, you’ll probably want to run your own ideation  workshops. In this video, you’ll experience the best methods hands-on.                         

• Foster a “yes, and…” mindset

• Get the creative juices of your workshop attendants flowing

• Sometimes it’s helpful to focus on what you don’t want

More often than not, it will be our job to help our customer or  product owner sharpen their vision of the outcome. This is a very  important step and, at the same time, a delicate one.                         

• You’ll learn how to design the right things.

• MVP is dead. Long live MLP!

• You’ll learn deliverables that help sharpen vision.

Dealing with stakeholders can be a challenge. But they are on the  same team as you, and collaborating well with them will determine a lot  of your success as a UX designer.                         

• Find out what your stakeholders expect from you

• Learn why they are crucial to your long-term success

• Improve the outcomes of your workshops with some simple tricks

During the second phase, you will be producing some critical deliverables that strongly influence the final outcome.                         

• Value propositions are a great way to communicate the vision

• Learn a simple method to validate your vision

• “How might we” questions are the base on which your product will be built

Too often, this first phase is skipped because teams want to start  working on the product right away. This is unfortunate, because a lot  of insights gathered during phase 1 inform important decisions later in  the process.                         

• Don’t rush it. Always take a deep breath before jumping into a project.

• By including the stakeholders early on, they will understand your design.

• Learn how to prevent as many assumptions as possible.

Unfortunately, funding is often limited during this phase.  Stakeholders either want results before they are willing to spend a lot  of money or want to spend it on development instead of concept work.  Here are some quick methods to gather your insights in an effective  manner.                         

• You’ll learn the most used methods

• You’ll understand what answers each method provides you with

Being fast during the first phase is only half the equation.  You’ll also want to be thorough as insights missed here are unlikely to  be found later on and can lead to wrong design decisions.                         

• Learn how to structure the insights from qualitative research

• Improve your interview skills

• Find out how digging deeper helps you be a better UX designer

Now that you understand how and why we use the double diamond,  it’s time for you to craft your own UX process that fits your needs and  clients.                         

• To be effective, you’ll learn where to get existing research

• Scaling your UX process to the customer’s needs is the key

• Choose the UX methods that work for you and your clients

You’ve now got the perfect UX process, but what is it good for if  you don’t have the funding to execute it? Money equals time you can  spend with your users and designing the right thing right.                         

• Learn about the ROI of UX and design

• Learn to talk the language of your stakeholders

• You’ll learn to tailor your proposal to your client’s needs

We rarely get the budget to run a perfect UX process and redesign  everything from the ground up. For your success as a UX designer, it is  important to know where the extra effort is worth it and when you can  cut corners.                         

• Learn why using best practices and design systems can lead to innovative products.

• Sometimes, assumptions are here to stay. Learn how to deal with them.

• Successfully trim down your process to match micro budgets.

Once you’re in the field, you’ll probably want to gather more  experience, learn new skills and get a certification of some sort. We’ll  see what’s worth the effort.                         

• Learn where you can get training from

• Study UX or get certified

• Other sources of knowledge and adjacent disciplines

This video provides an overview of the entire course.                        

This video will give you deep knowledge in user experience for understating some advanced UX techniques.                         

• Review UX sketching and software sketch

The aim of this video is to learn about Sketch App and its setup.                         

• Know what Sketch is built for

• Use grids and columns

This video is a review of how UX is about speed of production.                         

• Review Wireframing and low-fidelity screen thinking

• Open Sketch and pull together some Wireframe assets

• Using Sketch, assemble some Wireframing tools and install Craft by InVision plugins

This video will review choosing an idea worth sketching and Wireframing.                         

• With Sketch, review the Wireframe symbol assets

• Using Sketch, choose a screen and start to build a Wireframe

• Organize your screens and start assembling multiple screen for designing interactions

This video will give you knowledge to use Sketch App to quickly produce UI screens for prototypes.                         

•   Review screen grids

• Review using symbols in Sketch to speed up your screen production

• Review using scalable systems for producing high-quality Wireframes quickly

Sketch App software has lots of options, but working efficiently and effectively with teams is about labeling and organization.                         

• Open Sketch App and create some layers of our interface

• Using Sketch, label your UI screens for later InVision Prototyping

This video is a review of how UX is about speed of production and creating exported screens.                         

• Open Sketch App and export the App screen for multiple formats (iPhone 6/8/10) 

• Using Sketch App export, create a quick way to export multiple screens at once

Building screens quickly is about prototyping and getting ideas into the hands of users.                         

• Using Sketch App exported screens, upload to InVision App Prototype via drag and drop 

• Use Sketch + Craft Sync log in InVision. Choose your prototype and practice using the Sync plugin

• Organize your screens and start making updates by which  you can quickly iterate your UI screens. Upload to InVision via Craft  Sync

UX/UI is about building systems that can scale. The aim of this video is to teach UI Styling and Sketch symbols.                         

• Define your design elements in wireframe format

• Open Sketch App and iterate the symbols to be of high fidelity

• Update the symbols

UI is about building consistency and standards.                         

• Learn to consider the UI style guide to sketch

• Sketch has many UI kits from iOS to UI kits that help speed up our process

• Build a Wireframe fidelity prototype   

Setting up a process for maintaining your design system is necessary for good design.                         

• Know what H1-H6 is

• Apply type styles in Sketch defining 

• Learn why good typography is necessary

User interfaces, as they gain higher fidelity, use color to  improve the users’ experience. The aim of this video is to teach color  styles.                         

• Define color for screen standards

• Review Hex codes

• Apply Hex codes to UI symbols

As UIs gain more fidelity, they require the addition of images.                           

• Build higher fidelity prototypes through adding content, context, and imagery 

• Define images

• Use craft plugins to speed up content

High-fidelity prototyping requires us to look at the content and context. This requires using a real copy.                           

• Learn how to make prototypes of high fidelity 

• Consider the content to ensure that it’s real

• Use symbols to speed up content

High-fidelity prototyping requires us to polish our experiences.                           

• Explore prototyping   

• Create a high-fidelity folder

• Export screens and elements

High-fidelity prototyping also requires us to complete the prototyping process.                           

• Export screens that can be quickly uploaded to the InVision app 

• Connect all your screens with clickable hotspots

• Share your prototypes on your mobile phone with 5 other people

The aim of this video is to tell you why motion and interaction matter.                         

• Explore prototypes

• Learn various ways through which InVision can share

• Explore ways of Prototype testing

In this video, you’ll dive into all the options of using animation in an interface.                           

• Learn animation techniques

• Review InVision motions

• Review motion studies

Review your prototype to see where animation can be utilized.                         

• Add comments to your InVision App to communicate changes

• Gather feedback in one place

• Learn that feedback leads to actionable changes 

Interactions are what we want our users to do, and motion can help improve our users’ emotions.              

• Consider micro-interactions—the one-off tasks with a single purpose for an interface

• Learn 4 steps of micro-interactions

• Add the 4 steps of animation rules to the interaction opportunities identified in InVision

Work with elements for animation. Download and install the Anima plugin for Sketch.                         

• Review affordance for an interface and identify a switch as an area to offer micro-interactions.

• Build a switch in Sketch. Establish layers and states of switch interactions.

• Using the Anima plugin, create a switch micro-interaction. Review how animation improves high-fidelity prototyping.

This video teaches us that using Motion Software allows us to  build out the experience with micro-interactions and robust transitions.                         

• Learn that Motion Prototypes allow us to understand how things work

• Download Principle for Mac and explore the interface

The aim of this video is to learn about upload and import assets using Sketch and Principle together.                         

• Review your screens in Sketch and make any last changes

• Import assets using Principle + Sketch and review your screens elements

• Explore how Principle has some ability to connect screens like InVision

In this video review your prototype for where animation can be utilized.                         

• Using Principle for Mac create a few screen changes

• Test your animations in the preview window

• Know that feedback leads to actionable changes

In this video connect your entire user flow and make the animations all work.                           

• Consider micro-interactions. The one off tasks with a single purpose for an interface 

• Refine your transitions and interaction timeline

• Review the animation refinements and test the solution from start to finish 

This video teaches you how to work with elements for animation you want to share and how your application works.                         

• Export the interaction video and share with your users

• Continue to receive feedback on how your animation works

• Review the Advanced UX techniques course, Review the steps and continue the journey