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User Experience Design Learning Path

137 points by gautambay 12y ago

annnnd 12y ago
I like the concept and the content looks VERY interesting. Thanks, will check it out in the following days! Minor annoyance: clicking on "Demystifying Usability Tests: Learning the Basics" leads to an external page where I have to sign in to see the video (no need to sign in for the first video, "What is UX Design"). Do I really need to create another fake account just to see the video?
- gautambay 12y ago
  Unfortunately, yes. And sadly, that is the case for a few other materials later in the path as well. This is v1 though, and we'll work to make the experience better.
kornakiewicz 12y ago
That's what I needed since started playing with front-end stuff, but does anybody can confirm quality of this course and/or suggest similar stuff?
gautambay 12y ago
The goal of this Learning Path is to list helpful resources into a curriculum that a motivated beginner can follow to learn the essentials of UX Design. Designers of Hacker News, we'd love your help on 2 things: 1. We'd love your feedback on the curriculum itself. e.g. Do the topics and flow look right? Are the projects sufficient? 2. If you're a UX designer who loves to teach and mentor new professionals, I'd love to talk. We're planning a learning experiment that combines the power of the internet with one-on-one human contact.
- paulojreis 12y ago
  Well, I can't find references/materials on Human-Computer Interaction. It seems rather strange that there isn't a single reference to HCI in a UX curriculum. I know it may sound like the "hard"/science-y part, but HCI is fundamental - quite a few principles (such as Fitt's law or the 10 Nielsen & Molich heuristics) came from HCI research and stood the test of time - they're still valid, today. Usability testing was also built out of HCI research. Also: cognitive modeling, the focus on the user, and so on. tl;dr: You should introduce HCI from the start. There's open courseware on the subject. You can't claim to know (or teach) the essentials of UX design without a good knowledge of HCI as a subject.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    HCI itself has little bearing on design even if the HCI community wished otherwise. Fitts' law came from the experimental psychology field...given that HCI didn't even exist in the 50s and 60s. Most of its lessons are codified into easy digest principles. Don't forget Hick's law, which is also useful when designing menus (also experimental psychology).
    - paulojreis 12y ago
      I can't agree with you. HCI has a lot of impact on design, in spite of not being acknowledged (or even known) by most of the practitioners. What the aspiring UX designers are reading (in Smashing Magazine & others) is, mostly, rephrasings of HCI knowledge. Most UX methods and guidelines come from HCI (and HCI, of course, comes from other disciplines).
      - nchlswu 12y ago
        > Most UX methods and guidelines come from HCI (and HCI, of course, comes from other disciplines). I don't think you can simplify it to HCI preceding UX or UCD methodologies. As you point out, HCI of course comes from other disciplines and just like the field of UX, it's borrowed a lot. HCI, Human Factors, Psychology, etc., all borrow techniques from others (as you've acknowledged)and a lot of what they do has been developed in parallel. A lot of UX and design methods were developed in parallel by designers with at traditional design background or others without formal research backgrounds. Despite UX being characterized as a science or more rigorous than traditional design, it is largely a pragmatic practice.
      - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        I'm betting you are on the HCI side and not the design side right? I'm a researcher, I know lots of HCI researchers, I know lots of designers, and the overlap in what the two do is so is slight. Most work on HCI is at the test, measure level, very much a science, while design is a different method from science in its own right. Is knowing some HCI useful for design? Sure, but necessary? The best designers I've worked with have none, while going from HCI to design requires a drastic shift in mindset. Keep in mind that HCI first and foremost is a computer science discipline practiced exclusively by computer scientists. Design is mostly practiced by those trained as designers, in design school by people who have never been remotely near HCI. They are definitely analytic, but are not data driven (well, google, and in the web world where engineers have taken over, but that's a new trend and not necessarily a lasting one), their method is design thinking rather than the scientific method.
- darushimo 12y ago
  I'm a little confused--is the first video in the 3rd section ("intro to the design of everyday things") really an entire course? If so, i think the time-to-complete estimate (1 hr) should be changed...If it's not, it'd be great if the particular videos to be watched were noted.
  - parul 12y ago
    Seems like "Design of Everyday Things" is a really short course, with only 3 Chapters and each video of 1-2 minutes. The total video lecture time for the entire course could well be ~1 hour. The project (timebank) is what will take more time and the estimate for that in Section 3.3 is 8 hours.
    - jdebari 12y ago
      The course Design of Everyday Things is short. There are around 5 short videos is each of the three sections, but there are exercises too.
dceddia 12y ago
This looks like a great resource, thanks for putting this together. As a developer who's interested in web design/UX design (but not all that great at it), this will be helpful. If you don't mind, I'll mention it on my blog as well. I've started writing about my process in trying to improve my design skills (http://designwithdave.com http://designwithdave.com), and I think my (few, but growing) readers would find it useful.
- dotnetkow 12y ago
  Great idea for a blog! Will start following it.
computerjunkie 12y ago
As one who is interested in learning Interaction Design & User Experience Design (hoping to make it into a career in a couple of years) this is a much needed resource. Thanks. PS: The pop - up registration form on the website is a fine example of how subscription pop-ups should be done. Only when the user feels that he/she is interested in learning from the website, the pop-up comes up.Its placed well in the website and only shows up when necessary. There are simply too many invasive and intrusive pop-ups on websites these days that immediately come up when opening the webpage. The worst part is that they keep on nagging you until you either give them your email or leave the website. It ruins the browsing experience and comes of as desperate. Its also a shame that well known websites are now doing this and its really annoying. If your content is good enough, users will subscribe on their own. [0] A resource which was developed by Theresa Neil and Balsamiq is great for beginners getting started in User Experience Design. [0] http://www.uxapprentice.com/ http://www.uxapprentice.com/
lelifer 12y ago
if u want to be a pro UI/UX designer, learn javascript (Kintetic, GSAP, backbone, famous, node and everything else that comes with node).
- jbjorge 12y ago
  ...after you've learned the principles of UX.
  - lelifer 12y ago
    UX is not something you learn its something you gain w/ experience with all theses technologies. its messing up and starting over again and implementing a better design than the previous gaining even more experience/methodologies. or at least that's the pro way of learning UX.
    - jdebari 12y ago
      I partially agree. UX is something that comes with practice, but it isn't about technology. It's about a process for solving problems for people. The technology itself shouldn't matter, but it is good to know how things work in order to understand and communicate with your team.
      - jnem 12y ago
        UX is DX (developer experience).
    - themoonbus 12y ago
      Not all UX professionals are coders or start as coders. Some just understand UX principles / methodologies and how to apply them to solve design problems. Also, UX isn't exclusive to software.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  Yes, because we all know what is important is code and learning design doesn't already take 6 years of school and practice learning and doing other things coders would never think of </sarcasm>. If you want to code, then learn coding. But if you want to do design, you are going down a very different path and might not have the luxury of ever coding again (even if you know how).
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
protonfish 12y ago
This seems like a decent site - I still need to go through all of the resources more thoroughly but I have two comments. I am not a fan of using video primarily over text. This is also why I am not a fan of Khan Academy, so maybe it's just my preference and doesn't reflect what most of your users want but I do have facts and reasoning to back up my opinion. Anything that requires sound is going to limit it's use to a private setting, and videos can't be skimmed or used as a reference. I understand their occasional value for supplemental lessons, but I don't they should be required to use tutorials. There may be a demand for UX designers but as much as I would love to focus my career in that area, I won't because UX is a bike shed. Even if you designed the perfect UI, you would never get it past clueless management without having it mangled. The fight to do your job makes of 90% of your effort, and you will always lose.
saeranv 12y ago
I'm a little confused about what I would be learning here. What exactly are the "tools, methods and frameworks" which is being taught, and are there any prerequisites before I can jump in? It looks like the only way I can look at the curriculum is by joining sliderule...which I don't want to do, yet.

137 points by gautambay 12y ago

I like the concept and the content looks VERY interesting. Thanks, will check it out in the following days! Minor annoyance: clicking on "Demystifying Usability Tests: Learning the Basics" leads to an external page where I have to sign in to see the video (no need to sign in for the first video, "What is UX Design"). Do I really need to create another fake account just to see the video?

gautambay 12y ago
Unfortunately, yes. And sadly, that is the case for a few other materials later in the path as well. This is v1 though, and we'll work to make the experience better.

kornakiewicz 12y ago

That's what I needed since started playing with front-end stuff, but does anybody can confirm quality of this course and/or suggest similar stuff?

gautambay 12y ago

The goal of this Learning Path is to list helpful resources into a curriculum that a motivated beginner can follow to learn the essentials of UX Design. Designers of Hacker News, we'd love your help on 2 things: 1. We'd love your feedback on the curriculum itself. e.g. Do the topics and flow look right? Are the projects sufficient? 2. If you're a UX designer who loves to teach and mentor new professionals, I'd love to talk. We're planning a learning experiment that combines the power of the internet with one-on-one human contact.

paulojreis 12y ago
Well, I can't find references/materials on Human-Computer Interaction. It seems rather strange that there isn't a single reference to HCI in a UX curriculum. I know it may sound like the "hard"/science-y part, but HCI is fundamental - quite a few principles (such as Fitt's law or the 10 Nielsen & Molich heuristics) came from HCI research and stood the test of time - they're still valid, today. Usability testing was also built out of HCI research. Also: cognitive modeling, the focus on the user, and so on. tl;dr: You should introduce HCI from the start. There's open courseware on the subject. You can't claim to know (or teach) the essentials of UX design without a good knowledge of HCI as a subject.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  HCI itself has little bearing on design even if the HCI community wished otherwise. Fitts' law came from the experimental psychology field...given that HCI didn't even exist in the 50s and 60s. Most of its lessons are codified into easy digest principles. Don't forget Hick's law, which is also useful when designing menus (also experimental psychology).
  - paulojreis 12y ago
    I can't agree with you. HCI has a lot of impact on design, in spite of not being acknowledged (or even known) by most of the practitioners. What the aspiring UX designers are reading (in Smashing Magazine & others) is, mostly, rephrasings of HCI knowledge. Most UX methods and guidelines come from HCI (and HCI, of course, comes from other disciplines).
    - nchlswu 12y ago
      > Most UX methods and guidelines come from HCI (and HCI, of course, comes from other disciplines). I don't think you can simplify it to HCI preceding UX or UCD methodologies. As you point out, HCI of course comes from other disciplines and just like the field of UX, it's borrowed a lot. HCI, Human Factors, Psychology, etc., all borrow techniques from others (as you've acknowledged)and a lot of what they do has been developed in parallel. A lot of UX and design methods were developed in parallel by designers with at traditional design background or others without formal research backgrounds. Despite UX being characterized as a science or more rigorous than traditional design, it is largely a pragmatic practice.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      I'm betting you are on the HCI side and not the design side right? I'm a researcher, I know lots of HCI researchers, I know lots of designers, and the overlap in what the two do is so is slight. Most work on HCI is at the test, measure level, very much a science, while design is a different method from science in its own right. Is knowing some HCI useful for design? Sure, but necessary? The best designers I've worked with have none, while going from HCI to design requires a drastic shift in mindset. Keep in mind that HCI first and foremost is a computer science discipline practiced exclusively by computer scientists. Design is mostly practiced by those trained as designers, in design school by people who have never been remotely near HCI. They are definitely analytic, but are not data driven (well, google, and in the web world where engineers have taken over, but that's a new trend and not necessarily a lasting one), their method is design thinking rather than the scientific method.
darushimo 12y ago
I'm a little confused--is the first video in the 3rd section ("intro to the design of everyday things") really an entire course? If so, i think the time-to-complete estimate (1 hr) should be changed...If it's not, it'd be great if the particular videos to be watched were noted.
- parul 12y ago
  Seems like "Design of Everyday Things" is a really short course, with only 3 Chapters and each video of 1-2 minutes. The total video lecture time for the entire course could well be ~1 hour. The project (timebank) is what will take more time and the estimate for that in Section 3.3 is 8 hours.
  - jdebari 12y ago
    The course Design of Everyday Things is short. There are around 5 short videos is each of the three sections, but there are exercises too.

dceddia 12y ago

This looks like a great resource, thanks for putting this together. As a developer who's interested in web design/UX design (but not all that great at it), this will be helpful. If you don't mind, I'll mention it on my blog as well. I've started writing about my process in trying to improve my design skills (http://designwithdave.com http://designwithdave.com), and I think my (few, but growing) readers would find it useful.

dotnetkow 12y ago
Great idea for a blog! Will start following it.

computerjunkie 12y ago

As one who is interested in learning Interaction Design & User Experience Design (hoping to make it into a career in a couple of years) this is a much needed resource. Thanks. PS: The pop - up registration form on the website is a fine example of how subscription pop-ups should be done. Only when the user feels that he/she is interested in learning from the website, the pop-up comes up.Its placed well in the website and only shows up when necessary. There are simply too many invasive and intrusive pop-ups on websites these days that immediately come up when opening the webpage. The worst part is that they keep on nagging you until you either give them your email or leave the website. It ruins the browsing experience and comes of as desperate. Its also a shame that well known websites are now doing this and its really annoying. If your content is good enough, users will subscribe on their own. [0] A resource which was developed by Theresa Neil and Balsamiq is great for beginners getting started in User Experience Design. [0] http://www.uxapprentice.com/ http://www.uxapprentice.com/

lelifer 12y ago

if u want to be a pro UI/UX designer, learn javascript (Kintetic, GSAP, backbone, famous, node and everything else that comes with node).

jbjorge 12y ago
...after you've learned the principles of UX.
- lelifer 12y ago
  UX is not something you learn its something you gain w/ experience with all theses technologies. its messing up and starting over again and implementing a better design than the previous gaining even more experience/methodologies. or at least that's the pro way of learning UX.
  - jdebari 12y ago
    I partially agree. UX is something that comes with practice, but it isn't about technology. It's about a process for solving problems for people. The technology itself shouldn't matter, but it is good to know how things work in order to understand and communicate with your team.
    - jnem 12y ago
      UX is DX (developer experience).
  - themoonbus 12y ago
    Not all UX professionals are coders or start as coders. Some just understand UX principles / methodologies and how to apply them to solve design problems. Also, UX isn't exclusive to software.
seanmcdirmid 12y ago
Yes, because we all know what is important is code and learning design doesn't already take 6 years of school and practice learning and doing other things coders would never think of </sarcasm>. If you want to code, then learn coding. But if you want to do design, you are going down a very different path and might not have the luxury of ever coding again (even if you know how).

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

protonfish 12y ago

This seems like a decent site - I still need to go through all of the resources more thoroughly but I have two comments. I am not a fan of using video primarily over text. This is also why I am not a fan of Khan Academy, so maybe it's just my preference and doesn't reflect what most of your users want but I do have facts and reasoning to back up my opinion. Anything that requires sound is going to limit it's use to a private setting, and videos can't be skimmed or used as a reference. I understand their occasional value for supplemental lessons, but I don't they should be required to use tutorials. There may be a demand for UX designers but as much as I would love to focus my career in that area, I won't because UX is a bike shed. Even if you designed the perfect UI, you would never get it past clueless management without having it mangled. The fight to do your job makes of 90% of your effort, and you will always lose.

saeranv 12y ago

I'm a little confused about what I would be learning here. What exactly are the "tools, methods and frameworks" which is being taught, and are there any prerequisites before I can jump in? It looks like the only way I can look at the curriculum is by joining sliderule...which I don't want to do, yet.