UX Design Fundamentals

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/ux-design-fundamentals

Introduction

### Course Review and Recommendation: UX Design Fundamentals on Coursera #### Overview The **UX Design Fundamentals** course on Coursera offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of user experience design, focusing on the critical aspects of content organization and structure. Designed for both beginners and individuals looking to deepen their understanding, the course engages learners through a hands-on approach, empowering them to create meaningful user experiences. Spanning several weeks, the course guides participants through a structured path, culminating in the development of a clickable prototype, which is invaluable for anyone interested in pursuing a career in UX/UI design. #### Course Structure The course is divided into four key modules, each building on the previous one: 1. **Course Overview** - The starting point provides an introduction to course expectations and assignments. This module sets a solid foundation for the journey ahead, ensuring that learners are well-prepared for the weeks to come. 2. **Ideation, Articulation, Development** - In this initial module, you will brainstorm and articulate a clear idea for an application. The focus will be on defining your app's identity through naming and language, as well as conducting audience research. This step is crucial in establishing a user-centered design framework that will guide all subsequent work. 3. **Planning, Testing, Researching, Mapping** - As you delve deeper, you'll engage in strategic planning and testing of your app idea. This week emphasizes the creation of non-visual paper prototypes and site maps, integrating both logic and visual design to enhance the app's functionality and user experience. 4. **What Goes Where?** - This module involves taking your site map and user testing findings to construct a comprehensive wireframe. You'll explore the navigation and structure of your app, determining how best to display content and facilitate user interaction. 5. **Making it by Faking it** - The final week is where the theoretical meets the practical. Using prototyping software, you'll transform your wireframes into a functioning digital prototype. This experience simulates real-world interaction, allowing you to troubleshoot and refine your design based on user feedback. #### Review What I appreciate most about the **UX Design Fundamentals** course is its methodical approach. Each module builds upon the last, providing a structured learning experience that balances theory with practical application. The course emphasizes user-centered design, a paramount principle in UX, which ultimately fosters an understanding of how design choices impact user experience. The hands-on projects challenge you to think critically about your design decisions while offering a robust toolkit for prototyping. By the end of the course, you will have a tangible product—a digital prototype—that not only showcases your efforts but serves as a portfolio piece for future opportunities. The peer interactions and feedback opportunities also enrich the learning experience. Engaging with fellow learners allows for diverse perspectives on design challenges, contributing to a more well-rounded understanding of user experience. #### Recommendation I highly recommend the **UX Design Fundamentals** course for anyone looking to venture into the world of UX design. Whether you are just starting or looking to refine your skills, this course offers essential insights and practical experience that can significantly enhance your design capabilities. For professionals and students alike, this course provides a perfect blend of foundational knowledge and applied skills, making it an excellent stepping stone toward a successful career in UX design. Plus, the satisfaction of seeing your prototype come to life is incredibly rewarding and a perfect concluding milestone for what is sure to be a transformative learning journey. ### Final Thoughts As user experience continues to evolve and grow in importance across digital platforms, understanding the dynamics of UX design becomes increasingly essential. The **UX Design Fundamentals** course on Coursera equips learners with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate and thrive in this exciting field. Don't miss the chance to embark on this educational adventure—your future in design awaits!

Syllabus

Course Overview

Welcome! In this first module I will summarize the assignments and expectations of this course.

Your assignment at the end of this week is the first stage in a multi-step process towards developing a clickable prototype: coming up with a clearly articulated idea for an app with a specific goal in mind. So this week we will focus on how to articulate and structure your ideas and goals, how to use naming and language as a part of your app’s identity. We will also look at audience research and user centered design.

This week we’re going to continue to develop, plan, and test your app idea. We’ll start by sketching out more extensive content and mapping it into a structure. To test what aspects of your app are working, we’ll look at how to create a non-visual paper prototype and work our way towards a sitemap. While you’re developing the logic of your app, you’ll also begin to develop the look and feel of it: the visual development process.

At this stage in our process we are going to take our site map, look and feel research, and user testing to the next level in order to get a more accurate static prototype. By building a wireframe of our interface, we’ll figure out what goes where, and on which pages, utilizing our user testing information to figure out the hierarchy and structure of our app. This week is about the logic and functionality of our interface, and how it’s actually going to work within the app.

In this final week of the course, you will be taking your wireframes or app screens and make a simple functioning digital prototype to simulate the experience of interactivity. We’ll be using simple prototyping software to put your static screens into a realistic context, and simulating interaction in order to understand how your app feels, in order to troubleshoot and fix problems. This is the part of the course where all your talents come together! For me this is the most exciting part of UI/UX development, when it all starts to become real and you have a believable prototype in your hands.