UX Foundation

Join our comprehensive UX design course and become a pro at creating user-centered products. You'll learn the key skills and concepts through hands-on practical experience, teamwork, and a real case study. Elevate your career in UX design and start creating products that truly resonate with users.

«James is very credible and enthusiastic about the topic and made me want to learn more and understand the importance of UX design. The practical exercises were fun! Great to be introduces to the useful Miro and Figma tools.» Course delegate

 

Fast-paced 
UX is a broad field, covering psychology, research, analysis, design and prototyping. You will dive deeply into each topic, immersing yourself in the key skills and concepts. You will surface briefly (for coffee) before diving again... and again... 

Interactive 
We believe in learn-by-doing. So you will not be sitting through a two-day lecture. You will be on your feet, working in teams, getting hands-on practical experience. Because we know that people learn best when they get a chance to do it themselves. 

Collaborative 
We believe strongly in collaborative design: teamwork produces the best work. You will not be working solo. You will collaborate with your teammates on a genuine case study, to solve real design problems for a real company. 

Audience:

1. Product managers and heads of online looking for a more customer-centred approach to product development
2. Business analysts and project managers looking for a better way to define customer requirements
3. UX designers with some experience who want to take their interaction design skills to the next level
4. Software developers and designers who want to know more about usability and the user-centred design process
5. Start-up founders and business owners who believe UX can help grow their business
6. Anybody wishing to start or switch to a career in user experience design 

Course outline:

A two-day program that follows the lifecycle of a UX project. 

MODULE 1: THEORY

What is user experience?

  • Functional, aesthetic and experience design
  • The design process
  • The remarkable benefits of the process

User experience in the digital age

  • Technology and complexity and usability
  • What is wrong with software design
  • Why UX became a necessity

User experience and the web

  • Active media v passive media
  • Alan Cooper and personas
  • Paradox of specificity

What we need to know about users

  • Goals, behaviours and context
  • Mental models

MODULE 2: RESEARCH

Planning your research

  • Deciding what you need to know
  • Hypothesis and assumptions
  • Bias and how to avoid it

Desk research

  • Benchmarking and heuristics
  • Task analysis
  • Third party research

Qualitative research

  • How to ask questions
  • Interviews and observation
  • Live usability test

Quantitative research

  • Online surveys.
  • Card sorting.
  • Analytics.

MODULE 3: RESEARCH ANALYSIS

Harnessing your data

  • The process of triangulation
  • Identifying patterns
  • Insight versus proof

Personas

  • The elements of a persona
  • The pitfalls of personas
  • Personas v marketing segments

User scenarios and journeys

  • Defining user scenarios
  • Plotting a user journey
  • Visualising your requirements

From data to design

  • Defining your feature set
  • Prioritising your features
  • Lean UX and the Minimum Viable Product

MODULE 4: INTERACTION DESIGN

Structure and organisation

  • Mental models and concept models
  • Information hierarchy and interaction flow
  • Sitemaps and screenflows

Interfaces and navigation

  • Control, forgiveness and feedback
  • Conventions and design patterns
  • Storyboards and wireframes

Designing for mobile

  • Mobile mindsets
  • Content versus navigation
  • Tap targets

Lean UX and design sprints

  • Organising your sprint
  • Design exercises
  • Tips on facilitation

MODULE 5: PROTOTYPING

Planning your test

  • Profiling your users
  • Recruiting participants
  • Creating a test script

Building a prototype

  • Minimum viable prototype
  • Prototyping tools
  • Building a prototype

The test setup

  • Desktop testing: hardware and software
  • Mobile testing: hardware and software

How to moderate a test

  • Allowing participants to relax
  • Giving instructions
  • Open-ended questions

About the instructor Colman Walsh

Colman Walsh is the owner and founder of UXTraining.com, a specialist provider of user experience training throughout Europe and North America.  
Colman started working as a UX designer in San Francisco in 1999.  Since then he has worked with blue-chip clients in New York, London and now Dublin.  
His expertise runs across the entire spectrum of UX: from research and strategy to design and prototyping. A fun and engaging presenter, Colman is an accomplished trainer, facilitator and workshop moderator.  Read more about Colman Watch Colman speaking