Intro to UX (User Experience) | Google UX Design Certificate

Welcome to your first course

In this section, the speaker introduces the course and discusses the goals of the course and the history of UX design.

Goals of the Course

• The course is open to anyone interested in UX design, regardless of previous experience or education.

• The course aims to cover the foundations of UX design, common terms, tools, frameworks, and building a professional online presence.

• Practice quizzes, peer reviews, and self-reviews will be provided to reinforce learning.

• The course concludes with a graded assessment.

History of UX Design

• The term "user experience" (UX) was coined by cognitive psychologist Don Norman in the 1990s as technology use expanded.

• However, the principles of user experience can be traced back thousands of years to practices like Feng Shui in ancient China.

• User experience in the tech world focuses on how people use or interact with products.

Foundations of User Experience Design

This section explores what user experience (UX) is and its importance in product design.

What is User Experience?

• User experience refers to how a person feels about interacting with a product.

• A product can be physical or technological, such as an app or website.

• Good user experience includes factors like usability, equity, enjoyment, and usefulness.

Usability

• Usability refers to making a product easier to use by ensuring clear design, structure, and purpose.

• Example: Redesigning a ketchup bottle from glass to plastic for easier squeezing and control over ketchup flow.

Equity

• Equitable design considers diverse users' needs and abilities when designing products.

• Example: Providing alternative features like sound for visually impaired users in an app with lots of text.

Enjoyment

• Enjoyable user experiences create positive connections between users and products.

• Example: Online food ordering platforms that provide photos, reviews, and informed choices for a happier experience.

Usefulness

• Useful products solve users' problems effectively.

• Example: A map app providing accurate directions is useful, but if it fails to locate the user's current position, it loses its usefulness.

Importance of UX Design for Businesses

This section highlights the importance of UX design for businesses and its impact on performance.

Business Impact of Good UX Design

• Research shows that businesses focusing on good usability and design outperform their competitors across industries.

• Positive user experiences lead to increased product usage, recommendations, and positive opinions about the company.

User Experience and Business Success

• Users who have a great experience with a product are more likely to share it with others.

• UX designers play a crucial role in improving business outcomes through effective design.

What Do UX Designers Do?

This section discusses the diverse backgrounds of UX designers and the common skills they possess.

Diverse Backgrounds of UX Designers

• UX designers come from various professional backgrounds such as marketing, art, teaching, small business ownership, etc.

• Rather than similar work histories, they share common skills and interests related to design.

Common Skills of UX Designers

• Many UX designers have a strong sense of visuals and can recognize when an image fits well within a design.

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This section discusses the characteristics of UX designers and the different roles they play in designing products.

Characteristics of UX Designers

• UX designers are empathetic and understand others' feelings and thoughts in a situation.

• They come from diverse backgrounds and often learn on their own through courses or self-teaching.

• Many UX designers tap into their previous experiences to build a foundation for their new careers.

Different Types of UX Designers

Interaction Designers

• Interaction designers focus on designing the experience and functionality of a product.

• They bridge the gap between user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.

Visual Designers

• Visual designers concentrate on the aesthetics of a product, including logos, illustrations, and icons.

• They make decisions about font color, size, and product layouts.

Motion Designers

• Motion designers consider how users move through a product and create smooth transitions between pages or screens.

Graphic Designers

• Graphic designers create visuals that convey stories or messages but focus more on physical products like invitations or posters rather than digital interactions.

Other Roles in UX Design

• UX researchers conduct studies to understand how people use products.

• UX writers ensure clear language within a product for an intuitive user experience.

• Product designers act as bridges between interaction designers and engineers to ensure design consistency throughout the development process.

• UX engineers translate design intent into functioning experiences like websites or apps.

• UX program managers facilitate clear communication throughout the product development process.

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This section explores what makes a user experience design good or poor and the importance of considering the user's needs.

User Experience Design

• Good UX design focuses on predicting user roadblocks and designing for the user's needs.

• Don Norman coined the term "UX" in his book "The Design of Everyday Things," emphasizing the importance of considering users' experiences in product design.

Examples of User Experience Design

• Well-designed apps use icons to save screen space and ensure easy understanding across different languages. However, sometimes text is necessary for clarity.

• A good user experience ensures that products are usable, equitable, enjoyable, and useful.

• Poor user experiences can lead to frustration, such as adding items to a shopping cart only to find out they are out of stock.

Paying Attention to Design

• Recognizing both positive and negative aspects of everyday designs helps develop an understanding of good and poor user experiences.

Introduction to UX Design Responsibilities

In this section, the speaker introduces the typical responsibilities of entry-level UX designers. These responsibilities include researching, wireframing, prototyping, creating information architecture, and effective communication.

Typical Responsibilities of Entry-Level UX Designers

• Entry-level UX designers start by performing various tasks to learn the basics.

• Researching is an important task for understanding audiences and gathering information about their backgrounds, demographics, motivations, pain points, emotions, and life goals.

• Wireframing involves creating outlines or sketches of a product or screen to determine its arrangement and how users will interact with it.

• Prototyping is the creation of early models that demonstrate functionality and progression from one screen to another.

• Information architecture refers to organizing and structuring a website or application in a logical manner for easy navigation.

• Effective communication skills are essential for collaborating with colleagues, writing emails, creating proposals, and pitching clients.

Generalists vs Specialists in UX Design

This section discusses the differences between generalists and specialists in UX design. It also introduces the concept of T-shaped designers who have expertise in one area but possess knowledge across multiple areas.

Generalists in UX Design

• Generalists have a broad range of responsibilities and perform various tasks in different areas of UX design.

• They often work at smaller companies where they need to handle multiple roles due to limited design departments.

• Generalists may be responsible for user research, branding, user flows, visual design, prototyping, production design, information architecture, usability testing, among other things.

• They start with knowledge in one or two areas but continue learning from colleagues or mentors on the job.

Specialists in UX Design

• Specialists focus on one specific area of UX design, such as interaction, visual, or motion design.

• They have in-depth knowledge and expertise in their chosen field.

• Specialists are commonly found in large companies with dedicated teams of UX designers.

T-shaped Designers

• T-shaped designers specialize in one area of UX design while also having a breadth of knowledge in other related areas.

• The vertical line of the "T" represents their specialization, while the horizontal line represents complementary skills from other fields.

• Becoming a specialist or generalist can depend on the work environment and required skills.

Conclusion

In this transcript, we learned about the typical responsibilities of entry-level UX designers, including researching, wireframing, prototyping, creating information architecture, and effective communication. We also explored the differences between generalists and specialists in UX design and introduced the concept of T-shaped designers who possess expertise in one area while having knowledge across multiple areas.

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As a UX designer, there are opportunities for growth and change. Whether you become a generalist or a specialist, there are plenty of options.

Opportunities for UX Designers

• UX designers work on cross-functional teams that include other designers, engineers, researchers, product leads, or program managers.

• Cross-functional teams collaborate to build products. For example, when building an app for ordering food with a new feature for allergen-free meals:

• The product lead determines the scope of the project.

• The UX researcher focuses on user trust and understanding.

• The interaction designer designs the flow for ordering and includes allergen-free foods in the search filter.

• The visual designer ensures easy discovery of allergen-free foods in the product.

• UX designers create wireframes and prototypes to showcase the user experience.

• Engineers bring these wireframes and prototypes to life and enable restaurants to add information about their allergen-free options.

Collaboration between UX Designers and Engineers

• Collaboration between UX designers and engineers is crucial as engineers build the final product throughout the entire process. Feedback exchange helps make improvements together.

Program Managers in Building Useful Apps

• Program managers ensure clear and timely communication across teams to facilitate smooth app development from start to finish. They play a vital role in coordinating efforts among team members with different tasks but shared goals of building usable, useful, equitable, and enjoyable products for users and businesses.

Types of Companies UX Designers Work At

UX designers have various options for employment, including startups, small businesses, freelancing, advertising agencies, design agencies, and big companies.

Startups and Small Businesses

• Startups are new businesses aiming to develop unique products or services. They often have tight budgets and few employees, so UX designers at startups typically work as generalists with involvement in multiple aspects of the business.

• Freelancers work independently and market their services to businesses. As a freelancer, UX designers have the freedom to choose projects that interest them and work with different brands.

Advertising Agencies

• Advertising agencies are hired by clients to create marketing campaigns. UX designers at ad agencies may be responsible for developing wireframes and designs for digital products related to these campaigns. They may also engage in tasks beyond traditional UX design, such as graphic design or writing.

Design Agencies and Studios

• Design agencies provide comprehensive design and branding services for brands, products, and services. Working at a design agency is similar to working at a startup as a generalist but with exposure to various industries due to collaboration on different projects.

Big Companies

• Big companies employ thousands of people working on diverse projects. UX designers at big companies typically specialize in their work on one project from start to finish. This environment offers opportunities for specialization within UX design and learning from other experts but may limit exposure outside of specific roles.

Starting Your Career

Starting a career in UX design can involve internships or apprenticeships that provide valuable experience.

Internships

• Internships offer short-term jobs with limited responsibility where individuals work closely with supervisors to gain industry-specific knowledge and job experience. It can be a stepping stone towards future full-time employment.

Apprenticeships

• Apprenticeships provide on-the-job training and the opportunity to develop real skills under the guidance of experienced professionals. Similar to internships, apprenticeships offer hands-on learning experiences.

Working as a Freelancer and Entry-Level Jobs

This section discusses the benefits of working as a freelancer and how to get started, as well as the option of pursuing entry-level jobs in UX design.

Working as a Freelancer

• Working as a freelancer can provide valuable experience on real UX design projects.

• To start freelancing, offer your services to small businesses or nonprofits in exchange for a good recommendation and project samples for your portfolio.

• Once you have some projects and references, you can begin charging customers.

Entry-Level Jobs in UX Design

• Entry-level jobs are suitable for those without prior experience in the field.

• The skills and portfolio developed through this program can help kickstart a career as an entry-level UX designer.

• Many companies may be interested in hiring someone who has completed this program and produced outstanding work.

• A certificate and portfolio can serve as proof of skills, even if job listings require prior experience.

Recap of What You've Learned

This section provides a recap of the topics covered throughout the course.

• The course covered various aspects such as how the program works, the definition of UX design, its importance for consumers and businesses, different roles within UX design, characteristics of good and poor user experiences, responsibilities of entry-level UX designers, collaboration with cross-functional teams, differences in UX design jobs based on company size and industry, and tips on pursuing a career in UX design.

Congratulations on completing this course!