UX Academy: Coursework and Assignments
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This article covers everything you need to know about coursework and assignments during your UX Academy course. Questions covered in this article: |
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Capstone FAQs
END-TO-END DESIGN PROJECT
For the end to end, what are the required screens needed to submit? And for what medium — web or mobile app?
Every capstone has a requirement of at least 5 screens. This can be found in the Portfolio Submission Checklist under the Case Study Checklist tab. The “medium” or viewport they are designing for is mobile app and that is shared in numerous places, including the learning goals, the unit page copy, and the four project briefs.
ADD-A-FEATURE PROJECT
Is it appropriate to also redesign a site while I’m adding a feature?
We would recommend that you choose a website that has an existing style guide / design system for this project, as the intent is for you to practice adding features and navigating an existing set of visual design constraints and choices.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN PROJECT
What fidelity wireframes do we need to test? Do we need to develop high-fidelity mockups for this project as well?
You can design and test mid fidelity prototypes, iterate on your research learnings and have these as clickable prototypes in your case study, and not take them further in terms of fidelity. However, be aware that for your final output, it would be best to also have high fidelity UI screens that show off your UI skills. As such, most of our students choose to design high fidelity prototypes because this meets both needs.
MISC QUESTIONS
Q: I’m interviewing one of my research participants in another language — is it possible to do the full Capstone in that language?
A: You can do it in another language, as long as you also translate it into English for the portfolio review team.
Q: At my current company, I have been presented with an opportunity to redesign an interface. There are a variety of issues with this experience and they need help conducting user interviews, designing user flows, low, mid, high fi mockups etc. Would Designlab approve of me using this project for my final capstone? Note, it would not have a mobile app component (just web), but would be shipped by engineers and have measurable business impact.
A: Yes, as long as you create responsive screens of the web design — you can use this for your end-to-end experience Capstone.
Q: I’m trying to complete one of my capstones. I just finished user testing, and everyone had good experiences and didn’t have any suggestions for things I should revise, but I see that revisions are required from research? As it says on the portfolio submission guide. I have revisions I’ve made based on what my mentor has told me and from Goup Crits. There’s just none from user testing because everyone was satisfied.
A: If you and your mentor are positive that the test went well with no changes required from user feedback, we would recommend:
- Discussing the revisions made from your mentor and Group Crits feedback
- Talking through the key takeways from user testing
- Note that revisions don’t always have to come from negative critique. Talk through any other opportunities you would follow up on with the prototype based on the positive feedback (as in, if a majority of users said X was great, do you have any thoughts on changes you’d make?)
Also, this may be an opportunity to evaluate how you’re asking questions during your user tests (are you digging in enough?).
Q: Is it necessary to run a Usability Test during the lo-fi portion of building, or will a single usability test using the hi-fidelity designs be adequate?
A: A single usability test is sufficient.
Q: Can I use a single project across multiple Capstones?
A: No, you need unique problems and concepts for each capstone. While you can have similar, or the same industry across multiple capstones, this is also not strongly recommended. It’s usually a better strategy to have diversity in your portfolio so that you have a broader range of work to show hiring managers.
UXA projects
UX Academy has a complete curriculum of lessons and hands-on projects. We provide 4 open-ended briefs for each capstone project, which helps each student to develop a completely unique portfolio of their work that stands out to recruiters and hiring managers. The briefs we provide are intentionally ambiguous, because learning to navigate prompts like this is a useful skill in the field. Remember, one of the most important things you can do as a designer is clearly define the problem you’re trying to solve before actually solving it!
Although we provide multiple briefs are for each project, most mentors will be happy to work with you on your own project. For example, you might want to work on a website or app design for a side project you’re undertaking.
If you do plan to work on your own project, please make sure to discuss with your mentor first. That way, they’ll be able to steer your work towards your planned deliverables from the beginning.
Another factor to consider is that Designlab courses work by you uploading submissions to a public platform, where your work can be viewed by others. This is a core part of our learning model, which allows students and mentors to learn from one another’s work. Therefore, if the project you have in mind is confidential or commercially sensitive, it won’t be suitable to use as coursework.
Important: Please note that for Phase 1, we require students to work on the provided briefs. However, you can discuss working on personal projects for your capstones in Phase 2.
Choosing and pairing fonts
Fonts—also called typefaces—can be pretty mysterious. Some people find that analyzing and choosing fonts comes to them very naturally, while others struggle to see the differences at all.
“Design” is much bigger than fonts, and wherever you fall on the spectrum of typeface appreciation, you can still be a great designer. If you’re struggling to choose or pair fonts, here are a few tips that might help to get you unstuck:
- To help learn about typefaces and how they’re constructed, start by picking combinations of simple, contrasting fonts—in the image below, we’ve chosen Futura (top) and Times New Roman (bottom). Compare the same word or sentence in each typeface, and just spend some time zooming in close to observe the differences in how each letter is drawn:
- When choosing a typeface, consider what you want that typeface to “say” in the context of your project. One of the main reasons to choose a particular font is to convey a message, emotion, or make some kind of statement. For example, would you describe a particular typeface as loud or quiet? Basic or fancy? Complex or simple? Organic or geometric? Explore these associations and see if they can help you decide. Which of the following options do you think would be the best choice here for “Flowers By Irene”?
- It’s a good rule of thumb to use a maximum of two fonts in any project, unless there’s a very clear and compelling reason to use more.
- Beware—there are a lot of very bad free typefaces out there. Make sure you’re choosing from a decent set of options so that you don’t end up battling with a font that simply isn’t very good. Google Fonts is a reputable place to start.
Finally, remember that keeping things simple is pretty much always a recipe for success. One way to simplify is to choose just one font for a project, and create variety by using different “weights” of that font. For example, we could use Helvetica Bold for headings and Helvetica Regular for body text. Using this kind of approach, you’re pretty much guaranteed to achieve a harmonious result.
One of the twentieth century’s great designers, Massimo Vignelli, famously used only six typefaces in all his work: Garamond, Bodoni, Century, Futura, Times, and Helvetica. Vignelli explains his approach in The Vignelli Canon.
Understanding grids
Grid systems in design have a long and complex history, and they can definitely be tough to get your head around at first! As a first step, you could check out the guide to grids on our blog. It covers the history of grids, core concepts in grid systems, and offers practical tips.
When it comes to troubleshooting grids in your own design work, here’s some extra advice to overcome common mistakes:
- If you’re working in Sketch, it’s easy to set up a column grid by going to View > Canvas > Layout Options. Experiment with each setting to help understand how the guides work. Then, when you’re back in your document, you can easily toggle the guides off by pressing Ctrl + L.
- Plan out your grid so that it’s appropriate for what you’re designing. For example, if you’re designing for mobile, a 3 or 4 column grid will probably be the most helpful guide, whereas for a desktop design, a 6 or 12 column grid might be more appropriate.
- Make sure that all the elements in your design have a clear relationship to the underlying grid. That means making sure that everything in your design should begin and end at the edge of a grid column, not floating in the margin or gutter.
- Generally, the most successful and visually effective uses of grids are ones that keep things simple. Choose a few clear points of alignment, use them consistently, and you’ll end up with a great-looking result.
If you want to learn more about grids, we can recommend these further resources:
- Timothy Samara, Making And Breaking The Grid, updated and expanded edition (2017).
- Josef Müller-Brockmann, Grid Systems.
- The late Massimo Vignelli explains the use of grids in his book designs.