UX Bootcamp in Blogpost

So you think you want to be a UXer? Take a look at some resources I keep on my bookmarks for when I’m connecting my network.

If you’re a go-getter personality (like me!) — I don’t think you need a degree or even a paid bootcamp to pull off this career shift, but the network it builds is worth the investment in MOST cases. I still wouldn’t wish my student loans on my worst enemy.

Enjoy this list!

-L


UX Design

User experience (UX) design is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability and function.

What does a UX Designer do?

It is important to be aware that UX designers are not typically responsible for the visual design of a product. Rather, they focus on the journey that the user takes and how the product is structured to facilitate this journey.

“How do I explain what I do at a party? The short version is that I say I humanize technology.”

— Fred Beecher, Director of UX, The Nerdery

Additional Resources:

UX Research

UX (user experience) research is the systematic investigation of users and their requirements, in order to add context and insight into the process of designing the user experience. In comparison to user research, UX research does not necessarily assume an iterative process.

  • Quantitative research is any research that can be measured numerically. It answers questions such as “how many people clicked here” or “what percentage of users are able to find the call to action?” It’s valuable in understanding statistical likelihoods and what is happening on a site or in an app.

  • Qualitative research is sometimes called “soft” research. It answers questions like “why didn’t people see the call to action” and “what else did people notice on the page?” and often takes the form of interviews or conversations. Qualitative research helps us understand why people do the things they do

Objectives:

  • Conducting user research

  • Creating user personas

  • Determining the information architecture of a digital product

  • Designing user flows and wireframes

  • Creating prototypes

  • Conducting user testing

Methods:

  • Observation

  • Understanding

  • Analysis

  • Interviews

  • Surveys and Questions

  • Card Sorts

  • Usability Tests

  • Tree Tests

  • A/B Tests

Resources:

Self-Guided Trainings

UX Strategy

A UX strategy is the plan and approach for a digital product. UX strategies help businesses translate their intended user experience to every touchpoint where people interact with or experience its products or services.

 Phase 1. Knowledge & Learning

Phase 2. Discover the sector and plan the strategy

Phase 3. Present and refine

Phase 4. Validate and review

 

Toolbox:

  • Stakeholder interviews

  • Prototyping tools

  • User interviews

  • Sector expert interviews

  • Competitive analysis

  • Concept maps

  • Google's HEART framework

 Resources:


Tools of the Trade

Design:

  • Sketch

  • UXPin

  • Adobe XD

  • Axure

Prototype:

  • Balsamiq

  • Figma

  • InVision

  • Storybook

  • Zeplin

Research:

  • Dsout - If you could get Snapchat like responses from research scenarios…You’d get dscout. BUT with incredibly data visualization.

  • User zoom - It’s a great software to do click tests, and general usability testing

  • usertesting.com - Remote usability testing

  • Optimal sort - Card sorting

  • Validately - General research software

UXers' Favorite Websites and Newsletters