

User Experience Design Learning Path - gautambay
http://www.mysliderule.com/learning-paths/user-experience-design

======
gautambay
The goal of this Learning Path is to list helpful resources into a curriculum
that a motivated beginner can follow to learn the essentials of UX Design.

Designers of Hacker News, we'd love your help on 2 things:

1\. We'd love your feedback on the curriculum itself. e.g. Do the topics and
flow look right? Are the projects sufficient?

2\. If you're a UX designer who loves to teach and mentor new professionals,
I'd love to talk. We're planning a learning experiment that combines the power
of the internet with one-on-one human contact.

~~~
paulojreis
Well, I can't find references/materials on Human-Computer Interaction.

It seems rather strange that there isn't a single reference to HCI in a UX
curriculum. I know it may sound like the "hard"/science-y part, but HCI is
fundamental - quite a few principles (such as Fitt's law or the 10 Nielsen &
Molich heuristics) came from HCI research and stood the test of time - they're
still valid, today. Usability testing was also built out of HCI research.
Also: cognitive modeling, the focus on the user, and so on.

tl;dr: You should introduce HCI from the start. There's open courseware on the
subject. You can't claim to know (or teach) the essentials of UX design
without a good knowledge of HCI as a subject.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
HCI itself has little bearing on design even if the HCI community wished
otherwise. Fitts' law came from the experimental psychology field...given that
HCI didn't even exist in the 50s and 60s. Most of its lessons are codified
into easy digest principles. Don't forget Hick's law, which is also useful
when designing menus (also experimental psychology).

~~~
paulojreis
I can't agree with you. HCI has a lot of impact on design, in spite of not
being acknowledged (or even _known_ ) by most of the practitioners. What the
aspiring UX designers are reading (in Smashing Magazine & others) is, mostly,
rephrasings of HCI knowledge.

Most UX methods and guidelines come from HCI (and HCI, of course, comes from
other disciplines).

~~~
seanmcdirmid
I'm betting you are on the HCI side and not the design side right? I'm a
researcher, I know lots of HCI researchers, I know lots of designers, and the
overlap in what the two do is so is slight. Most work on HCI is at the test,
measure level, very much a science, while design is a different method from
science in its own right.

Is knowing some HCI useful for design? Sure, but necessary? The best designers
I've worked with have none, while going from HCI to design requires a drastic
shift in mindset. Keep in mind that HCI first and foremost is a computer
science discipline practiced exclusively by computer scientists. Design is
mostly practiced by those trained as designers, in design school by people who
have never been remotely near HCI. They are definitely analytic, but are not
data driven (well, google, and in the web world where engineers have taken
over, but that's a new trend and not necessarily a lasting one), their method
is design thinking rather than the scientific method.

~~~
paulojreis
> Most work on HCI is at the test, measure level, very much a science

Most work on HCI _was_ at the measure level. If you follow HCI research, you
may notice a trend: lots of publications based on ethnographic methods,
qualitative approaches and the like. HCI (as in "HCI academic research") is,
nowadays, much closer (methodologically) to design thinking than to
experimental psychology.

> I'm betting you are on the HCI side and not the design side right?

I do both. I work in the industry (UI design, front-end dev, evaluation) and
I'm a PhD student.

> Keep in mind that HCI first and foremost is a computer science discipline

I've the opposite opinion on this. From all the disciplines that "inform" HCI,
CS would be the least important. But ...

> practiced exclusively by computer scientists.

I guess you're right on this, at least in the academia. I do have the
impression that most HCI researchers have a CS background. But, at least in my
country, this is mostly because CS departments have much more funding to hire
researchers than the others.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
> lots of publications based on ethnographic methods, qualitative approaches
> and the like. HCI (as in "HCI academic research") is, nowadays, much closer
> (methodologically) to design thinking than to experimental psychology.

Just because HCI researchers are trying to do design doesn't mean they have
mastered it yet. CHI also doesn't yet know how to handle work from real
designers (vs. HCI researchers talking about what they think those designers
should be doing). It is more of an aspiration for the community at this point;
they haven't asserted much leadership in the field yet (in terms of practice).

> I do both. I work in the industry (UI design, front-end dev, evaluation) and
> I'm a PhD student.

Did you go to design school? Can you sketch? How about your storyboarding
skills? What is your experience with color? Do you have a portfolio ready to
show off at any moment? I know I sound harsh, and I'm not trying to say you
aren't a real designer, but CS people who say they practice design rarely
cross those lines above. I'm a CS researcher, not a designer, and my wife
(visual/interaction designer, design school background) calls out my BS all
the time.

> I guess you're right on this, at least in the academia. I do have the
> impression that most HCI researchers have a CS background. But, at least in
> my country, this is mostly because CS departments have much more funding to
> hire researchers than the others.

As far as I can tell, there is very little HCI content that is geared toward
designers. Those HCI courses that pre-exist are all aimed at computer
scientists; the designers in the meantime have their own programs (e.g.
interaction design departments) that are quite separated from what the
engineers are doing.

~~~
paulojreis
> Did you go to design school? Can you sketch? How about your storyboarding
> skills? What is your experience with color? Do you have a portfolio ready to
> show off at any moment? I know I sound harsh, and I'm not trying to say you
> aren't a real designer, but CS people who say they practice design rarely
> cross those lines above. I'm a CS researcher, not a designer, and my wife
> (visual/interaction designer, design school background) calls out my BS all
> the time.

I'm not a computer scientist, nor a engineer. I graduated from a Comm. & Arts
department, with a degree in a "hybrid" between Comm. Science, Design and IT.
I do have a portfolio in UI design, I have a little experience in print
medium, a solid understanding of colors and typography. I can sketch but I'm a
lousy, lousy drawer. I also developed (and do the tutoring) on a small course
in UX design, which my company gives to new trainees (engineers, most of the
time).

I guess you pictured me as someone from CS with a interest in UI design. I'm
not. I'm a UI designer and front-end developer. I'm also a researcher and I do
user testing, which is why I also _know_ HCI (and also why I can see the
discipline as the foundation of IxD, even though most of the time it isn't
acknowledged as such).

> As far as I can tell, there is very little HCI content that is geared toward
> designers. Those HCI courses that pre-exist are all aimed at computer
> scientists; the designers in the meantime have their own programs (e.g.
> interaction design departments) that are quite separated from what the
> engineers are doing.

I partially agree with you, here. Most HCI courses do exist in CS/engineering
departments (at least, in my country). And - what is worst - they're taught by
CS with little to zero experience in HCI. However, the interaction design
programs - the ones geared towards designers - they do teach HCI. Maybe with a
different label, maybe the teachers don't _attribute_ the contents to HCI &
HCI authors, but it is HCI nonetheless. Of course, the emphasis is totally
different, and they focus a lot more on prototyping

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Fair enough, I'm sorry I had the wrong view. But you said you are a PhD
student now...in what kind of department? CS? PhDs are very rare in design.

~~~
paulojreis
It's a joint degree between my alma mater (Comm. & Arts) and a Arts &
Humanities department from another university (focused on the information
sciences and journalism).

Think "social science approaches to technologically mediated phenomena".

------
computerjunkie
As one who is interested in learning Interaction Design & User Experience
Design (hoping to make it into a career in a couple of years) this is a much
needed resource. Thanks.

PS: The pop - up registration form on the website is a fine example of how
subscription pop-ups should be done. Only when the user feels that he/she is
interested in learning from the website, the pop-up comes up.Its placed well
in the website and only shows up when necessary.

There are simply too many invasive and intrusive pop-ups on websites these
days that immediately come up when opening the webpage. The worst part is that
they keep on nagging you until you either give them your email or leave the
website. It ruins the browsing experience and comes of as desperate. Its also
a shame that well known websites are now doing this and its really annoying.

If your content is good enough, users will subscribe on their own.

[0] A resource which was developed by Theresa Neil and Balsamiq is great for
beginners getting started in User Experience Design.

[0] [http://www.uxapprentice.com/](http://www.uxapprentice.com/)

------
protonfish
This seems like a decent site - I still need to go through all of the
resources more thoroughly but I have two comments.

I am not a fan of using video primarily over text. This is also why I am not a
fan of Khan Academy, so maybe it's just my preference and doesn't reflect what
most of your users want but I do have facts and reasoning to back up my
opinion. Anything that requires sound is going to limit it's use to a private
setting, and videos can't be skimmed or used as a reference. I understand
their occasional value for supplemental lessons, but I don't they should be
required to use tutorials.

There may be a demand for UX designers but as much as I would love to focus my
career in that area, I won't because UX is a bike shed. Even if you designed
the perfect UI, you would never get it past clueless management without having
it mangled. The fight to do your job makes of 90% of your effort, and you will
always lose.

------
dceddia
This looks like a great resource, thanks for putting this together. As a
developer who's interested in web design/UX design (but not all that great at
it), this will be helpful.

If you don't mind, I'll mention it on my blog as well. I've started writing
about my process in trying to improve my design skills
([http://designwithdave.com](http://designwithdave.com)), and I think my (few,
but growing) readers would find it useful.

~~~
dotnetkow
Great idea for a blog! Will start following it.

------
annnnd
I like the concept and the content looks VERY interesting. Thanks, will check
it out in the following days!

Minor annoyance: clicking on "Demystifying Usability Tests: Learning the
Basics" leads to an external page where I have to sign in to see the video (no
need to sign in for the first video, "What is UX Design"). Do I really need to
create another fake account just to see the video?

~~~
gautambay
Unfortunately, yes. And sadly, that is the case for a few other materials
later in the path as well.

This is v1 though, and we'll work to make the experience better.

------
saeranv
I'm a little confused about what I would be learning here. What exactly are
the "tools, methods and frameworks" which is being taught, and are there any
prerequisites before I can jump in?

It looks like the only way I can look at the curriculum is by joining
sliderule...which I don't want to do, yet.

------
kornakiewicz
That's what I needed since started playing with front-end stuff, but does
anybody can confirm quality of this course and/or suggest similar stuff?

------
lelifer
if u want to be a pro UI/UX designer, learn javascript (Kintetic, GSAP,
backbone, famous, node and everything else that comes with node).

~~~
jbjorge
...after you've learned the principles of UX.

~~~
lelifer
UX is not something you learn its something you gain w/ experience with all
theses technologies. its messing up and starting over again and implementing a
better design than the previous gaining even more experience/methodologies. or
at least that's the pro way of learning UX.

~~~
jdebari
I partially agree. UX is something that comes with practice, but it isn't
about technology. It's about a process for solving problems for people. The
technology itself shouldn't matter, but it is good to know how things work in
order to understand and communicate with your team.

~~~
jnem
UX is DX (developer experience).

