How to Teach UX Design

Introductions can take up too much time
You still need to know who people are
Share:
• Name (name cards ROCK!)
• One sentence (Or five words) What you want from today)

INTRODUCTIONS
@cwodtke |


1.

List things you want 2. Affinity sort
to cover
Teams
POST ITS (One item 10 minutes sorting
per)
10 minutes free listing Name groupings

Soft skills?
Software?

EXERCISE: DEFINING WHAT
WE’LL TEACH
@cwodtke |


What time does day start/stop?
When is lunch?
When are breaks?
Fill in time slots (30 min increments)
Leave an hour at the start and finish unscheduled.
Fill in agenda with topics
Find a project that can be done across the topics
25 min

EXERCISE:
PLANNING A ONE DAY
“FUNDAMENTALS” CLASS
@cwodtke |


9-10 HOLD
10-10:30
10:30- 11
11-11:30
11:30-12
12-1 LUNCH
1-1:30
1:30-2
2-2:30
2:30-3 BREAK
3-3:30
4-5 HOLD

TEMPLATE
@cwodtke |


Is UX too big?
How did you know what to cut? What to include?

DISCUSS

@cwodtke |


9-10 Hellos, Late ppl, Intro to UX
10-11 Make it Be Good Exercise
11-11:30 Introduce day’s project (Grocery store app), User research
11:30-12 Practice User Research
12-1 LUNCH & Research
1-1:30 Card sort findings, Share
1:30-2:15 IxD (with personas)
2:15-3 IA (with Candy!)
3-3:15 Break
3:15 -4 UI (sketching)
4-5 Presentations, discussion, wrap-up
Presentations take longer than you think

EXAMPLE
@cwodtke |


Start by writing a 20 minute talk
Then expand with exercises, discussion, examples

FRACTAL DESIGN

@cwodtke |


More repetition
Explaining things multiple ways
Redoing same exercise in different context
Practice key skills

TEACH LESS BETTER

@cwodtke |


HOW CAN STUDENTS
INTERNALIZE LEARNING?
@cwodtke |


WHAT ARE MY TEACHING
TOOLS?
@cwodtke |


@cwodtke |


34:28-37:25 http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/fearv/clips/indiegame-the-movie-edmund-mcmillen-discusses
@cwodtke |


Scaffold Learning
•
•
•
•

@cwodtke |

Introduce
Safe practice (exercise)
Applied practice (project)
Practice in new context (new project)


Pick a topic from your day
How will you introduce it– without a lecture!
Design your first exercise
15 minutes

EXERCISE

@cwodtke |


All learning happens here

WALK AROUND

@cwodtke |


Discussion
Diary
Papers
Presentations
Drawings??

REFLECTION

@cwodtke |


DRAW
YOUR
WEEK

@cwodtke |


How will students internalize?
Diary?
Discussion?
Drawing?

EXERCISE: REFLECTION

@cwodtke |


What supporting information is needed to complete exercise?
Decide how you’ll deliver it.
Lecture?
Reading?
Video?
A Play?

EXERCISE: HOW WILL YOU
INTRODUCE THE KNOWLEDGE?
@cwodtke |


Three examples
• Pragmatic
• Compassionate
• Cool

STORYTELLING

@cwodtke |


POV

WHAT I TEACH

@cwodtke |


What was a good learning experience? Why?
What was a bad one? Why?

ESTABLISHING
RULES
@cwodtke |


I tried to teach
Jesse James
Garret's Planes
I had to Simplify
Interaction
Design

User
Research

Information
Architecture
@cwodtke |


Interface
Design

Make it Be Good Exercise
1. Students are asked to come with a
great user experience and a bad user
experience.
2. Students share why great are great.
As students share, instructor pulls out
heuristics (error prevention, error
recovery, set expectations meet
expectations)
3. Students then share bad user
experiences.
4. Student redesign bad into good

What it Accomplishes
Discuss what is good?
Teaches some heuristics in context
Creates a sense of competency
Creates confidence
Enables passion

OPENING THE CLASS

@cwodtke |


Start talking to users as soon as you can
Scaffolding again:
•
safe (with students)
•
daring (with ppl in building)
•
really scary (strangers)
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/user-research-101

UER

@cwodtke |


Classification
Natural organization fails
Task based
Synonyms
Thesauri (relational-upsell)
Tags
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/information-architecture-fundamentals

IA

@cwodtke |


Body storming
Goal directed design
Persona/scenarios/task analysis/use cases
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/interaction-design-and-goal-driven-designusing-personas

IXD

@cwodtke |


Understanding
• Layout
• Objects
• Type
• Color
• Line
• Hierarchy
• Relationships

Use
• Affordances
• HUD
• Feedback
• Modes
• Input
• Navigation

INTERFACE
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/designingthe-interface-for-use

@cwodtke |


UX Glue
• Conceptual Models
• Top tens
• Competitive analysis
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke/conceptual-models-mental-models

Discuss: what’s useful,
but isn’t usually covered?
@cwodtke |


Critiques can get out of control
Treat a critique like a secret santa; Everyone draws names they give feedback to
Everyone gives 3 keeps and 3 changes to the person.

CRITIQUE
@cwodtke |


Scary & Hard Parts

@cwodtke |


Seek first to understand, then to be understood

TEACHING WHAT YOU
DON’T KNOW
@cwodtke |


Discuss: Can you teach someone else’s slides?

MAKING THE CURRICULUM
YOURS
@cwodtke |


Discuss

CONFLICT ON TEAMS

@cwodtke |


Discussion: Should we throw people out?

HOPELESS STUDENTS

@cwodtke |


HIDDEN BIASES
STEREOTYPE THREAT
@cwodtke |


Practicalities

@cwodtke |


SPACE

@cwodtke |


EQUIPMENT

@cwodtke |


Postits?
Pens? Sharpies bleed through: avoid!
Whiteboards?
Gator boards?

MATERIALS

@cwodtke |


You
Showtime!

@cwodtke |


Energy: WW pose
The gift pose
Self care
Prep
Clothing-as-story

YOU ARE THE UI
@cwodtke |


Do 3 keeps and changes each time after you teach
Update slides the next day with your changes

KEEP GROWING

@cwodtke |


Make your sense of fun infectious!
Laugh at yourself!
Love your students!

TREAT TEACHING LIKE A DAY
IN PARADISE
@cwodtke |


@cwodtke | www.eleganthack.com | www.slideshare.net/cwodtke

QUESTIONS?

@cwodtke |


How to Teach UX Design

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