Mastering User Experience (UX) Design for Experienced Web Developers

At Course Completion

Working in a hands-on learning environment led by our expert UX coach, you’ll learn to:

· Understand and apply UX principles and user-centered design processes: Participants will learn to identify the needs and preferences of users, create user personas, and apply UX best practices to develop intuitive, user-friendly web experiences.

· Design and implement responsive web layouts: Participants will gain the skills to create fluid grid layouts, use flexible images, and apply media queries to design web pages that adapt seamlessly across various devices and screen sizes.

· Optimize web performance for responsive designs: Participants will learn techniques to improve website performance, including image optimization, responsive images, and minification and concatenation of assets, ensuring a fast and smooth user experience across devices.

· Implement accessible web designs: Participants will understand the importance of accessibility in web design and learn to apply WCAG principles and accessible design patterns to create websites that are usable by a wide range of users, including those with disabilities.

· Collaborate effectively with designers, developers, and stakeholders: Participants will gain insights into design collaboration and handoff processes, enhancing their ability to communicate design decisions, provide and receive feedback, and work efficiently with team members and clients.

Audience Profile

The intended audience for this course is experienced web developers who are new to User Experience (UX) and Responsive Design principles. These professionals typically have a solid understanding of front-end development technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript but seek to expand their skillset to create more user-centric, adaptable, and accessible web experiences.

Roles that would benefit from this course include:

· Front-end Web Developers: Developers who focus on implementing the visual and interactive aspects of a website, and want to enhance their understanding of UX principles and responsive design techniques to create more engaging, user-friendly, and adaptable web experiences.

· Full-stack Developers: Developers who work on both front-end and back-end aspects of a website, and seek to improve their design skills and knowledge to create seamless and responsive user interfaces that cater to a wide range of devices and screen sizes.

· Web Designers: Designers who have a background in creating visual layouts for websites, and want to deepen their understanding of UX principles and responsive design in order to create more effective, accessible, and adaptable designs that cater to the needs of modern users.

· Team Leads and Project Managers: Individuals who oversee web development projects and teams, and want to gain a better understanding of UX and responsive design principles in order to effectively manage projects, collaborate with designers and developers, and ensure the delivery of high-quality, user-centric web experiences.

· Freelance Web Developers: Professionals who work independently on web development projects and want to expand their skillset in UX and responsive design to increase their competitiveness in the market, offer a broader range of services to clients, and create more engaging and effective websites.

Prerequisites

· Proficiency in HTML and CSS: Participants should have a strong understanding of HTML and CSS, including the ability to create semantic markup, style web elements, and apply basic styling concepts such as the box model, positioning, and the cascade.

· Familiarity with JavaScript: Participants should have a basic understanding of JavaScript and its role in web development, including concepts like variables, functions, loops, and events. Although the course will not focus heavily on JavaScript, a foundational knowledge of the language will help participants grasp some of the more advanced UX and responsive design concepts.

· Experience in Web Development: Participants should have prior experience in developing websites or web applications, as the course builds upon existing web development knowledge and focuses on introducing UX and responsive design principles. This experience may include working on personal, professional, or open-source projects, or having completed a web development course or certification program.

Take Before:

You should have incoming skill listed in the course(s) below or should have attended this as a pre-requisite:

· TT4002 HTML5/CSS3 Essentials

· TT4003 HTML5/CSS3 & JavaScript Essentials

Outline

Day 1: Introduction to UX and Responsive Design

1. Understanding User Experience

· What is UX?

· Importance of UX in web development

· UX principles and best practices

· User-centered design process

2. Responsive Web Design Basics (1 hour)

· What is Responsive Web Design?

· Importance of Responsive Design in modern web development

· Fluid grid layout, flexible images, and media queries

· Hands-on Activity: Creating a Responsive Layout

- Designing a simple responsive layout using HTML, CSS, and media queries

- Breakdown and explanation of the code

- Testing responsiveness across different devices

3. Mobile-first vs. Desktop-first Approaches

· Pros and cons of each approach

· Deciding which approach to use

4. Designing for Different Devices and Screen Sizes

· Common breakpoints and device considerations

· Accessibility and usability across devices

· Typography, color, and other design elements in responsive design

· Hands-on Activity: Designing for Different Devices

- Modifying the previously created responsive layout to optimize for various devices

- Discussion and feedback on designs

Day 2: Advanced UX and Responsive Design Techniques

5. UX Research and Testing

· Importance of UX research

· Usability testing and user feedback

· A/B testing and heatmaps

6. Navigation and Information Architecture

· Designing effective and user-friendly navigation

· Organizing content and information

· Common navigation patterns in responsive design

· Hands-on Activity: Designing Navigation for Responsive Websites

- Adding navigation elements to the previously created responsive layout

- Testing navigation on different devices and screen sizes

- Discussion and feedback on navigation designs

7. Responsive Web Design Frameworks and Tools

· Overview of popular frameworks (Bootstrap, Foundation, etc.)

· Pros and cons of using frameworks

· Introduction to design tools (Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD)

· Hands-on Activity: Exploring Frameworks and Tools

- Experimenting with a chosen framework or design tool

- Redesigning the responsive layout using the selected framework/tool

- Sharing experiences and discussing the benefits and drawbacks

Day 3: UX and Responsive Design Best Practices

8. Design Patterns and UI Components

· Common design patterns in responsive web design

· Designing reusable UI components

· Consistency and usability in UI components

9. Performance Optimization

· Importance of performance in responsive design

· Image optimization and responsive images

· Minification and concatenation of assets

· Hands-on Activity: Optimizing Performance (1.5 hours)

· Applying performance optimization techniques to the responsive layout

· Testing the improvements in performance

· Sharing results and discussing best practices

10. Accessibility in UX and Responsive Design

· Importance of accessibility in web design

· Accessibility principles (WCAG)

· Accessible design patterns and techniques

· Hands-on Activity: Evaluating and Improving Accessibility Assessing the accessibility of the responsive layout

- Implementing accessibility improvements

- Testing and discussing the results

11. Design Collaboration and Handoff

· Collaborating with designers, developers, and stakeholders

· Effective communication and documentation

· Design handoff tools and techniques

· Hands-on Activity: Simulating Design Handoff

- Participants will work in pairs to simulate a design handoff

- Reviewing, discussing, and providing feedback on each other's responsive layouts

- Sharing experiences and lessons learned