Research, design, and validate experiences.
2 topics
Design thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. Core principles: consistency, feedback, affordance, learnability, error prevention. Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. Remember: you are not the user — decisions must be backed by research.
2 resources
Qualitative: interviews, contextual inquiry, card sorting, diary studies. Quantitative: surveys, analytics, A/B testing. 5 users find ~85% of usability issues. Deliverables: personas, journey maps, research reports with prioritized recommendations.
Low-fi wireframes (sketches, Balsamiq) for layout exploration. High-fi prototypes in Figma: frames, auto-layout, components/variants, styles, prototyping interactions. Design for multiple breakpoints (mobile-first). Document component states (default, hover, active, disabled, error).
Moderated testing: give tasks, observe, think-aloud protocol. Unmoderated: Maze, UserTesting at scale. 5-8 participants per round. Measure: task completion, time on task, error rate, SUS score. Fix critical issues immediately, major in next iteration.