Basic UX Principles: How to get started

The following list isn’t everything you can learn in UX. It’s a quick overview, so you can go from zero-to-hero as quickly as possible. You will get a practical taste of all the big parts of UX, and a sense of where you need to learn more. The order of the lessons follows a real-life UX process (more or less) so you can apply these ideas as-you-go. Each lesson also stands alone, so feel free to bookmark them as a reference!

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Introduction & Key Ideas

#01 — What is UX?

#02 — User Goals & Business Goals

#03 — The 5 Main Ingredients of UX

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How to Understand Users

#04 — What is User Research?

#05 — How to Ask People Questions

#06 — Creating User Profiles

#07 — Designing for Devices

#08 — Design Patterns

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Information Architecture

#09 — What is Information Architecture?

#10 — User Stories & Types of Information Architecture

#11 — What is a Wireframe?

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Visual Design Principles

#12 — Visual Weight, Contrast & Depth

#13 — Colour

#14 — Repetition & Pattern-Breaking

#15 — Line Tension & Edge Tension

#16 — Alignment & Proximity

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Functional Layout Design

#17 — Z-Pattern, F-Pattern, and Visual Hierarchy

#18 — Browsing vs. Searching vs. Discovery

#19 — Page Framework

#20 — The Fold, Images, & Headlines

#21 — The Axis of Interaction

#22 — Forms

#23 — Calls-to-Action, Instructions & Labels

#24 — Primary & Secondary Buttons

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User Psychology

#25 — Conditioning

#26 — Persuasion

#27 — How Experience Changes Experience

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Designing with Data

#28 — What is Data?

#29 — Summary Statistics

#30 — Graph Shapes

#31 — A/B Tests

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All done? There is a sequel to this course: 

UX Crash Course: User Psychology

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If you know someone else who wants to learn UX, please share!

If this is how you discovered my blog, it doesn’t stop here! I post a lot of awesome shit about UX, design, persuasion, and human behaviour. It’s a lot easier than hunting for links on your own!

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