Web Design for Usability
How This Course Will Help Your Career
What You’ll Learn
The principles of user-centered design and to apply them to your designs to improve usability
How to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of alternative designs
Why it is important to have clear, conceptual models and early design
The importance of involving users in the design process
Basic usability and accessibility guidelines that you can apply to your designs
Usability and profitability are two sides of the same coin. Simple improvements in usability can greatly increase the probability that your e-commerce site will be a success... however, the opposite is also true! It is therefore crucial that all designers consider usability early on in the design process, especially seeing as such knowledge is also applicable to wider contexts—such as improving productivity and job satisfaction in the workplace.
As Forrester Research puts it:
“Usability goals are business goals. Web sites that are hard to use frustrate customers, forfeit revenue, and erode brands. Executives can apply a disciplined approach to improve all aspects of ease-of-use. Start with usability reviews to assess specific flaws and understand their causes. Then fix the right problems through action-driven design practices. Finally, maintain usability with changes in business processes.”
As you may have deduced by now, the realm of usability extends far below what you see on the surface. Despite this, what we want to see on the surface has proved to be an ongoing temptation for all too many of us as designers. Constructing an awesome site is not just about making it look awesome—particularly when you can end up with a beautifully sophisticated design that crashes moments after users sit down to interact with it. Fortunately, you can—and should—aim for a site that both looks and functions in an awesome way.
Getting to the nub of usability issues as soon as you notice them—or, better still, as soon as you notice their potential to upset your work—means saving yourself many a headache further down the development line. The old expression “forewarned is forearmed” is more than relevant in this market... and that’s why we have put everything you need into this course to help you keep your work optimized for usability.
“Web Design for Usability” is a course built on evidence-based approaches, as well as solid evidence, distilled from over 40 years of experience in the development of interactive systems. The course is taught by the founder and principal consultant of Syntagm, William Hudson, who is also a distinguished writer and teacher in the fields of user-centered design, user experience, and usability.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This is a beginner-level course suitable for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike:
- UX designers who want to create outstanding websites that are free from usability flaws
- Project managers keen on building user-centered products that stand out from the competition
- Software engineers interested in augmenting their development skills with a firm grounding in usability
- Entrepreneurs looking to ship products that are free from usability flaws and thus succeed
- Newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to UX design
Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There's no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 17 hours 11 mins spread over 11 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
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0.1: An introduction to courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (37 mins)
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0.2: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.3: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.4: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (5 mins)
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0.5: Meet and learn from design professionals at an upcoming meetup (1 min)
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0.6: Gain Timeless Skills Through Courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.7: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.8: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins)
Lesson 1: Introduction
Lesson 2: Interaction Model
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2.1: Gulf of Execution and Evaluation (29 mins)
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2.2: Goal Mapping (24 mins)
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2.3: Goal Oriented Models (1 hour 5 mins)
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2.4: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
Lesson 3: Users
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3.1: Interviews and Focus Groups (1 hour 9 mins)
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3.2: Personas and Card Sorting (40 mins)
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3.3: Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (43 mins)
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3.4: Paper Prototyping (16 mins)
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3.5: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
Lesson 4: Accessibility
Lesson 5: Navigation and Content
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5.1: Navigation (1 hour 26 mins)
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5.2: Content (30 mins)
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5.3: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
Lesson 6: Visual Design
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6.1: Gestalt Principles and Grids (1 hour 13 mins)
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6.2: Layout Expectations (47 mins)
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6.3: Forms and Data Entry (50 mins)
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6.4: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
Lesson 7: Feedback
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7.1: Timing, Location and Meaning (1 hour 19 mins)
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7.2: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
Lesson 8: Testing
Lesson 9: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
Learning Paths
This course is part of 1 learning path:
How Others Have Benefited
Maram Saber, Germany
“Awesome teaching method, the alternating between videos / articles was great and the examples were simple and easy to follow.”
Sebastian Steindl, Hong Kong
“The course offers a great introduction to basic principles of usability used in web design. It is clearly structured and presented in an easy-to-understand way.”
Pippa Alldritt, United Kingdom
“Clear, succinct, detailed and very likable instructor who makes the course easy and simple to pick up.”
How It Works
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Lessons are self-paced so you'll never be late for class or miss a deadline.
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