INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS

SCHOOL OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

User Experience (UX)

Designer
Nanodegree Program Syllabus
Overview
This Nanodegree program teaches the foundational skills all user experience (UX) designers use, whether they design mobile
apps, desktop apps, or web platforms. It is ideal for students who want to understand how to create development-ready
designs, and build a UX portfolio to start and succeed in a user experience (UX) designer role.

Learning Objectives

A graduate of this program will be able to:

• Understand the fundamentals of UX design, including Neilsen’s Heuristic Evaluation, quantitative and
qualitative research methodologies, and the design psychology behind designing for humans.

• Synthesize user research, frame design opportunities, run design sprints from ideation to prototype
using Miro board, and conduct usability tests to improve designs based on feedback.

• Convert designs into a wireframe and low-fidelity sketch using Figma and then into a high-fidelity
interactive design that can then be prepared for engineering handoff.

• Incorporate visual design basics: information hierarchy, UI design patterns, visual hierarchy, as well as
grid systems, typography, style guides, and basic design systems into one’s designs.

• Measure design performance through qualitative analytics to improve a design based on data.

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Program information

Estimated Time Skill Level

3 months at 10hrs/week* Beginner

Prerequisites

No required prerequisites

Required Hardware/Software

Learners will need access to the internet and a 64-bit computer.

*The length of this program is an estimation of total hours the average student may take to complete all required
coursework, including lecture and project time. If you spend about 5-10 hours per week working through the program, you
should finish within the time provided. Actual hours may vary.

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 Course 1

UX Fundamentals & Design Research

Product design starts with understanding the needs of users, which is gathered through comprehensive research. Learn the
core principles of human-centered design and how to appropriately scope a design problem. Understand how to empathize
with users when performing user research, including how to conduct in-depth interviews, create quantitative surveys, and use
research data to uncover opportunities. Then apply psychology to design sketches, keeping the end user in mind.

Course Project

Formulate a Research Report

The first step to designing a great product is empathizing with users and uncovering their needs. Develop
a discussion guide, recruit research participants, and synthesize findings in the form of a research report.
Validate insights from interviews using surveys to get a comprehensive view of the topic. The goal of this
project is to ask the right questions when interviewing users to understand their experiences in order to
identify design opportunities, and create initial sketches that incorporate design psychology principles.

• Apply usability principles to heuristic evaluation of product designs.

Lesson 1
• Use design principles to identify user-friendly vs. manipulative design solutions.
Introduction to UX
• Learn how to scope a research topic to select a design problem.

User Experience (UX) Designer 4

 • Learn how to design and execute a UX research plan including research goals,
recruiting criteria, and scripts.
Lesson 2 • See how to build empathy with users and construct questions needed to run a
semi-structured user interview and survey study.
UX Research
• Understand how to analyze quantitative data collected from the user interview
using the affinity diagramming method.

• Learn how to appeal to human emotional and behavioral needs through

Lesson 3
design.
Design for Humans • Use design psychology principles to critique and iterate design sketches.

Course 2

Concept to Low-Fidelity Prototyping

The best products have gone through rounds of iteration based on user research and feedback. Learn the process of a design
sprint and how to translate findings from research into a prototype that can be tested with users. Understand how to foster
team collaboration and use divergent and convergent thinking to rapidly create testable prototypes. Apply user interface
principles in the design of a clickable prototype, and conduct a usability test to gain valuable feedback from users that can be
used in design iterations.

User Experience (UX) Designer 5

 Course Project

Develop a Validated Low-Fidelity Prototype

Insights from research are inputs to the design sprint process of creating a validated design solution. Take a
product idea through the design sprint process to come up with a user-tested low-fidelity prototype of the
solution. Set up the infrastructure to start the design sprint and synthesize research findings. Go through
ideation exercises to create paper sketches and digital prototypes based off the paper sketches. Conduct
a usability test of the prototype with users to validate design assumptions and create a second iteration of
the prototype based on user feedback.

• Learn how to apply the Double Diamond design process to create product
concepts.
Lesson 1 • Apply guerilla design sprints to collaboratively design with users.

Define the Design Sprint • Understand how to facilitate collaborative work sessions to build a collective
understanding of the user, source ideas, and obtain “buy-in” from various
stakeholders.

• Discover themes and opportunity areas from research.

• Learn how to define problems as opportunities.

Lesson 2
• Understand collaborative ideation techniques and how to apply them to focus
Synthesis: Research on the best ideas given the design scope.
to Features
• Learn how to prioritize ideas as design features based on a value-complexity
matrix to create a minimum viable product.

User Experience (UX) Designer 6

 • Understand various user interface layouts at different levels of fidelity.
Lesson 3 • Learn how to organize visuals and touchpoints so designs are user-friendly.

UI Principles • Understand how to ensure designs are accessible to all populations with
different user needs.

• Learn how to incorporate UI kits and components into a prototype.

Lesson 4
• Understand the capabilities of prototyping tools for product design.
Clickable Prototyping
• Define users flow and user interactions to create a clickable prototype.

• Understand how to design a digital journey map.

Lesson 5 • Learn how to conduct in-person and remote usability tests to gather specific
types of feedback on prototypes.
Usability Testing
• Understand how to iterate on prototypes based on user feedback.

Course 3

High-Fidelity Prototyping to Post-Launch

Analysis
Once products have been tested for its effectiveness, they need to be enhanced for engagement. Learn advanced user
interface principles to build interactive designs that are ready to be handed off to engineering for feedback. Understand
how to solicit and integrate feedback from engineering to enhance the design before it is ready for development. Assess the
engagement of the product through remote usability testing and other experimentation methods. Learn how to improve
design and user experiences based on engagement data in order to increase key performance indicators.

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 Course Project

Create and Improve a High-Fidelity Design

A low-fidelity prototype allows you to validate that the core functionality of a solution addresses user needs,
and the next step is to ensure the interface and experience of the solution engages and delights users as
much as possible. Enhance a low-fidelity prototype through the application of a data-enhanced, high-fidelity
design by submitting a midterm and a final project. For the midterm project, source visual design
inspiration to develop a style guide and component library. Use the style guide and component library to
create a high-fidelity mockup of the low-fidelity prototype. For the final project, improve the accessibility of
the design and iterate the design based on engagement data and key performance indicators.

• Learn how to recognize UI trends and apply various interaction and typography
Lesson 1 styles.

• Learn the value and process of annotating designs.

UI Design Basics
• Understand the components of a design system.

• Learn how to find and use UI kits and plugins in a high-fidelity design.
Lesson 2 • Learn how to source inspiration to generate the visual elements of a style
guide.
Building Interactive Designs
• Apply design principles to generate high-fidelity mockups.

• Understand the various levels of accessibility and how to incorporate them into
a design.
Lesson 3
• Understand how to build user stories and tasks flows that facilitate feedback
Preparing Design for from engineering.
Engineering Handoff
• Learn how to adjust designs and export assets so they are production-ready
for handoff to engineering.

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 • Understand the key performance indicators that drive an engaging design.
Lesson 4
• Learn how to use remote testing tools and techniques to collect and make
Improving Design sense of data.
Performance
• Learn how to optimize designs using engagement data.

Course 4

UX Portfolio Design
UX designers demonstrate their skills by showcasing their designs and processes in a portfolio. Understand what should and
shouldn’t be included in a portfolio as well as the key components that appeal to target audiences. Learn how to organize
previous work and communicate it online, keeping the audience and your career objectives in mind. Apply storytelling
and branding frameworks to create a personal profile that conveys a unique value proposition. Learn best practices for
maintaining and updating a UX portfolio.

Capstone Project

Build a UX Portfolio Case Study

A UX portfolio is the tool that UX designers use to display their abilities and experience to the world. Apply
portfolio design and personal branding best practices to create a starter portfolio that consists of projects
completed in this Nanodegree program. Reflect and document the process to complete the projects.
Organize assets and notes in a way that visualizes the steps taken to complete these projects. Develop an
accompanying “About Me” page that conveys what makes one unique as a UX professional.

User Experience (UX) Designer 9

 • Understand the purpose of a portfolio for storytelling.
Part 1
• Learn the key components of a UX portfolio and how to avoid pitfalls when
Introduction to Portfolio creating one.
Design
• Understand ways to get inspired and prepared before building a UX portfolio.

• Learn how to select and create a prototype of a project case study.

Part 2 • Learn how to finalize and prepare content of a project case study to be
displayed online.
Building a Starter Portfolio
• Understand how to design for the portfolio experience and update a UX
portfolio based on industry best practices.

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Meet your instructors.

Shuang Liu

UX Designer at Google

Shuang has enjoyed working in UX design across a variety of domains at Google, from YouTube to
technical cloud platforms. She is particularly interested in bringing a human touch to products. She
received her master’s in human-computer interaction from the University of Michigan.

Gabriel Ruttner
Co-Founder & CTO at Feather Docs

Gabe leads product, UX, and engineering for machine learning products at early-stage startups.
His last company built UX research tools for designers at Fortune 500 companies. He holds
degrees from Cornell University and Stony Brook University.

Michael Dedrick
UX Designer at Google

Michael is a UX Designer for Google after leading design at a blockchain startup and working
at a partnership with Apple and IBM. He is committed to connecting with clients and users and
bringing their vision to life. He has a design background from Sheridan, Toronto Film School,
and OCAD University.

Melissa Hui
Founder at Context Leap

Melissa is the founder of Context Leap, an SF-based organizational and leadership

transformation agency. With over a decade as a design and innovation strategist in the
technology industry, she is dedicated to evolving the role of design in creating scalable and
thoughtful human-centered experiences.

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Udacity’s learning
experience

Hands-on Projects Quizzes

Open-ended, experiential projects are designed Auto-graded quizzes strengthen comprehension.
to reflect actual workplace challenges. They aren’t Learners can return to lessons at any time during
just multiple choice questions or step-by-step the course to refresh concepts.
guides, but instead require critical thinking.

Knowledge Custom Study Plans

Find answers to your questions with Knowledge, Create a personalized study plan that fits your
our proprietary wiki. Search questions asked by individual needs. Utilize this plan to keep track of
other students, connect with technical mentors, movement toward your overall goal.
and discover how to solve the challenges that
you encounter.

Workspaces Progress Tracker

See your code in action. Check the output and Take advantage of milestone reminders to stay
quality of your code by running it on interactive on schedule and complete your program.
workspaces that are integrated into the platform.

User Experience (UX) Designer 12

Our proven approach for building
job-ready digital skills.
Experienced Project Reviewers

Verify skills mastery.

• Personalized project feedback and critique includes line-by-line code review from
skilled practitioners with an average turnaround time of 1.1 hours.

• Project review cycle creates a feedback loop with multiple opportunities for
improvement—until the concept is mastered.

• Project reviewers leverage industry best practices and provide pro tips.

Technical Mentor Support

24/7 support unblocks learning.

• Learning accelerates as skilled mentors identify areas of achievement and potential
for growth.

• Unlimited access to mentors means help arrives when it’s needed most.

• 2 hr or less average question response time assures that skills development stays on track.

Personal Career Services

Empower job-readiness.
• Access to a Github portfolio review that can give you an edge by highlighting your
strengths, and demonstrating your value to employers.*

• Get help optimizing your LinkedIn and establishing your personal brand so your profile
ranks higher in searches by recruiters and hiring managers.

Mentor Network

Highly vetted for effectiveness.

• Mentors must complete a 5-step hiring process to join Udacity’s selective network.

• After passing an objective and situational assessment, mentors must demonstrate

communication and behavioral fit for a mentorship role.

• Mentors work across more than 30 different industries and often complete a Nanodegree
program themselves.

*Applies to select Nanodegree programs only.

User Experience (UX) Designer 13

Learn more at
www.udacity.com/online-learning-for-individuals →

12.22.22 | V1.0