BY NIKKI ESPARTINEZ | WEBSITE | NEWSLETTER AND BLOG | LINKEDIN

A shortlist of online resources on the basics of user experience design. This is not at all complete and extensive. Consider this a living and breathing documentation of what I know so far about the fields of User Experience Design and Product Design. This is not a replacement to bootcamps, education and all the other more formalized paths to the industry.

How to use this guide ↓

Diagram by Nikki Espartinez / Click image to view full screen

This guide is ideal for absolute beginners to mid-level designers of all types. I wrote this with a high-level approach to the subjects of ‘UX Design’, ‘Product Design’ and ‘Design Careers’. It’s meant to be a piece for generalists, maybe even career changers at the top of mind. It’s great if you are already familiar with a lot of the concepts in the technology industry. It’s not a requirement though.

👋🏼 Part 1: Intro

In this guide, I will attempt to teach you everything I know about this field—starting from the basics. I’m primarily what the industry would call as a generalist. I do pretty much everything from User Research to High Fidelity Prototyping and everything in between. I’m a tinkerer and have always been curious about product development. My fascination for bridging the gap between technology and humans (HCI) has been my core strength.

Writing this is my way of paying it forward. I want you to be armed with specific skills and knowledge that is essential to modern day work and living, regardless if you’ll pursue the field or not.

After all, if the world really is heading exponentially towards the direction of automation and hyper-digitalization, wouldn’t it be better to strive for Design Literacy for everybody? Everyday, technology products shape us and in turn, our behaviors. We can’t control a lot of things but we can certainly be more informed about them. There are forces—hidden and otherwise—at work that are currently shaping our present and our futures, silently making decisions that can change everything about our world.

I believe Design is a part of that, fortunately and unfortunately. It is in our best interest as humans to, at the very least, put a face to one of those forces. The best way to do that is to be educated about it, especially with UX.

There is no denying that we are in the midst of a revolution in design. The smart folks at Silicon Valley-venture capital firm A16z, knew that and they’re betting heavily on it—

“In much the same way engineering and software development went from closed, siloed systems to more open, collaborative systems, design and designers are going through the same kind of revolution. Because more people today — not only designers — now need to be fluent in communicating around design. How one builds something is no longer enough; you have to design it well, too. And it cannot be an afterthought.” - Peter Levine, The Decade of Design, A16Z

This is just the beginning.

In a world of seemingly infinite choices, why choose Design and UX?

“The role of design & the value of it is most evident during the hardest times. From remote communications to teaching and maintaining a some sort of momentum while being one of the core voices of reasons for decisions, these are problems we design for, should design for and ultimately, really embody.

Now is not the time to just “make things pretty”. — Myself, March 2020

We should ALL be designers. Read more below ↓s