Ask DN: Preparation for a User Experience Design Course?

8 years ago from Mitchell Akomolafe, Design Student

Hi there,

I've just completed my Bachelors degree and will be going on to start a Postgraduate course in User Experience Design this winter.

I'm currently creating a to-do list of resources I want to get through over the summer before I start the course to gain a decent foundation in UX so everything I come across during the course isn't completely new to me and maybe enough to work on a project over the summer.

It'd be awesome if anyone could suggest any resources that have helped them, they don't have to be books. Any articles, online courses, advice for a newbie, anything really.

Here's my list so far:

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
A Project Guide to UX Design by Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler
About Face by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann and Christopher Noessel
Reading Articles posted on Medium and Designer News
Design+Code by Meng To
Learn HTML and CSS

Thanks

12 comments

Indiana C, 8 years ago
As a huge fan of O'reilly and lean methodologies applied to UX I recommend:
- http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920026242.do
- http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920032090.do (I'm currently reading this and it's pretty good although is more advanced)
If at some point you have to work as a team of one, which is a common situation depending of the type of company you'd like to join, I suggest http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9781933820187.do
1 point
- Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago
  Thanks for the recommendations Indiana, really cool to see books on different approaches to UX, especially the team of one.
  0 points
Adrian Howard, 8 years ago
I'd add a few bits on user research and user testing to your list.
- Krug's "Rocket Surgery Made Easy" is a good introduction basic usability testing. If you want to expand on that "Handbook of Usability Testing", Jeffrey Rubin & Dana Chisnell & "The Moderator’s Survival Guide" by Donna Tedesco, Fiona Tranquada.
- Erika Hall's "Just Enough Research" is a nice overview book on user research.
- Steve Portigal's "Interviewing Users" is a really nice intro to more ethnographic style user interviewing (BTW every single book Rosenfeld Media have published that I've read has been excellent. So if you see something there that you find interesting pick it up.)
I'd also try and get hitched into the local UX community. If Kingston Uni is close to you then you should be able to attend many of the London UX groups. Consider dropping along to some local meetups — a non-comprehensive list:
1 point
- Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago
  Thanks for the awesome list Adrian, I didn't really consider getting involved with the community but it makes a lot of sense. I'll be keeping an eye on those meet up dates.
  0 points
Marko Vuletic, 8 years ago
There's another cool resource: http://uxmovement.com
Books I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Things-Designer-People-Voices-Matter/dp/0321767535/
http://www.amazon.com/Smashing-Design-Foundations-Designing-Experiences/dp/0470666854
1 point
- Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago
  Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely give them all a look.
  0 points
Stefan Rauch, 8 years ago
Hooked: How to build habit forming products - Nir Eyal Start with why - Simon Sinek Zero to one - Peter Theil
http://coglode.com http://www.elasticspace.com/2013/03/no-to-no-ui
Where are you going to school?
1 point
- Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago
  Hey Stefan, thanks for the resources, I'll definitely check them out.
  Fingers crossed, I'll be studying at Kingston University in London.
  0 points
Miraj Patel, 8 years ago
Just out of personal curiosity, where are you starting your graduate course?
0 points
- Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago (edited 8 years ago )
  Kingston University hopefully, it's pretty local for me and luckily it's one of the few universities in the UK that offers a UX specific postgrad course.
  1 point
  - Tom Good, 8 years ago
    Good effort doing a specific UX course, most of the people we see apply here don't have much in terms of specific UX / HCI background; more adapted on-the-job learning from other disciplines. If you can, I'd recommend getting some internships as soon as possible.
    1 point
    - Mitchell Akomolafe, 8 years ago
      Cheers Tom, I'll definitely start searching.
      0 points

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