Thoughts on Google UX Design Certificate Course 1: Foundations of UX Design
Hi again, everyone. Since my last post, I’ve successfully completed the first course of Google’s UX Design Certificate, called Foundations of UX Design. I knew a little bit about UX before starting this certificate, but not a ton.
Well, it’s safe to say I know a lot more now! Part of what fascinated me most about UX was the collision between technology and psychology, and this first of seven courses wasted no time diving into that. Much of the first few weeks covered different design frameworks, including the user-centered design process, the five elements of UX design, and the design-thinking process.
Google stresses in the course that every designer and company uses and is most comfortable with different frameworks. Of the three, I think I prefer the design thinking framework because it centers empathy for the user and branches out from there. When designing products, as Google also stresses, it’s critically important to have empathy for users, and what better way to make sure that’s happening than by using it as a starting point?
On the other hand, I found the five elements framework pretty confusing and too abstract for me to use meaningfully, though the course did a good job of breaking it down. I understand it now, but it’s not a framework I’d prefer to use if given the choice. Take a look at the provided graph below and see if it makes any sense to you:
Once we got all the basic terminology and frameworks out of the way, the course transitioned into spending a lot of time covering inclusive design and accessibility, which both surprised and delighted me. I didn’t expect a course like this to cover something that seems unimportant to many able-bodied and neurotypical people.
Specifically, Google touched on the differences between equity and equality in design. Equality in design means that everyone gets the same opportunity and support, while equity means providing differing levels of support and opportunity to make sure everything’s fair.
I really appreciated that this was covered in such detail, and that Google specifically made mention of inclusion in design for things like gender identity. As a non-binary person operating in the tech world, I’ve often run into accidental discrimination on things like forms that don’t allow me to select the appropriate identity, pronouns, or title. This might seem like a small thing to some, but imagine if you were unable to input something as basic as your name on a form and instead had to select the next closest option. It’s invalidating.
From there, the course moves into covering design sprints, which as a designer I have to admit seem really exciting. Maybe it makes me sound crazy, but the idea of spending a whole week doing nothing but diving deep into solving a particular user problem with other dedicated creatives and professionals sounds like a blast.
In many ways, the concept reminds me of intense, compressed summer courses I’ve taken in college, as well as some weekend design challenges I took part in. They were always a lot of work in a short amount of time under stressful conditions, but they’re some of my favorite experiences from my time in school, so I’m excited to hear that design sprints are a core part of the UX field. I can’t wait to do my first one someday soon!
Finally, the first course of the certificate program wraps up by covering how and where to start building your professional presence online, both on a portfolio website and on social media. Since I’ve been working as a graphic designer for a few years now, I’m no stranger to portfolio websites, but even with my past experience, I have to admit that I found this part of the course more than a little overwhelming to think about.
Google introduces several different methods for building your own portfolio site, including Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow. They also provide discounts for course students who choose to use Wix or Squarespace, which was a nice touch, but even with the discounts I found the pricing to be prohibitive. Both Wix and Squarespace’s recommended mid-tier offerings, which are around $20/month, would come out to more than $100/year. That might not sound like much, but when you consider that I currently host my graphic design portfolio site for less than $20/year (including the domain name!), it raised my eyebrows.
Of course, not everyone is comfortable building their own website from scratch. Wix and Squarespace are great options for those who aren’t interested in doing that because they provide simple drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG (that’s “what you see is what you get”) editors that can help a student get a site up and running in minutes.
Even so, I think building a website now when a student has no work to display on it is premature. Not everyone is entering this course without existing work, but I assume most are, so while I think it’s smart for students to start thinking about their online presence and personal brand, focusing on it now when they might not yet know who they really are as a designer isn’t the best idea or use of their time. In my opinion, this module would’ve been better suited for a later part of the course when students have one or two full projects they can upload and are preparing to start their job search. To that end, I’m planning to build my website after I finish my first capstone project for the course when I actually have something to show.
All in all, I think the first course in Google’s certificate program has given me a solid UX foundation to stand on moving forward. Next up is course two, Start the UX Design Process: Empathize, Define, and Ideate. Now that I have a basic understanding of UX as a profession and a framework, I’m itching to get started with some actual designing.
I’ll be back in a few days with my thoughts on course two. Cheers!
