Introduction

Level: Beginner

The InnovateHer Tech for Good: UX Design course is a course which focuses on solving real-world problems using technology. You will learn how to research audiences, come up with creative ideas and solutions (ideation), create wireframes and sketches, design a winning pitch, and finally present your ideas back to the 'client'. We promise it will be fun and interactive!

What skills will I learn?

The skills you'll develop are:

  • Creative thinking

  • Problem solving

  • Self-confidence

  • Ideation

  • Creating paper prototypes

  • Communicating and showcasing information

  • Public speaking and/or video production

  • Presenting ideas

  • Giving and receiving helpful feedback

  • Defining a target market

Who will be teaching the course?

We've worked with two people to teach this course. Please meet:

User Experience Designer @ BBC

Hazel Wyllie

Hazel designs iPlayer and she loves her job because it’s creative, involves problem-solving and is all about people. Hazel is bringing all her design expertise and BBC industry experience to the course to teach you. Her strengths are creativity and teaching.

Insights Director @ User Conversion

Llara Geddes

Llara's job is to understand the people who use websites and apps, and design improvements that make them easier or better to use for everyone. Llara’s strengths are creativity, collaboration, storytelling and understanding people. Llara will be teaching you these skills throughout the Tech4Good programme. She is obsessed with trainers!!

Course outline

  • 1

    Session 1

    • Welcome to the course

    • Firestarter: Selling 'bad' ideas

    • What is 'Tech4Good'?

    • What does a UX Designer do?

    • Solving problems with a designer's mindset

    • HOMEWORK: Defining your problem

    • Are you struggling to pick your problem? Here's another example with Afiya

    • Session 1 quiz

    • What did you think of Session 1?

    • Meet your role models: Llara

    • What to expect in Session 2

    • Jargon buster
  • 2

    Session 2

    • Welcome to Session 2

    • Firestarter: 30 Circles

    • Who else is doing this?

    • User-centred design

    • HOMEWORK: Empathy Map

    • Session 2 quiz

    • What did you think of Session 2?

    • Meet your role models: Ngunan

    • What to expect in Session 3
  • 3

    Session 3

    • Welcome to Session 3

    • Firestarter: Squiggle birds

    • Crazy 8s

    • Check out Llara using super 6's to solve her trainer storage problem!

    • How might we?

    • Session 3 quiz

    • What did you think of Session 3?

    • Meet your role models: Clara

    • What to expect in Session 4
  • 4

    Session 4

    • Welcome to Session 4

    • Firestarter: Alternate uses

    • User journey design

    • Wireframing

    • Still unsure? Watch an example of Joe's paper wireframes and prototypes in action

    • Session 4 quiz

    • What did you think of Session 4?

    • Meet your role models: Sue

    • What to expect in Session 5
  • 5

    Session 5

    • Welcome to Session 5

    • Firestarter: Blind portraits

    • Planning a user test

    • Constructive feedback and testing

    • What's next for your product?

    • Still unsure? Here's some testing tips and tricks with Leanne

    • Session 5 quiz

    • What did you think of Session 5?

    • Meet your role models: Timea

    • What to expect in Session 6
  • 6

    Session 6

    • Welcome to Session 6

    • Meet your role models: Stephanie

    • HOMEWORK: Create your pitch

    • HOMEWORK: Filming your pitch

    • Course summary

    • Congratulations!
  • 7

    Session 7 (Optional)

    • Get ready for the live pitching round!
  • 8

    Reflect and let us know what you think

    • It's time to help make this course better for the next student!

What will I be able to do by the end of this course?

  • Describe what it takes to think like a user experience (UX) designer

  • Discover what a user really needs

  • Produce ideas and solutions for a user problem

  • Design and execute user tests

  • Explain a concept by pitching it to an audience.

Get started now

Here's what some students thought!

We've worked with students face-to-face for four years, since March 2020 we've been working with students online. Here's some of their experiences.

"I now feel more confident about tech and I know what options are available and where to look for inspiration."

"I am so inspired and it made learning new things fun. I am definitely going to have a job in tech now and before I wasn’t sure".

“It was all absolutely amazing!”

Students questions answered:

  • Is it free for me to study with you?

    Yes. Our partners such as SONY, Coop and the Big Lottery have fully funded this platform so that we're able to keep it free for all of our students.

  • How long does the course take?

    The course is split into 6 modules. Each module has a video of approximately 5 minutes long for you to watch. You will also need to do some work to go along with the video which should take you around 30 minutes. But how long you take on each module is completely up to you! Remember, the more you put into it the more you'll get out of it :)

  • What will I learn during the Tech For Good course?

    In our Foundation Tech4Good course, you’ll learn how to design a tech product which solves a problem for humans. You'll learn how to research your customer and identify their needs, designing and prototyping your product - (which is getting your idea and product ready to code) and pitching your idea.

  • How will I learn and what equipment do I need?

    You will just need access to the internet and a reliable device. It helps if you have a laptop or computer to view the videos and complete the tasks, but you can view content on a phone too. If you need a device let us know by email as we may be able to help you with that: study@innovateher.co.uk

  • How long will it take me to complete this course?

    To get the most out of the course you will need to watch some short films for each of the 6 modules. Our films are only a few minutes long because our students told us that it works best for them at shorter lengths.

  • Will I be able to save and come back to my work?

    Yes. Your work is saved within your profile on the platform.