Core Skills

From Nielsen's ten usability heuristics to design systems: nail down the principles behind 'easy to use,' one lesson at a time.

Unit 1

Usability Heuristics

Understand where Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics came from and their official definitions, how they cross-validate with Norman's design principles, learn to diagnose interface problems by heuristic name, and run a heuristic evaluation with 3-5 independent evaluators.

1Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics: Ten Rules of Thumb for Systematically Spotting 'Hard to Use'Heuristic evaluation proposed in 1990, the 10 refined by factor analysis in 1994 — they are direction-pointing rules of thumb, not pixel-level design specifications10 Q

Unit 2

Interaction Design Basics

Affordances, signifiers, mapping, feedback, three models, two gulfs, and four types of constraints — the foundational interaction design concepts from Norman's The Design of Everyday Things, all in one lesson.

2Interaction Design Basics: Affordance, Signifier, Mapping and Feedback — Making 'Usable' Self-EvidentAn affordance is a relationship that isn't necessarily visible; signifiers are the perceivable cues that show how to operate. Bridge the gulfs of execution and evaluation, and use four types of constraints to make the right action the only action.10 Q

Unit 3

Visual Hierarchy & Gestalt

Use the Gestalt grouping cues (proximity, similarity, common region, closure and continuation) plus scale, contrast and whitespace to design 'what belongs together and what gets seen first' into a structure users read correctly at a glance.

3Visual Hierarchy & Gestalt: Make Interfaces Read Right at a GlanceProximity, similarity, common region, closure and continuation decide 'what belongs together'; scale, contrast and whitespace decide 'what gets seen first' — when everything is emphasized, nothing is10 Q

Unit 4

Information Architecture

Master the four systems — organization, labeling, navigation, search — and use card sorting and tree testing to fit the structure to users' mental models: things must be findable before they can be usable.

4Information Architecture: The Four Systems That Make Things Findable — Organization × Labeling × Navigation × SearchHow content gets grouped, named, linked and searched — IA is the invisible skeleton; a feature users can't find might as well not exist10 Q

Unit 5

Design Systems

Understand the design system as a 'single source of truth': why consistency, scale, and speed depend on it, how atomic design's five levels build up, how design tokens make one change apply everywhere, how it differs in scope from style guides and component libraries, and why governance and adoption are the hardest part.

5Design Systems: The 'Single Source of Truth' for Product InterfacesFrom atomic design's five levels to design tokens — components are only the start; governance and adoption are the real battlefield. A system constrains inconsistency and liberates creativity10 Q