Diving into the world of UX
A review of IxDF
The year 2020 had been one filled with turmoil, chaos and uncertainty. For a creative, this meant a lot of unexpected turns and for me, an interior designer in the early stages of her career, boredom. I wanted to explore aspects of the design world that I hadn’t been exposed to yet, and the lockdown offered the perfect opportunity. The world of UX design had been a black box for me, as I had no prior knowledge or education regarding the domain and often pondered upon the benefits it offered.
My journey begins with the usual ‘how’s’ and whys’ and what benefit UX Design brought upon to the quality of a product as well as the enhancements it offered to the lives of people in general. This is when I came across the IxDF platform and enrolled in the Beginners course.
IxDF seemed like a good choice because of the vast array of courses it offered for all levels of skill as well as the various domains it covered such as User Experience, Design Thinking and lot more that I honestly am too lazy to list down. Right off the bat, I could tell that the quality of material being offered was phenomenal and I was learning something new from day one.
Not long after, I had completed my first course and received an industry recognized certification which I added to my portfolio on LinkedIn. There is something about the way in which the material is presented that keeps me glued to the knowledge being imparted and as of today, I have completed 3 courses, User Experience, Design Thinking and Become a UX Designer from Scratch, all of which have been a valuable addition to my arsenal.
The courses managed to provide a fine balance between videos, theory and assignments that are actually graded by professionals. This allowed me to constantly improve on my knowledge as I could refer to other responses and participate in discussion forums post completion.
Being an interior designer, I always felt a void in my knowledge pertaining to design thinking in general, which I discovered was empathy. I was never able to emphasize with the consumer/user and was unable to understand their view on how and what a product should feel like. Through the courses, I have been able to inculcate a new perspective to my thought process around the fundamentals of design, as good design not only encompasses the visual aspects but also the functional aspects of a product. This includes an ease-of-use criteria as well.
Something I have found exceptional about IxDF is the ability to obtain feedback and query resolution about the topics at hand, personally offered by the Founder and Co-Founder, which ensures that I am learning from the best.
Great Quotes from UX Design:
1. “If you’re not prepared to be wrong you will not come up with anything original” -Sir Ken Robinson.
2. “No one knows how much you know, until they know how much you care” — Theodore Roosevelt
3. “To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk” -Thomas Edison
4.“Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.” — Don Norman
To summarize, IxDF is an amazing platform for leveling up in the world of UX and design in general. The price point at which the service is offered ensures that it stays affordable (INR 700 Per month / ~ $9). Although I am yet to make a switch from a career point of view, I learn something new every day and am truly grateful for the knowledge that has been offered to me through IxDF.
I guess that I’ll head back to the courses as there’s still a long road that lies ahead to becoming a UX designer, but I look forward to every minute of it.
Thank you for reading and let’s keep learning!
