When the course was first offered, ‘user experience’ was not as ubiquitous as it is today.
This list is not exhaustive, but it contains reasons why User Experience Done Right! is a worthy investment for your career and your organization.
1. You don’t have to be a designer to understand user experience
The layout of your website or intranet has a huge impact on how your customers or employees interact with your organization. Every business decision maker needs to understand how people use technology solutions. User Experience Done Right! gives your team the critical lens to analyze, improve, and create designs.
2. Kick-start your career
We've had people use the course to explore a new career direction or expand their existing role. You won't become a designer in two days, but User Experience Done Right! is an excellent way to start thinking about user experience in your day-to-day work.
3. Participatory learning
We love to incorporate people’s user experience-related challenges into session content. You can bring examples to share or follow up with your questions after the course ends. We also share all the materials and host follow up discussions on a Yammer network.
4. Learn how to give the right feedback
Communication and collaboration are critical to design. We’ll provide you with the terminology and understanding necessary to evaluate mock-ups and prototypes because it’s important to give designers feedback that evolves their work. Learning a few principles of design will ensure your discussions and critiques are more productive.
5. I think, therefore I sketch
A picture can illustrate what you mean better than just words. In the course, we give everyone the basic tools to sketch their ideas and work through exercises in a supportive environment. You’ll feel comfortable drawing and visualizing your ideas, even if you’re not a designer!
6. Learning by doing
This workshop will get you out of your comfort zone and give time to practice as you learn. Sketching is one area people appreciate learning, but we also explore group brainstorming techniques and tips to getting informative user feedback. Practice time reinforces the concepts and it's more interesting than listening to people talk for two days!
7. You meet industry peers
We limit the course to 22 people so you can learn in a comfortable setting and get to know the other participants. We encourage folks to work together, especially with those they don't know. At the end of the session, you’ll have met others who might be facing similar challenges and networked with people in your field.
8. Not a bait and switch
User Experience Done Right! isn't about trying to sell Habanero’s services. We believe in making a meaningful contribution to the art of user experience. We share what we've learned over the years so that others can put those insights to good use. Our instructors try to make the course interactive and leave it open to discuss any product or service that can create awesome user experiences. We’re open and honest about our mistakes, and everyone has the opportunity to add their perspectives.
9. We’re not focused on a specific technology platform
The techniques in this course are not just for one type of technology or service. You can use course materials to design a customer service program, website, intranet, marketing campaign, or web application. We share examples from our own work, but we’re always open to new ideas, no matter what the platform!
10. The course really is great value
We don't run this course to make a profit, we only try to cover the cost of the venue. Ultimately, we do this to elevate the practice of user experience and make the material accessible to everyone. User Experience Done Right! is just another way for our team to stay connected to the user experience community!
