User Experience (UX) Design Fundamentals Course

What you'll learn

Learn UX design fundamentals with our design & technology short courses in Sydney!

Great UX design shapes how people experience the digital world — from apps and websites to online services and everyday products. In this hands-on introductory workshop, you’ll explore the core principles, tools, and processes used by UX designers to create experiences that are intuitive, accessible, and genuinely useful.

Designed for beginners, career-switchers, creatives, and curious problem-solvers alike, this workshop introduces the practical foundations of UX design through a mix of short explainers, collaborative activities, and hands-on exercises. You’ll learn how UX designers research user needs, map customer journeys, generate ideas, sketch wireframes, prototype solutions, and test designs for usability.

Working from a realistic design brief, you’ll practise the same methods used by UX teams across digital agencies, start-ups, and product teams — building confidence in design thinking while developing a practical understanding of the UX process from research to prototype.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll walk away with a small portfolio-ready project, a stronger understanding of UX principles, and a clearer sense of how user-centred design shapes the products and services we use every day.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this UX Design Fundamentals course, you will have explored concepts and techniques such as:

• Understanding the UX design process and how it relates to product, UI, and service design
• Planning and conducting lightweight user research using interviews, observations, and surveys
• Synthesising research findings into personas, problem statements, and user journeys
• Generating and prioritising ideas using structured ideation methods and information architecture basics
• Creating low-fidelity wireframes and simple prototypes to demonstrate user flows
• Running basic usability tests and identifying opportunities for improvement
• Applying accessibility and inclusive design principles to common digital experiences

Course content

What will be covered in this UX Design Fundamentals course?

This intensive one-day workshop is structured across six focused 60-minute sessions, combining practical activities, collaborative exercises, and hands-on UX design techniques.

During the workshop, participants will work with techniques and ideas such as:

Hour 1 — Orientation & Foundations

• Welcome, goals, day plan, housekeeping and accessibility commitments.
• What UX is (and isn’t): UX vs UI vs product; double diamond; agile fit.
• Activity: Lightning critique of everyday objects to surface usability heuristics.
• Output: Shared definition of success for today’s project.

Hour 2 — Research fast & ethically

• Choosing methods for time‑boxed discovery; writing good questions.
• Consent, privacy, note‑taking, observing bias; accessibility in research.
• Activity: Pair interviews with classmates on the provided brief; capture pain points.
• Output: Interview notes + top 3 insights.

Hour 3 — Synthesis to strategy

• Affinity mapping; themes; jobs‑to‑be‑done; problem framing.
• Personas and JTBD statements; mapping current journey & moments that matter.
• Activity: Create one proto‑persona and a problem statement; sketch a simple journey map.
• Output: Persona card + “How might we…?” statements.

Hour 4 — Ideation, IA & wireframes

• Diverge/converge: crazy‑8s, dot‑voting; information architecture basics.
• Flow design: tasks, states, and error handling; mobile‑first considerations.
• Activity: Sketch key screens; convert to low‑fi wireframes (paper first; Figma optional).
• Output: Wireframe set covering a primary user flow.

Hour 5 — Prototyping & accessibility

• Fidelity ladder; prototyping options; choosing interactions to test.
• Essentials of WCAG, colour contrast, typography and touch targets.
• Activity: Build a clickable prototype (Figma recommended) and add alt text & labels.
• Output: Shareable prototype link (or paper prototype) + accessibility checklist.

Hour 6 — Usability testing & storytelling

• Planning quick tests; tasks, metrics, think‑aloud; observation skills.
• Activity: 1–2 round‑robin usability tests per team; capture issues & priorities.
• Communicating outcomes: mini case‑study structure; next steps & stakeholder buy‑in.
• Output: Short read‑out (2–3 mins) with findings and recommendations.

Intended Audience

Who is this UX Design Fundamentals course for?

This one-day intensive workshop is ideal for beginners, career-switchers, creatives, marketers, business owners, and anyone curious about user experience design and how digital products are created.

No prior UX experience is required, although basic computer skills and confidence using digital tools are recommended.

Course venue

Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd in the grounds of St. Joseph's Church)

Additional information

Please note the following:

• Participants are required to bring their own laptop
• Internet access will be available during the workshop
• Some activities may use free online UX design or prototyping tools such as Figma