Your playbook for conducting design research: from planning & recruiting to synthesis & storytelling. Do a real study, Demo Day is Oct 29th!
No research team? No problem! Learn how to plan product testing, recruit real users, and design user tests to maximize learning. Throughout the duration of this course you will do a real study and gather data about the people you're designing for
Need real user feedback? Need honest persona artifacts? Join this cohort, and start building relationships w/ real people you design for!
Founders + Entrepreneurs, are you sick of not really knowing about your users? Lacking data & insight into your product? Take this bootcamp!
Freelance Designers and Consultants, are you eager to become a researcher, too? Learn how to confidently test client work + do persona work!
Do people use your thing? Do they love your thing? Terrified of building the wrong thing? Learn how to research! Every Saturday of October.
UX Managers + Product leads, want your team trained to run usability tests? Sign them up! (Some companies pay reimbursement for tuition).
These are the questions you should be asking & what we'll be practicing. You'll learn the different methods and why certain styles are better at certain phases.
Writing a complete & concise Test Plan. This is an artifact you'll be able to reuse in the future. It's a great guide + shareable asset
The How: Plan, Facilitate, Learn + Repeat. Put it all to practice!
Together we will practice writing interview questions and actually interviewing and facilitating real tests.
By Oct, 29th (which is our last day together, DEMO DAY!) You'll practice the Art of Findings Deck. How will you present what we learned? Show off your work!
Hi I’m Heatherlee, the Indie Consultant ☺️ A freelance UX Designer & Researcher helping tech startups and small businesses launch their big ideas! 🚀
For 12 years I've been an Independent Consultant practicing at the intersection of UX, Product + Service Design. I've been trained in the formal way of research and developed more scrappy, creative methods along the way. My goal is to arm anyone, with any background, with the skills to plan & facilitate user research of any kind!
My corporate background includes UX work with in the Twin Cities at most noteably Optum (UnitedHealth Group), Mayo Clinic, Target, Best Buy and Securian Financial. I'm also a Human-Centered Design coach who worked with smaller agencies like Azul Seven, with cool clients such as Capital One and Teleopti.
Prior to corporate life, I got my BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and starting my career in content writing and e-commerce (my very first desk job was SEO!)
Globally, people may know me from altMBA (3) OpenIDEO, Black Designers Ignite or Femmecubator, Locally, from Twin Cities Startup Week, Hack the Gap, or my Mpls Ignite talks Free UI: Making Zero UI More Human (2016) + Biomimmicry (2017).
I consider myself a Researcher above all because I believe a great designer is curious and exploratory. I also love people and learning about them and how the digital landscape continues to shape the way we live and perceive the world around us.
I can't wait to learn more about all of you. We will be actively participating in a little study of my own during this month (which I'll further explain on week one :) See you October 1st!
(be sure to send a note!)
01
you will learn about the various types of research methods and how to decide what the right approach is for different phases of different projects.
02
I will share my 3 favorite methods of research I use over and over again! I will share case studies and best practices for Day In the Life research, for facilitating Design Studio Workshops and conducting 1:1 Usability Tests.
03
you will learn how to concisely craft what you're trying to learn and begin the process of writing a solid research or test plan.
04
your research or test plan will begin to take shape as you identify what type of research you're doing and why.
05
you will learn how you might recruit and screen research participants using different surveying methods online.
06
learn about the art of interviewing and facilitating user tests with people that will maximize learning.
07
there's a reason why research teams exist. there are scientific methods to how to do unbiased research and I will share all the tips I have, and what to watch out for from years in the field!
It's not always easy to be the designer AND the unbiased researcher, but it can be (and must be done:)
Starting Saturday, October 1st, We will meet live on Zoom for one hour once a week for the core lesson plan of the week. This includes live presentation, quick videos, solo + group work every Saturday.
Sat. Oct.1
Sat. Oct. 8
Sat. Oct.15
Sat. Oct. 22
Sat. Oct. 29 - demo day!
Starting after week 2, there's a Zoom check-in with your instructor and peers to get feedback and share what you've been doing. (There are a total of 3 of these optional sessions).
Thurs. Oct. 13
Thurs. Oct. 20
Thurs. Oct. 27
This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects
You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams
Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you
Add your email to the list for course & bootcamp updates from Heatherlee!
Cost