Self-Study Materials

Self-Study Materials

When I decided to transition into the UX industry, I needed to build a foundation. This page is for others who may be interested in following a similar self-taught path (and for the people who ask me for recommendations) - let's learn together! 🎉

Most of my materials, I was able to get for free. I borrowed books from the library and my local buy-nothing group. I was also able to do LinkedIn Learning through the library and audit online classes. I also joined some online UX groups. See what options are available to you in your community!

When I decided to transition into the UX industry, I needed to build a foundation. This page is for others who may be interested in following a similar self-taught path (and for the people who ask me for recommendations) - let's learn together! 🎉

Most of my materials, I was able to get for free. I borrowed books from the library and my local buy-nothing group. I was also able to do LinkedIn Learning through the library and audit online classes. I also joined some online UX groups. See what options are available to you in your community!

Shoutout to the Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library!

online resources

📚Books

📖=currently reading

✅=completed

⭕=will read

💕=enjoyable

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📖💕

✅💕

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✅

✅💕

✅

⭕

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💻Online Resources

online classes, syllabi, communities

I'm going to be very honest: online learning is not for me. However, I did start with online courses to get down the basics, and the organization of a syllabus really helped me out at the start. It taught me the design process and when I have the time, sometimes I still take the classes here and there to refresh my memory.

LinkedIn Learning

A mentor from ADPList (Stephen Ow) sent this to me when I shared with him that I was going to go down the self-taught path. UX Syllabus is made by the instructors on LinkedIn Learning. It's a "low cost, high quality training course for self-motivated students" and its actually quite amazing because they do guide you to create your first digital portfolio through projects and homework assignments. They also curated optional videos to watch (I enjoy the Universal Principles of Design series by William Lidwell & Jill Butler). I was able to access LinkedIn Learning through my New York Public Library membership, so this was completely free. While I did hit pause on taking the courses (because I started focusing more on my project), I do occasionally think about returning back to the syllabus.

A mentor from ADPList (Stephen Ow) sent this to me when I shared with him that I was going to go down the self-taught path. UX Syllabus is made by the instructors on LinkedIn Learning. It's a "low cost, high quality training course for self-motivated students" and its actually quite amazing because they do guide you to create your first digital portfolio through projects and homework assignments. They also curated optional videos to watch (I enjoy the Universal Principles of Design series by William Lidwell & Jill Butler). I was able to access LinkedIn Learning through my New York Public Library membership, so this was completely free. While I did hit pause on taking the courses (because I started focusing more on my project), I do occasionally think about returning back to the syllabus.

Coursera

Suggested by the YouTuber AlwaysCallingMeBlaze, who was a self-taught UX designer, he suggests the UX Research and Design course from University of Michigan and UI/UX course from California Institute of Arts. I take these classes for free through auditing the courses.

However, due to all the projects I'm taking on right now, I haven't been taking the courses for a while.

Suggested by the YouTuber AlwaysCallingMeBlaze, who was a self-taught UX designer, he suggests the UX Research and Design course from University of Michigan and UI/UX course from California Institute of Arts. I take these classes for free through auditing the courses.

However, due to all the projects I'm taking on right now, I haven't been taking the courses for a while.

YouTube

This is pretty obvious. There are loads of YouTubers, but quite frankly I don't follow anyone exclusively. I will give a small shoutout for @vaexperience because I have been enjoying his book (Get into UX).

I put this here because YouTube is the best place to learn Figma and Webflow. The Figma channel is kind of outdated, but still relevant with the basics (and you can find other YouTubers with more updated information. On the other end, the Webflow channel is absolutely hilarious and extremely entertaining (and it's how I was able to make this portfolio functioning in about 3 days.)

This is pretty obvious. There are loads of YouTubers, but quite frankly I don't follow anyone exclusively. I will give a small shoutout for @vaexperience because I have been enjoying his book (Get into UX).

I put this here because YouTube is the best place to learn Figma and Webflow. The Figma channel is kind of outdated, but still relevant with the basics (and you can find other YouTubers with more updated information. On the other end, the Webflow channel is absolutely hilarious and extremely entertaining (and it's how I was able to make this portfolio functioning in about 3 days.)

online communities

Sometimes studying alone is hard and for me there was a lot of second guessing where I wasn't sure what I was doing was the right decision. Here are the online communities I joined to connect with other UX designers!

🎧Podcasts

I like listening to podcasts passively, so here are the ones I like so far

The NN/g UX Podcast

Nielsen Norman Group

What I love about this podcast is that it's really digestible. Most of the content is around 30 minutes long and I feel the conversations are super natural since it's between coworkers.

User Defenders Podcast

Jason Ogle

If you like listening to people's stories and how it lead to their current position, this is the podcast for you. I enjoy listening to how people ended up where they are and what they're working on next. Each guest that comes in has a different perspective on the industry, and while not always relatable, still interesting to hear.

What is Wrong with UX

Laura Klein & Kate Rutter

This podcast is hilarious and very informative. I love listening to Laura Klein and Kate Rutter talk about the industry and calling out and commenting on trends. They're super funny and really entertaining.