GOOGLE UX DESIGN PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE

Course 7 – Design A User Experience for Social Good & Prepare For Jobs

Week 2: Creating Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Prototypes

Coursera Study Guide

TABLE OF CONTENT

In this part of the course, you’ll take everything you’ve learned about the user problem you’re trying to solve and come up with a basic version of your dedicated mobile app. You’ll start by creating paper wireframes to come up with lots of ideas. You’ll take the best parts of your paper wireframes and create digital wireframes in Figma or Adobe XD. Next, you’ll turn your digital wireframes into a low-fidelity prototype. Then, you’ll plan and conduct a usability study to get feedback about your low-fidelity prototype, and you’ll make changes to your designs based on insights from your research.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the benefits of paper wireframes
  • Create paper wireframes for a mobile app
  • Create digital wireframes for a mobile app in Figma or Adobe XD
  • Build a low-fidelity prototype for a mobile app
  • Plan and conduct a usability study about a low-fidelity prototype
  • Analyze and synthesize the results of a usability study

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON PAPER WIREFRAMES

1. Fill in the blank: A wireframe is a(n) ____ of a product or a screen.

  • outline or sketch (CORRECT)
  • analysis or interpretation
  • illustration
  • explanation or critique

Correct: A wireframe is an outline or sketch of a product or a screen.

2. Imagine you’ve recently started a new design project and you’re in the midst of wireframing. You’ve decided to use an inexpensive method that will allow you to iterate and explore ideas quickly. Which method is this?

  • Paper wireframes (CORRECT)
  • Digital low-fidelity wireframes
  • High-fidelity wireframes

Correct: Paper is one of two ways designers can create wireframes. They allow designers to narrow the focus to the best parts by exploring many ideas in a fast and inexpensive way.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON PLANNING USABILITY STUDIES

1. Why is it important to create a research plan before conducting a usability study? Select all that apply.

  • It helps the UX team understand how easy it is for participants to complete tasks
  • It outlines research goals for participants to see
  • It outlines each part of a usability study from start to finish (CORRECT)
  • It is more likely to yield valuable information (CORRECT)

Correct: A detailed research plan helps the UX team organize and outline every part of a usability study from start to finish. Doing this will yield more valuable results and information to improve the design.

Correct: Creating a detailed research plan sets groundwork for a usability study by identifying milestones and expectations. This method is more likely to yield more valuable results to help improve the design. It also outlines each part of a usability study from start to finish.

2. Imagine you’re preparing to conduct a usability study. Which part of the research plan considers critical measures of progress toward an end goal?

  • Methodology
  • Key performance indicators (CORRECT)
  • Research goals
  • Detailed research questions

Correct: Key performance indicators (KPI) are considered one of the seven elements of a research plan. They’re critical measures of progress toward an end goal, such as drop-off rates, user error rates, system usability scale, and more.

3. When planning a usability study, what question should you ask when determining key performance indicators (KPIs)?

  • What questions should I ask the participants?
  • What’s a sign that we are making progress toward our ultimate goal? (CORRECT)
  • How will I collect and analyze data?
  • Why are we conducting this research?

Correct: KPIs measure the progress toward an end goal, so this should be a consideration when you determine KPIs for a study.

4. Imagine you are planning a usability study for a local drop-in daycare center’s app. You need to find study participants who would provide the best metrics for the project. Which participant would be the best candidate for the study?

  • Casey is a parent of twin toddlers and lives near the center. They work from home but sometimes the twins’ childcare provider is unavailable when they need help during the day. (CORRECT)
  • Ronnie is a parent who lives 40 miles away from the center and does not travel very far from their home.
  • Ingrid lives in the same area of the center and does not have any children, but they plan to adopt a child within the next three years.

Correct: Casey would be an ideal participant for the study because they might have some interest in the app based on their situation.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON CONDUCTING USABILITY STUDIES

1. Nua is outlining a usability study. The team wants to interview as many people as they can within a two month timespan. Since the product is a new version of one they’ve already created, they’re more concerned about keeping costs low by recording participants. What type of usability study should be conducted?

  • Unmoderated (CORRECT)
  • Moderated
  • Complementary
  • Mobile

Correct: Since they want to keep costs low and interview many participants within two months, this might not be the most effective option because moderated usability studies can become costly. They also want to keep costs low and interview many participants within two months, an unmoderated usability study would be the most effective option.

2. Choose the correct definition of a usability study.

  • A research method that assesses how easy it is for participants to complete core tasks in a product (CORRECT)
  • An easily understood chart that explains everything designers have learned about a user
  • A series of experiences a user has as they interact with a product to achieve a specific goal
  • An assessment of a competitors’ strengths and weaknesses

Correct: A usability study is a research method that assesses how easy it is for participants to complete core tasks in a product.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON ANALYZING AND SYNTHESIZING RESEARCH RESULTS

1. Step one of turning observations into insights requires a designer to gather the data. Which should the designer do next?

  • Hypothesize trends in data
  • Gather the data from the usability study
  • Organize the data (CORRECT)
  •  Come up with insights based on themes

Correct: Organizing the data is the second step in turning observations into insights. After that, a designer should identify themes and patterns by asking two key questions: What common patterns stand out in the data you collected? And what do these patterns tell you about your product design?

2. What is the third step of turning observations into insights?

  • Come up with insights based on themes
  • Gather the data from the usability study
  • Organize the data
  • Identify common themes and patterns (CORRECT)

Correct: Identifying common themes and patterns among participants is the third step in turning observations into insights. It’s one of the key goals of user research.

3. Select all that apply: Creating information architecture (IA) is an important part of UX design because it _____.

  • plans the initial direction of the design
  • helps engineers understand how to organize the data (CORRECT)
  • organizes and defines the overall structure for the app or site (CORRECT)
  • provides a high-level view of the product (CORRECT)

Correct: Information architecture helps engineers identify technical patterns and structures needed to organize and scale a product successfully. It also organizes and defines the overall structure for the app or site, and provides a high-level view of the product.

Correct: Information architecture organizes and defines the overall structure for the app or site. This helps designers plan the functionality of a product. It also helps engineers understand how to organize the data, and provides a high-level view of the product.

Correct: Information architecture helps a designer understand how the elements of a product work together, organizes and defines the overall structure for the app or site, and helps engineers understand how to organize the data.

4. When building digital wireframes, what best practice should you apply to transfer information from the paper wireframe?

  • Add expressive content like color and images
  • List the information that needs to go on the page you’re wireframing
  • Draw at least five different versions of how to structure information on the page
  • Use actual content for important pieces of text instead of placeholder text (CORRECT)

Correct: Labeling essential elements like menu or navigation buttons help users understand how to navigate the wireframe.