UX professionals solve challenges in their day-to-day working life. For example, how do we get customers to subscribe to our newsletter? Or, how do we make the user interface more appealing on our app? Even in interviews, UX designers may be asked to complete a whiteboard challenge, where they work through a problem and show their process and solution.
In these design challenges, instead of completing a problem, you can design a challenge to help others understand key concepts in user experience or usability. This challenge aims to provide you in-depth knowledge of UX methods and terms, as well as UX problem-solving techniques.
Researching a UX Concept
Use current research to define or describe your topic. You’ll want to write approximately two paragraphs explaining the topic in language understandable to a peer. You should cite at least two sources in your definition of the topic, including one peer-reviewed source.
In addition to your citation, you should provide three to five relevant resources for those who want to know more about this topic. Resources should be well-chosen and represent authoritative sources.
Structuring a Design Challenge
You will want to create a challenge or activity that asks your audience to engage with the concept in some way. Your challenge should consist of the following:
- Learning outcome(s): You should decide what learning outcomes your audience will have from engaging with the challenge. These outcomes should be based on material they’ve learned from your definition/description.
- Prompt: Create a prompt that situates the reader with what they are creating/making/doing. Your prompt can range from specific to broad, depending on your learning outcomes.
- You may need to provide material such as images, websites, videos, or sounds for the user to interact with. For instance, if you want to measure how well your reader can create alt text, you may provide a photograph for them to write accessible alt text for.
- Outcomes: Provide an indication of what a successful response to the challenge might be. Describe any parameters on what an unacceptable response would be.
Choosing UX Concepts
Below are concepts related to UX that we currently have challenges for or would like to develop challenges for.
| A/B testing | Gestalt principles | Responsive design |
| Accessibility | Ideate | Scenarios |
| Affinity mapping | Inclusive design | Sketching |
| Card sorting | Information architecture | Storyboarding |
| Competitor analysis | Iteration | Tree testing |
| Dark UX | Mental model | User-centered design |
| Empathize/Empathy map | Mockup | User flow |
| Ethical design | Persona building | User stories |
| Flat design | Prototyping | Wireframing |