Free course, six lessons, about one week

Free UX Course: Skills that AI cannot replace

AI already makes the screens. It cannot tell you who they are for, what they actually do, or why the good-looking one still fails. That judgement is the job now, and it is the part nobody is automating.

Start lesson 1 Start with the principles

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The fundamentals

The elements and principles of design, with real interfaces as examples. Balance, contrast, emphasis, hierarchy, white space, Gestalt and more. Free to read, in any order, no course required.

  1. 7 Gestalt Principles of Design
  2. Alignment Principle in Design: Importance & Examples [Infographics]
  3. Balance Principle of Design
  4. Color Theory in Design
  5. Contrast Principle of Design
  6. Emphasis Principle of Design
  7. Gestalt: Closure
  8. Gestalt: Common Fate
  9. Gestalt: Continuation
  10. Gestalt: Figure-ground Relationship
  11. Gestalt: Proximity
  12. Gestalt: Similarity
  13. Gestalt: Symmetry
  14. Hierarchy Principle of Design
  15. Legibility vs Readability: What distinguishes them?
  16. Line in Design: Types & Examples
  17. Movement Principle of Design
  18. Negative Space vs White Space
  19. Pattern in Design
  20. Point in design
  21. Proportion Principle of Design
  22. Repetition Principle of Design
  23. Rhythm Principle of Design
  24. Rule of Thirds: What is it and how to use it?
  25. Scale in Design
  26. Texture In Design: Types & Importance
  27. The 11 Principles of Design and Art
  28. The 7 Elements of Design and Art
  29. Unity Principle of Design
  30. Variety Principle of Design
  31. Wabi-sabi: Exploring the Design Principle of Imperfection
  32. White space in Design

All 59 articles

Why this exists

I started this site in 2019 as bestDesignTrend, mostly to write down answers to design-tool problems that were annoying to find. Readers kept asking to be taught UX instead, so the writing moved to the foundations: the elements and principles of design first, then the mindset that separates UX from UI.

AI can produce screens, personas and research reports in seconds. It cannot tell you whether any of it is true. That is the whole reason the course exists. Knowing what frustrates people, what moves them toward a milestone, and what they keep coming back for is learned, not generated.

Everything here comes out of working product design, with real interfaces as the examples. Nothing is gated and nothing is for sale.

Shirish ShikhrakarUX Engineer and Designer

Free course, six lessons, about one week

Become the person in the room who understands the user when everyone else is guessing.

The UX mindset, the research that replaces assumptions, and your first persona and journey map.

  1. 1UI vs UX: Why Pretty Screens Don’t Guarantee Happy Users
  2. 2The UX Designer’s Mindset: Thinking Beyond Pixels
  3. 3Why Assumptions Kill Products
  4. 4Creating Your First User Persona: The Right Way
  5. 5Customer Journey Mapping: Seeing the Complete Experience
  6. 6Data-Driven Customer Journey: Backing Decisions with Evidence
Start lesson 1

No email, no signup, nothing to buy.