UX Research, testing, prototyping - Google UX Course Review

Hey! It's the 4th Google UX Course week in a row. Find out if I still think the course and certificate are worth it, whether you should continue learning UX that way, and how some of the mentioned processes work in the "real world". UX Research is a complex topic, likely one of the most important parts of this design course. Let's dive in together!
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[@sunniesandpearls]

Thank you for continuing this series, they’re invaluable to someone like me who is taking the course with zero UX background. Would love to see a video of you doing a project from scratch and sort of explaining your process as someone with years of experience!

[@postnatalmotcoach1006]

Hi, how’s the ux course progress ?

[@kated47]

I was actually the lead UX designer for all the plugin activities used in this course! (And for their PgM and Data science course plugins.) I really appreciate your patient and honest reviews. They were all so much fun to work on!

[@MalewiczHype]

:)

[@TyrantTitan.]

Actually glad to hear of the increased difficulty. I was concerned that maybe it wasn't too involved and not worth the time. Interested in hearing the feedback from companies on what they think about the course.

[@MalewiczHype]

Still talking with them, but some are really exciting, big brands. Not sure they'll be up for appearing in the video yet, but I'll at least condense the feedback they're already sharing with me into something actionable.

[@markoreillymurphy1259]

Im starting this part of the course now. Really enjoy your videos and watch them right before starting each section, they're a huge help to get into the mindset for what's ahead! I've been making my way through your other videos, your channel is so great and so glad you make these videos its made the transition to UX a lot more accessible :)

[@qzqx3047]

Moral of the story. Don't skip the assignments. everything builds up to something else bigger and more challenging. good luck guys.

[@NicholasMarson]

I appreciate your reviews of the Google UX Certification courses. I was worried about the cheating (I saw it in my peer grading as well), but your videos add credibility to the work I'm putting into the course. Keep it up! I look forward to your videos every Monday to keep me motivated.

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks Nicholas! It's been a bit time consuming but a fun exercise for me as well :)

[@teohziyan2727]

Vote for weekly review !!!

[@o.g3370]

Me too!

[@moovi786]

Thank you so much for doing this series! I guess its better you continue the same way as a weekly review.

[@MalewiczHype]

That's the plan!

[@martamachado7342]

That thing you said in the end about you talking with big companies you have had the pleasure to work with is going to be a BIG help for us, beginners, there is always this preocupation about the value of UX bootcamps, online courses etc on the labor market and having that information is really going to help a lot. Thank you for the reviews, great as always :)

[@MalewiczHype]

That's my plan, hopefully they won't be afraid to go on camera ;)

[@Christina.creative]

Giving us the consistent youtube uploads- lovin it

[@MalewiczHype]

It’s not easy as the course is taking more and more time each week, but I just skipped all entertainment for now :)

[@KathyHasRamen]

@@MalewiczHype truly! It gets longer as it builds up to a case study. Research took a lot of time too

[@MalewiczHype]

Exactly! I was lucky my project was a "food truck app" because I know a lot of restaurant employees in my home town so I just went around and did the research with them, as the product was relevant to them - it was also fun :)

[@soul.rebel1986]

Can't thank you enough for your time, advice and *honest* reviews.

[@NataliaKedzierska]

I just finished this part of the course, and I do have experience as a designer, but it was tough to me as a beginning UX. I really needed to spend some time to finish all tasks and put effort to make it presentable. I really like to watch your videos after finishing the part to see what else I can read about the topic or what was missing from the course. Thank you for all the knowledge you're sharing with us, the beginners!

[@MalewiczHype]

Great to hear it’s helpful :-)

[@lazybonezlee433]

Very informative! Look forwards to seeing your next review of the next google UX course!

[@brentbrooks4842]

Thank you for this sir. This has given me hope in this really difficult job market.

[@MalewiczHype]

You can do it!

[@cmdv42]

Amazing to hear about course progression 💯I'd be interested in the weekly updates if that's possible. Thanks for providing guidance to all us earlier on the design journey!

[@o.g3370]

Looking forward to Your next videos, dedicated to Courses 5,6,7. That is really valuable to get the opinion of Professional.

[@bhlabschannel]

Weekly's fine Michal! 👍

[@hildita.]

Hola, estoy en el curso 4. Decidí hacer un cambio de carrera y empecé por estos cursos de Google. Agradezco muchos sus reseñas. También había visto que otras personas terminaban el curso entero (los 7 módulos) en 15 días y cosas así, y realmente me preocupé porque algunas tareas son trabajosas, hacerlas lo mejor posible, sí que lleva sus horas de dedicación. Sobre la revisión por pares, por primera vez escuché hablar de este problema fue en este canal y te agradezco, además de la malas revisiones en algunos casos, también pienso que la plataforma no carga bien los documentos de las personas, y cuando recibo una de estas calificaciones mal intencionadas, pues lo vuelvo a subir, y luego lo califican bien, a veces marcan menos puntos por no ver el número de casos de estudio y tal, incluso, cuando reciben un pdf con toda la información. Iré viendo sus reseñas a medida que avance en los cursos, Gracias por el contenido en general y por la guía.

[@nidarahman2305]

You are putting so much effort to. Make video on this course. Thanks for that.. I think the more info we can get is the best...i am continuing this course still on the first one, quittint my part time job to focus completely on this course. And i will be happiest person if i get work in google. I am aiming for it.

[@MalewiczHype]

Hi, thank you! I think to get a job at Google you likely need to continue learning after the course as well but it is a great start.

[@M.Manique]

I agree the peer grading is very horrible after completing my assignment for part 3 i felt that one of the peers deliberately gave me a fail i dont know why maybe out of jealousy who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️ but i know how much time and effort i have been putting into my assignments this way of marking is not fair at all and Google should really change this its not fair way to marking learners hardwork they put into their assignments just getting the certificate and not learning anything at the end is total waste of time and i dont understand why anyone would cheat

[@varunacharya4583]

This was theoretically heavy course and many iterations of interviews had to be done, communication is important here

[@shadyworld1]

Keep going! You got me motivated...please each course in sperated video much much insightful though 😅

[@KathyHasRamen]

Enjoying your content. And so glad to hear your opinion about the processes taught in the course versus reality.

[@MalewiczHype]

I plan to talk more about how it works in the real-world in my videos but likely after I finish the course. Some real processes and even some real projects too :)

[@sunnypc1314]

you're really a rockstar!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

[@MalewiczHype]

Thank you!

[@backtobettertimes5864]

Thank you! Btw do a video for each week please!!

[@The-Dev-Ninja]

good see you in the premiere

[@oNoline92o]

I'm currently in course nr.4 I love it

[@zeidounmeksi9799]

Weekly reviews please, thanks

[@seunadebambo7588]

I just started the Ux design course this year and I'm currently on the 3rd course but procrastination gets the best of me.

[@MalewiczHype]

Happens to the best of us, don't worry, keep going at your own pace :)

[@seunadebambo7588]

@@MalewiczHype Thank you, I heard most companies hire people with knowledge of UX design and Html and CSS. Is this true

[@MalewiczHype]

No. You don't need to know HTML and CSS to be a UX designer.

[@marialecuevas3200]

Love these videos. I really appreciate your reviews :) i'm thinking about taking this course to learn the basics - I'm from Venezuela

[@MalewiczHype]

It's definitely a great way to start with the basics and then move on to doing a lot of portfolio projects and extra learning outside of it.

[@MrJokJig]

You are great!

[@MalewiczHype]

You are!

[@Digital.Done.Right.]

Weekly or more condensed? Here my comment. I am near the end of #6 and my feeling would be to make a single video for #5 as it is new with hi-fi prototyping. Number 6 is just a repeat of 2-5 with a new project (responsive website) but nothing really new. It is a really good chance to repeat the earlier experiences and deepen the knowledge. Number 7 I have not seen but I guess it will not be too deep. This #6 is really time consuming if you do all the work. I am doing lo-fi user testing this Wednesday.

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks for the insight, I'll probably do a separate video on each one as that's what the people want anyway (the majority). I'm curious about the hi-fi prototyping part actually as I'm very fond of UI in this entire UX journey. Can't wait to start #5 on Wednesday.

[@mxinwei]

Course 7 is interesting because the prompt does not restrict you to designing standard web and mobile applications, so definitely venture into other areas, like service/customer experience, AR/VR, etc any kind of emerging tech, or even physical products if you wish.

[@Lumi003]

Weekly is good

[@asuquogodwin2196]

Please weekly review boss

[@jinuspotify2281]

Sir , please make a video about portfolio

[@well_however]

I asked my friends who used Coursera whether it is a good user experience and they were positive about it. They said it has intuitive interface and everything is clear. I was surprised as they are not native English speakers,they are Ukrainians. I agree that ux could be better but people have different opinions

[@MalewiczHype]

Oh in many cases it's not opinions. UX of coursera is bad unless they fixed some of the things I noticed last year - but seriously some of the things I found last year were non-negotiable, really bad examples of ux ;)

[@ProgressSkateboarding]

I've seen a bunch of research heavy roles lately... of course for larger companies... but also a few smaller places with at least a couple of products on the books.

[@MalewiczHype]

That's a good sign that the smaller places also try and invest in research, but at least in the EU it's a very small portion of them.

[@ProgressSkateboarding]

@@MalewiczHype Exactly. I think it's a positive sign :)

[@Maverick99explorer]

I'm completing every assignment with honesty..., reviews you are sharing about course is useful to me ..Thank you , love from 🇮🇳 And for more practice is it good to create replica's of existing UI ! I started course 4 today 😊

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks so much! And doing all assignments is what it's all about - the end goal is not a certificate, it's --> knowing ux

[@Maverick99explorer]

Thank you for valuable reply , it got me motivated , i'll work hard & smarter 🙏🏽😊

[@deborahologundudu8850]

This is really helpful

[@samfaldraga4391]

Thanks for putting out these constant videos! Really helps. I’m currently in course 4 as well, what do you suggest I do after I’m done with the course? I’m a complete beginner to UX

[@MalewiczHype]

I made a video about standing out (this month) - check it out as I think that covers a good "after" plan :)

[@happybebebe]

I really appreciate your reviews. I have a design degree, but I've been out of the market for some years because of other projects and motherhood. Now that I want to come back I realized I needed a major update in methodology and tools, so this certificate has been very helpful and on budget for me. I'm still finishing the first course and I have already some projects in mind that I would like to develop. I was wondering if I can work in one of my own projects to do the assignments or if the projects are designated by google. Could you tell my about it?

[@MalewiczHype]

Hi, glad you liked the reviews! The project you do for the portfolio in this course is "randomized" by Google - there's a project type generator thing in part 2 of the course and you can click "randomize" as many times as you want, but it's not really yours to choose. I have no idea how it's checked later (or if it is) because I believe that if your own idea is similar in structure to their randomized one, it should be fine to just do yours, but definitely safer to do what you get assigned. Hope that helps! :)

[@alaahn7530]

plz separate the 5 , 6 and 7 stages 😍

[@MalewiczHype]

You got it! Part 5 premiering later today :)

[@ankitdhyani3456]

Yes very true this week was very hard. I went through all videos made notes of every topic. Then I completed my assignments almost took 3-4 per assignment. Found the Affinity Diagramming pretty hard and also couldn't found all of the targeted users🥺. They just said yes for the unmoderated usability study but didn't respond after that. So it was pretty sad for me. But somehow I managed to receive feedback from 5 people. Even after that the 1 peer gave me 0 in all assignments of week 3, I don't know why they gave me 0 even I uploaded correct documents and links. But I'll keep up the pace and will complete all the 7 courses. And sir thanks for making these videos. I just watch one after completing one course.

[@MalewiczHype]

That dedication is what in the end leads to success. Keep going and good luck! 🚀

[@ankitdhyani3456]

@@MalewiczHype Thanks alot for your warm and motivated comments 😇

[@ayushkumarchandra]

Couldn't agree more about the dropout rate. I took a survey and found out that junior designer find it a bit tough to complete, mid-level designers are busy with their professional life and senior level designers won't sign up for this. Mostly self taught designers and mentors are progressing with the course. Also, asked a few recruiters, they told just doing this course won't land you a job however 1-2 good case studies would definitely land you an internship.

[@MalewiczHype]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm having very similar thoughts on it. But I plan to ask some big and small companies with UX teams what they think of the course as well at the end of this. Case studies and portfolio are the key to landing a job, not the certificates so hopefully people understand that and will put in the work :)

[@ayushkumarchandra]

@@MalewiczHype Yeah, that would be awesome, please make a video on it!

[@rabbythesr]

Try to give answer of our questions

[@MalewiczHype]

That video is coming in a few days 🙏

[@soul.rebel1986]

@@MalewiczHype Cant wait!

[@RobertBloom]

You mention a few times in this video, and in previous videos, that those of us new to UX will need to do more research beyond what is covered in this course. Does the course have recommended sources for further learning, or what sources would you recommend for further learning about UX (research and design)?

[@MalewiczHype]

Hi, great places to start are uxdesign.cc, prototypr.io - just to be curious about how different people view different parts of the UX process (so you can see there are more ways of doing things - not all of them always "right" but different). Google does mention UXdesign.cc which is great, and for UI inspiration they mention the usual crowd ;)

[@nandanrao7321]

@@MalewiczHype what are your suggestions for ui stuffs other than those usual crowds?

[@mohamedkhamis3179]

Separate videos bro. Good content btw

[@vikrantmalla3213]

Could you reviews Interaction Design foundation courses.

[@MalewiczHype]

I'll think about it when I finish this entire Google Course (3 parts left).

[@batchuthrishna6536]

I selected an app idea in the 2nd course, which is a game preview for a game. And now, I'm confused about whether to continue it or just take another one. As I'm not from a design background, do you think it's a good idea to work on it? Need your guidance :)

[@MalewiczHype]

I think it's best to continue with the same idea through the first 5 parts of the course - that way you'll be able to look at the idea from all ways.

[@batchuthrishna6536]

@@MalewiczHype Ok, thank you :)

[@ajeethraja3274]

Sorry mic.. I didn't mean to.. just wanted knowledge.. ❤️

[@chekwubechukwu4288]

Your reviews have been my source of motivation and clarity. I look forward to your reviews and job recommendations as well in future. Please share your email address or any way to contact you. Thank you.

[@MalewiczHype]

You can contact me via Twitter easily, my DM's are open.

[@deletingmychannel]

Love these videos, thank you!! Have you tried IDF at all? I'd love to hear a comparison of IDF and this course :)

[@MalewiczHype]

I have a plan to do one IDF course this September, we'll see how it goes as currently making my own courses is taking way more time than I expected ;)