Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Bad design vs good design

25 minutes

Find Out: What does it mean to be a UX designer?

20 minutes

Take Action: Time to design

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

develop an understanding of UX design careers and skill sets
explore UX design careers across industries.

Success criteria

Students can:

discuss UX design careers, including required skills and industry applications
design and justify a basic UX solution for a user’s need.

Tune In: Bad design vs good design

Step 1

Explain to students that they’re going to look at some design example pairs. Show slides 2–11 in the UX Design Visual Explainer, inviting students to turn and talk to discuss the questions below, and then as a class:

For each pair, which example (1 or 2) is the better design? Why?
Is there anything confusing or misleading in the designs? Why?
How would you fix it?

Here are some suggested discussion points for each example:

Examples 1 & 2. (Slides 2–3)

👎 This is a classic example of a ‘Norman Door’, named after UX expert Don Norman. The physical design suggests pull, but the text says push. This is confusing for the user.

👍 The metal panel implicitly tells the user what to do. No text needed.

Examples 3 & 4. (Slides 4–5)
👎 This is an example of failing to follow a convention. In Australia, we expect the cold tap to be on the right.

👍 The taps now follow convention in Australia.

Examples 5 & 6. (Slides 6–7)
👎 A digital example of failing to follow a convention. Users expect the ‘Cancel’ button to be on the right. If they weren't paying attention, they would click the button that loses all their work.

👍 The buttons now follow convention.

Example 7 & 8. (Slides 8–9)
👎 Designers (or programmers) have not considered users when something goes wrong. Technical jargon is only helpful for developers.

👍 The text is now more user-friendly.

Example 9 & 10. (Slides 10–11)
🛑 This is an example of a dark pattern – a deliberate attempt to mislead the user. Some countries now have legislation against this type of design.

👍This example shows the opt-in subscription rather than a forced one.

Learning extension: Display the homepages of online retailers or streaming services as classic examples of choice overload in UX design. For instance, where hundreds of items or shows are displayed at once. Highlight that when users open the platform, they may see dozens of categories and rows of content, each containing many options. Instead of making it easier to choose something to watch, the large number of choices can leave users feeling overwhelmed, leading them to spend more time browsing than actually deciding.

From a UX perspective, this demonstrates choice overload – when too many options increase cognitive effort and make decision-making harder. Good UX design often reduces this by curating recommendations, highlighting a few strong options or personalising suggestions so users can decide more quickly.

Students may have examples of their own to share. Point out to the class that they will be given an opportunity to improve a poor design later.

Step 2

Ask the class what they understand ‘UX’ to stand for. Show slide 12 in the Visual Explainer to explain the definition. Now, ask the class, ‘Who are users?’ Show slide 13 to explain ‘users’.

As a class, discuss this question: Why is it important to consider users when creating a product? Suggested responses:

Users are the ones who will choose to spend time with the product. (In some cases, they won't have a choice!)
Different users have different needs and preferences. Show slide 14 to elaborate on examples of different types and categories of users.

Step 3

Make sure each student has a copy of the Becoming a UX Designer Activity Worksheet. Ask students to complete the table for Activity 1 in pairs. Each icon represents a category of a product, service, or environment/space that uses UX design. Answers:

Transport	Online services	Appliances	Personal devices
Games	Vehicles	Health	Construction

Discuss:

Did the chosen icons adequately convey the category? What might you have chosen instead?
Which of the 8 categories could put the lives of users at risk if UX design is not done well? What's an example?

Find Out: What does it mean to be a UX designer?

Step 1

Introduce UI (User Interface) design to students, emphasising that ‘UI’ and ‘UX’ are often confused. Invite students to share if they know the difference.

Explain that UI and UX are often grouped together because both aim to improve how people interact with digital products, and their work frequently overlaps. UX designers' work can be broader in scope (i.e., not just in the digital space) and focus on how a product works and feels to use, while UI designers focus on how it looks and how users interact with visual elements like buttons, menus and screens. Because both contribute to creating easy and enjoyable experiences – and in some teams one person may do both roles – the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

Step 2

As a class, with students following and completing Activity 2 in their Activity Worksheet, place the following tasks into the Venn diagram:

Tasks that are specific to UI Design go in the ‘UI Design circle’.

Tasks that are more generally the responsibility of UX Designers go in the ‘UX Design’ circle.
Tasks done by other IT professionals go outside both circles.

1. Align buttons

2. Research human psychology

3. Code algorithms

4. Consider the overall user journey

5. Select icons

6. Listen to users

7. Consider contrast

8. Select font

9. Ensure accessibility

10. Run usability testing

11. Ensure a service is cyber secure

Suggested answers are below. Emphasise that UX Design puts the user first.

Step 3

Ask students, based on what they now know about UX design, which industries do they think employ UX designers? Direct students to think-pair-share.

List the students’ suggested industries on the board. A follow-up question may be: which product(s) or service(s) use UX design for that industry? Remind students that UX designers are employed in a vast range of industries and are not limited to digital software. Specific responses may include, but are not limited to:

Banking and finance (e.g. banking apps and services)
Digital products (e.g. apps, games, websites)
Tourism (e.g. interactive exhibits, kiosks)
Government and infrastructure (e.g. identity and transport apps)

Step 4

Now that students have learnt what UX and UI are and the industries that employ UX designers, explain that they will look at a case study of ‘A day in the life of a UX designer’. Direct students to read the case study in their Activity Worksheet about Sofia, a UX designer.

Point out that Sofia mentions both ‘human’ (sometimes referred to as ‘soft’ skills) and technical skills to be a UX designer. Outline that human skills refer to non-technical abilities, such as time management, collaboration and communication.

For each technical or human skill below, ask the class to suggest what specific task(s) Sofia applies each skill to. Suggested responses:

Wireframing software: To sketch and prototype designs before programmers implement them.
Empathy: To build a picture of what users need.
Design principles: To make the right choices for usability and accessibility.
Communication: To articulate designs and ideas to the team and client.

Step 5

Present slide 15 of the Visual Explainer: Pathways to becoming a UX designer.

Emphasise to students that these are suggested pathways to these types of roles, but that people often find their way into tech after prior experience in other fields, through on-the-job training, by being self-taught, or a combination of these.

Step 6

Remind students that UX designers prioritise users first. Empathising with and interpreting the user's needs is key. One way UX designers try to encapsulate a user's needs is by writing a concise ‘user story’. This is always in the format:

As a [user/role – who the product is for],

I need [goal/need/action – what the user wants to do]

so that I can [benefit/outcome/purpose – why the user wants to do it].

The completed sentences should be as short as possible while still capturing the user's needs. Discuss with students the following example, drawing attention to the type of information in each part of the user story:

As a busy parent, I need to quickly and simply order school lunches so that I can make sure my child gets their lunch.

Step 7

Place students into groups of 3–4. Distribute one User Scenario Card to each team. Instruct student teams to read their scenario card and use the information on the card to complete a user story for that person (Activity 4 in their Activity Worksheet). Students can then present their scenario and completed user story to another team or to the rest of the class.

IMPORTANT: Students are not yet designing a solution. Their solution could take many different forms (e.g. an app, website, or AI service).

A completed user story for each scenario is suggested below:

SCENARIO #1 Daniel is cooking dinner for his family. He realises he is missing several ingredients. He opens the grocery app he usually uses and tries to remember what items he bought the last time he made this meal. SUGGESTED COMPLETED USER STORY: As a family cook, I need to get a list of the items I previously bought for a mealso that I can reorder them to cook the meal again.	SCENARIO #2 Priya is preparing for a biology exam and has a large set of class notes. She wants to make sure she actually remembers the key concepts rather than just rereading them. SUGGESTED COMPLETED USER STORY: As a student studying for an exam, I need to represent key concepts I've already read in a memorable wayso that I can easily remember them.
SCENARIO #3 Mohammed has low vision and uses settings on his phone that increase text size and interface scaling. When he tries to book a flight using a travel app, some controls become difficult to read or interact with. SUGGESTED COMPLETED USER STORY: As a traveller with low vision, I need the ability to adjust text and interface sizeso that I can book a flight through the app.	SCENARIO #4 A group of four students are working on a large project for class. They are all responsible for different parts of the project, but need a way to keep track of who has finished their part. SUGGESTED COMPLETED USER STORY: As a team of students, I (we) need to track each person's progress so that I (we) can make sure we complete our project on time.

Take Action: Time to design

Step 1

Explain to students that now that they’ve practised understanding user needs, they’re going to have a chance to replace that app or website that they find confusing, frustrating or seems harder to use than it needs to be – one that is a poor user experience!

Organise students into small groups (2–3). Outline that each group will use the prompts in the ‘Fix that experience’ activity in their Activity Worksheet.

Choose an existing problem e.g. a confusing school website, a difficult-to-use learning app, a ticket booking system or an online form that is frustrating.
Answer the following questions:
- Who is the user?
- What problem are they facing?
- What do they need to be able to do?
Sketch a simple wireframe that shows the improved user experience using the browser or phone template in the worksheet.

Students could use a digital tool for wireframing, such as Figma or Microsoft PowerPoint. draw.io is also a free online alternative that does not require a login.

Step 2

If time remains, encourage student groups to present their user stories, designs and wireframes to the class.

Reflection

To finish this lesson, reflect with the class on these two questions:

In what ways do UX designers design more than just screens?
As UX is more impacted by AI and changing design trends, why do ‘human’ skills still matter?

Becoming a UX Designer

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson

Becoming a UX Designer

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson