Career studio / UX Design
Build evidence for the UX Researcher role
A learning site wants to understand why users abandon course selection. Design a small research study without inventing participants, interviews or findings.
Your outcome: Research plan, interview guide, synthesis framework and evidence-based recommendation template.
Start with the right expectations
Who this is for
Clear note-taking and an interest in learning from users.
This path develops a demonstrable work sample for the named role. It does not replace employer-specific experience, professional qualifications or supervised practice.
Plan your study time
Use a flexible six-week project schedule: one week for each of the first four stages and two weeks for the portfolio and review. Allow roughly 3–5 hours per week for the case work, in addition to course study. This is a planning suggestion, not a measured course duration or a promise of job readiness.
Read the course access notes before starting. Free viewing or reading does not automatically include certificates, graded assessments, software licences or paid cloud resources. Core case work can be documented with a free editor and spreadsheet; optional implementation tools may have additional requirements.
Your course sequence
Start in the order below. Use the course outline to select the sections relevant to the stage tasks, and complete foundation exercises before moving on. Full provider courses can be substantially longer than this project schedule. These are course resources, not a claimed count of individual lessons.
Resource 01 / Google
Free UX Design Course: Research to Prototypes by Google
Purpose: Build the foundations. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; a Google certificate is not included
Resource 02 / MIT
Free MIT Course: Educational Technology and Learning Design
Purpose: Develop the role-specific method. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; no MIT certificate or academic credit
Resource 03 / Corporate Finance Institute
Statistics Fundamentals: Free Course
Purpose: Strengthen practical application. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
- Distinguish descriptive analysis from inference about a wider population.
- Use measures of variation and probability to describe uncertainty in data.
- Explain the purpose and assumptions of a hypothesis test.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; certificate not included
Learn, make, check
Keep a decision log as you work. For each stage, capture the assumption, your work product, a check and the change you made after that check. The acceptance criterion is the stopping condition for the stage.
Stage 1 / suggested project week 1
Choose the question
Understand: A research question should expose uncertainty rather than confirm a design.
Make: Write three questions about course selection and choose a method suited to each.
Check before moving on: Separate questions about behavior from questions about preference.
Study companion: Free UX Design Course: Research to Prototypes by Google. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 2 / suggested project week 2
Plan ethical recruitment
Understand: Participants need a clear purpose and voluntary participation.
Make: Draft inclusion criteria, a consent script and a data-minimization plan.
Check before moving on: Avoid collecting unnecessary sensitive information.
Study companion: Free MIT Course: Educational Technology and Learning Design. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 3 / suggested project week 3
Practice synthesis
Understand: Evidence, interpretation and recommendation belong in separate layers.
Make: Use the supplied fictional notes to practice grouping observations and identifying contradictions.
Check before moving on: Label the exercise data as synthetic, not real research findings.
Study companion: Statistics Fundamentals: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 4 / suggested project week 4
Communicate limits
Understand: A small qualitative study does not estimate population prevalence.
Make: Create a report structure with evidence links, confidence and unanswered questions.
Check before moving on: Do not turn three practice notes into a percentage claim about all users.
Study companion: Statistics Fundamentals: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 5 / suggested project weeks 5–6
Present your portfolio
Assemble the four work products into Research plan, interview guide, synthesis framework and evidence-based recommendation template. Write a README explaining the problem, your assumptions, the decisions you made, tests actually performed and what remains incomplete.
Give a five-minute walkthrough: one minute for the problem, two for the work and evidence, one for trade-offs and one for the next improvement. If you have not implemented a proposed system, label it a design or prototype rather than a deployed solution.
Acceptance: a reviewer can locate each work product, reproduce the key reasoning and identify the limits without a private explanation from you.
The portfolio brief
A learning site wants to understand why users abandon course selection. Design a small research study without inventing participants, interviews or findings.
Deliver: Research plan, interview guide, synthesis framework and evidence-based recommendation template.
| note id | synthetic observation |
|---|---|
| N 1 | Reader could not identify the prerequisite level |
| N 2 | Reader compared provider names before opening a course |
| N 3 | Reader asked whether beginner meant no experience |
Use these small inputs to make the reasoning visible. They are not a representative dataset, a real client engagement or evidence of production performance. Where the brief requires additional sample records, create them yourself, label them synthetic and explain why you added them.
The ZIP includes the case CSV, four stage worksheets, course sequence, decision log, test log, portfolio README template, review rubric and reference reasoning. It is a starter kit for your work, not a completed application, professional report or proprietary project file.
Check your reasoning
Two of three fictional notes mention unclear course level. Can you report that 67% of users have this problem?
Write your answer and assumptions before opening the reference.
Read the reference reasoning
No. The notes are synthetic and not a representative sample. Report a practice theme and propose real research to test the uncertainty.
Portfolio review rubric
| Criterion | Points | Evidence required |
|---|---|---|
| Problem and scope | 4 | A clear user, need, boundary and assumptions |
| Role-specific work | 8 | 2 points for each of the four stage acceptance checks |
| Reasoning and validation | 4 | Independent checks, actual results and uncertainty |
| Communication and reproducibility | 4 | A usable README, source links and reviewable work products |
Aim for at least 16/20 as a self-review target, with no missing stage acceptance check. This is a WikiFree practice rubric, not an industry credential or a hiring assessment.
Interview practice
How did you preserve evidence that contradicted your preferred interpretation?
Answer using the case: context, your action, evidence and limitation. Describe this honestly as a self-directed project. Do not present fictional organizations, invented interviews or practice results as paid work experience.
Your progress
Use this checklist as a personal study aid. Progress is stored in this browser when local storage is available; it is not an account record or a certificate.
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Questions before you start
Will this path qualify me for a job?
It helps you study relevant foundations and produce a work sample. Employers may require additional skills, qualifications and experience. Review actual role requirements before applying; no job or certification is guaranteed.
Are all tools and certificates free?
The linked learning routes were selected for free viewing or reading. Follow the separate access and certificate notes on each course. Paid tools and cloud deployment are optional; document a local design when implementation resources are unavailable.
Can I follow this on a phone?
You can read the path and many learning resources on a phone. Coding, detailed spreadsheet work, design tools and mobile-app development are easier or require a suitable computer. The page is designed to reflow; that is not a claim that every physical device has been tested.
Questions & discussion
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