WHAT THE

EBOOK

F*CK IS
UX DESIGN?
Beginner’s Guide

By

RUBEN CESPEDES
Senior Product Designer

Copyright © 2020 by Ruben Cespedes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication text may be uploaded or posted online
without the prior written permission of the author.

For permission requests, write to the author, addressed “Attention:

Permission Request,” to rubencespedes@gmail.com
AUTHOR

Ruben Cespedes is a senior product designer who’s passion is

solving tough customer problems by integrating information

architecture, user research, smart technology and beautiful

design. As a user interface / user experience (UIUX) designer,

he relies on his 15+ years of professional experience to create

attractive, intuitive, and simple user experiences. In his spare time,

he enjoys creating educational content about UX, visual design and

coding for his Instagram account. He also enjoys music, camping,

movies and playing with his children. Feel free to visit his

Instagram account at: https://www.instagram.com/uiuxcreative/

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 4

WTF is User Experience (UX)? 5

Why UX is a Joke? 6

Beware of Bad UX 7

Top UI / UX Design Tools 8

Tips to Become a Great UX Designer 11

10 Experts Describe “Design” in One Word 12

Conclusion 13
INTRODUCTION
When I tell people that I’m a user experience (UX) designer, most

people nod politely as their eyes glaze over for a second, and they

try to move the conversation along. Early in my career I thought

they were completely uninterested, but over time, I came to realize

that many people simply don’t know what UX is and might feel

awkward about asking. On behalf of misunderstood UX designers

everywhere, please allow me to introduce you to the wonders of

quality UX and why you should care about it.

People ignore design that

ignores people.

— Frank Chimero, Designer

4
What the F*ck is UX Design?
WHAT THE F*CK
IS USER
EXPERIENCE (UX)?
User experience is the interaction with a product, system, or

service. Today’s digital experiences go beyond a single interface

to create a streamlined user experience across platforms. Today,

we design for the look, feel, and usability of multi-touchpoint

experiences. Imagine you just applied for a credit card—

afterwards, you might get a welcome email, visit their website,

download a mobile app, or you might want to speak to a customer

service representative. All of those interactions need to be

anticipated and designed to create a cohesive and ful lling

customer journey.

As a user experience designer, I strive to improve our world by

making products and services more intuitive and easier to use by

thinking about how a user interacts with the service. If there is any

friction between the user and getting what they want or expect,

I consider it a bad experience. A good user experience delivers

exactly what the user expects—ease of use, accessibility,

credibility, utility, and discoverability.

5
What the F*ck is UX Design?
WHY UX IS A JOKE?
Recently, a fellow UX expert sent me an article that included an

amazing quote from @MartinLeBlanc: “A user interface is like a

joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.” Although LeBlanc

is being a little cheeky, he makes a valid point—truly good UX is so

obvious and effective that it requires no explanation.

In the past, many companies focused their marketing efforts on

trying to convince consumers to feel a certain way about their

offerings with the sole goal of increasing sales. Today, smart

organizations adopt a more holistic view of marketing as a way to

create lasting relationships with their consumers, and high-quality

UX design is an important part of those relationships.

A user interface is like a joke. If you

have to explain it, it’s not that good.

— Martin LeBlanc

6
What the F*ck is UX Design?
BEWARE OF BAD UX
There are hundreds of bad UX examples that prevent great products

from being awless. You as a UX designer need to be aware of what

is bad and what is good. If your users are having a hard time with

your product while using it, there is something wrong with the UX

and they might switch to another product or service.

Here are some examples on how bad UX can affect your

business or product:

A non-responsive website may affect your SEO. Frustrated

users won’t return to your site, which will result in less tra c.

A simple landing page without a clear call to action (CTA)

may kill or lose conversions.

Inconsistent branding may affect user perception of your

organization’s values.

A bad or boring layout may cause users to lose interest in returning

to your site to learn more about your products and/or services.

Learn from bad UX so you can avoid them in your future designs.
7
What the F*ck is UX Design?
TOP UI/UX
DESIGN TOOLS

Adobe XD

Adobe XD is a powerful, collaborative, easy-to-use platform that

helps you and your team create designs for websites, mobile apps,

voice interfaces, games, and more.

Available on: Mac OS, Windows

Price: Free

Figma

Build better products as a team. Design, prototype, and gather

feedback all in one place with Figma.

8
Available on: Mac OS, Windows, Web
What the F*ck is UX Design?

Price: Free
TOP UI/UX
DESIGN TOOLS (CONT.)

Sketch

Sketch is a design toolkit built to help you create your best work —

from your earliest ideas, through to nal artwork.

Available on: Mac OS

Price starting from: $99

Invision Studio

A new platform inspired by the world’s best design teams. Design,

prototype, and animate—all in one place.

9
Available on: Mac OS, Windows
What the F*ck is UX Design?

Price: Free
TOP UI/UX
DESIGN TOOLS (CONT.)

Zeplin

Connected space for product teams. Handoff designs and styleguides

with accurate specs, assets, code snippets—automatically.

Available on: Mac OS, Windows, Web

Price: Free

Balsamiq

Quick and Easy Wireframing Tool. Sketch your User Interface ideas

and get everyone on the same page. It makes work fun!

10
Available on: Mac OS, Windows, Web
What the F*ck is UX Design?

Price starting from: $9/month

TIPS TO BECOME
A GREAT UX DESIGNER
1. Practice active listening

2. Learn to code (basic HTML/CSS)

3. Never settle for one idea

4. Learn to sketch (pens before pixels)

5. Understand the nature of the problem

6. Incremental improvement

7. Welcome constructive criticism

8. Collaborate as much as possible

9. Visit usability testing sessions

10. Stay inspired

11
Great designers are not born, they are made. You can do this!
What the F*ck is UX Design?
10 EXPERTS DESCRIBE
“DESIGN” IN ONE WORD
Ioana Adriana Teleanu @uxgoodies
“Love”

Dan Romero @bydanromero

“Creation”

Mike Janda @morejanda

“Communication”

Trupti @trupsfolio
“Learning”

Julian R. @juju.branding
“Functional”

Steven Mellor @thestevenmellor

“Solutions”

Miriam Isaac @misaac85

“Compositioning”

Elize @elize_ux
“Problem solving”

Ana @ux.by.ana
12
“Impactful”
What the F*ck is UX Design?

Dorjan Vulaj @the.dsgnr

“Road map”

Make sure to follow these design experts on their Instagram pages.

CONCLUSION
I hope this eBook serves as a “go to” document and helps existing UX

designers wanting to learn more about design or those newly joining

the UX eld. It was a unique and interesting experience writing and

designing my rst eBook; extremely fun recalling, refreshing and

sharing all my UX experiences. If I had to give you one key takeaway

after you’ve read this eBook - always, always be willing to try and learn

something new every day, however small it is, it is super important to

learn (and grow) constantly. You never know…what you learn today

can make life a little easier tomorrow.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @uiuxcreative for more

UX content, visual design and coding tips.

Thank you very much and stay tuned for more surprises to come.

13
What the F*ck is UX Design?