Before we get into the review of the course, a quick story.
About two years ago, I met Erik in Philadelphia. I was one of the few people who replied to an email he had sent to his list about visiting the area.
At the time, I was a student at Rutgers in New Jersey and decided to make the two hour trip to Philly with some friends to see him.
There was no agenda going into the meeting. I had read some of Erik’s work, subscribed to his newsletter, and was thinking about enrolling in his course. In fact, Erik didn’t even know that I had invited friends to join us. He didn’t seem to mind once we met.
During our meeting, we barely talked about the course. Instead we discussed problems in finance, architecture, education and the systems used to solve them.
We learned that Erik isn’t just a UI designer, he’s someone who observes the world around him, identifies problems, and thinks through solutions by building them. One conversation was enough to push me over the edge, to sign up.
One of my favorite definition’s of design is by Dr. Herbert Simon, “To design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred.”
For those who may not know, Dr. Simon was among the pioneers of several modern-day scientific domains such as artificial intelligence, information processing, decision-making, problem-solving, organization theory, and complex systems.
Now you, like me, are probably wondering whether Erik’s course delivers on its promise of teaching you digital interface design. The short answer is, yes.
The title, ‘Learn UI Design’ doesn’t tell the full story.
Throughout the course, what Erik is actually teaching you is how to think through problems and offers techniques that he’s learned along the way to speed up your learning curve of visual design.
He repeats, “design isn’t art, it’s about solving problems” countless times in his lessons. He’s not only telling you but showing you how to build an eye for visual design.
He teaches all of the tips and tricks to make something visually appealing and takes it a step further by explaining why it is appealing.
The explanations aren’t surface level either. He explains details that most wouldn’t consider. In the section about gradients, he mentions how color works under the hood in sketch to help students understand how to use gradients in their design.
Video lessons can often be boring which may lead you to lose interest. Erik keeps it light hearted and brings in concepts from the physical world to help you understand why something is visually appealing.
The underlying principles in interior design, photography, and software engineering are all relevant to learning interface design. Erik ties it all together in a way that makes sense and is practical.
I forgot to mention, Erik’s also a front-end engineer. In the lessons he makes it a point to mention what happens after the designs are created.
The problem Erik solved by creating this course is to make the process of learning design as easy as possible for a beginner.
Learn UI Design’s content is evergreen. It won’t go out of fashion because he focuses on teaching principles that make an interface work.
You’re signing up for a lot more than just video lessons. LUID comes with a community of members, like you, that are in the early stages of learning design.
On top of that, you’ll get access to worksheets and tools to reference when you’re building designs. LUID offers everything you need to get started and to work towards mastery.
Design isn’t magical, like most things, it’s a process.
A process that you can learn. One that only a practitioner can teach.
Unlike most teachers, Erik practices what he preaches as a freelance designer, front-end engineer, and side-project maker.
If you have any questions about the course or design in general, don’t hesitate to reach out or comment below!
