Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Build and maintain shared design systems across projects.

2. Create advanced prototypes using conditional logic, animations, and variables.

3. Integrate user research and testing into iterative design cycles.

4. Collaborate in multi-designer environments using branching, libraries, and version control.

5. Apply accessibility, responsiveness, and scalability to complex products.

6. Present and document design decisions.

• Students don’t just design screens - they build responsive systems, test them, and collaborate like real design teams. Each week includes hands-on studio time where they apply UX principles in the design software Figma. Their final project is a complete, multi-screen experience, ready to present to employers.
• UX/UI design is one of the fastest-growing creative fields. This course gives them that bridge - real workflows, real systems, real teamwork, understanding how to think like product designers
• It starts with design fundamentals - hierarchy, color, and composition - then moves into systems thinking, responsive design, collaboration, and finally, real-world developer handoff. By the end, students walk away with a fully interactive, portfolio-ready prototype.
• The course mirrors how UX teams at companies like Microsoft, adidas, or startups actually work. Students learn to collaborate, present, and hand off designs just like in a professional environment. It’s about building confidence — not just portfolios.
• By the end, they don’t just know how to use Figma - they know how to think like product designers. They’ve prototyped, tested, and iterated. They’ve learned how to communicate design with intent - the thing that truly separates a good designer from a great one.

• Weekly Schedule
  Week 1 – Advanced Systems Thinking

  • Review: Key takeaways from Product Design & UX Systems I

  • Designing and scaling complex component libraries

  • Hands-on: Audit and improve an existing design system

• Week 2 – Research-Driven Design

  • Translating user research into design insights

  • Identifying pain points and opportunities in UX flows

  • Hands-on: Conduct mini user interviews or heuristic evaluations

• Week 3 – Complex Prototyping in Figma

  • Variables, overlays, conditional logic, and motion design

  • Creating interactive, data-driven prototypes

  • Hands-on: Prototype a multi-path user journey

• Week 4 – Collaboration & DesignOps

  • Managing shared libraries, branching, and merges

  • Best practices for multi-designer collaboration

  • Hands-on: Group project kickoff — defining roles and workflows

• Week 5 – Responsive Design at Scale

  • Designing across multiple platforms (web, mobile, tablet)

  • Component scaling, constraints, and adaptive layouts

  • Hands-on: Create cross-platform variants for your design system

• Week 6 – Accessibility Deep Dive

  • Inclusive design frameworks and advanced WCAG practices

  • Color systems, motion sensitivity, and assistive tech design

  • Hands-on: Accessibility audit and redesign exercise

• Week 7 – Usability Testing & Iteration

  • Planning and conducting structured usability tests

  • Interpreting data and iterating on prototypes

  • Hands-on: Peer or external user testing session

• Week 8 – Developer Collaboration & Handoff

  • Preparing detailed specs, annotations, and design documentation

  • Communicating design rationale to engineers and PMs

  • Hands-on: Create developer-ready files and design documentation

• Week 9 – Design Presentation & Storytelling

  • Framing your design narrative for stakeholders

  • Building a visual case study

  • Hands-on: Design presentation workshop and peer critique

• Week 10 – Final Project Work Session

  • Team work time and instructor feedback sessions

  • Refining prototypes, systems, and presentation assets

• Week 11 – Final Presentations & Critiques

  • Team presentations of final projects

  • Feedback from instructor and guest reviewers

  • Reflection: Translating course work into professional portfolios