Learn to confidently create effective and usable apps— even if you’re a UX design novice
Increase your value as a developer
A developer who can both develop and produce good UX design is a valuable asset to any client
Make your clients more money
Engaging UX design can help clients generate more value in their businesses, and get a faster ROI using apps you made
Skip the trial and error
Get the expert guidance you need to get your app built right the first time, minus all the guesswork
This course was the perfect mix of fun and informative, I most certainly got a lot from it.I think it would be beneficial to any developerlooking for a fresh approach to problem-solving and ways of designing solutions around your client’s workflows.
—Orlando Pellicano, Data Ops
Unlock the power of UX design in your FileMaker apps
Want to create intuitive and engaging apps while accommodating different user and data requirements?
Wondering if you can design usable, modern apps using only FileMaker-native design tools?
Trying to find the right design for the needs of your user base?
Tired of struggling to make your layouts both work and look good at the same time?
Wish you could create an app that looks like it came from the App Store?
The UX Design Workshop can help...
It’s the premier all-in-one UX design course for FileMaker developers
Discover how to balance functionality and user experience
If you’re like most FileMaker developers creating apps, you’re laser-focused on building features and making them work from a technical perspective.
But you may be completely ignoring the design and user experience side of things.Or, you might figure that you’ll do it at the end, when it comes time to put it all together.
In my opinion, that’s a big mistake—especially if your goal is to build good-looking, modern apps.
While functionality is obviously very important, you also need to think carefully about designing the user experience.
But how do you do that, exactly? Contrary to popular belief, design is not something you can do at the end of your project, after you’ve already built everything.
You need to keep UX design in mind right from the very start.
And the easiest way to do that is to have a design process you can follow.
The UX Design Workshop is a UX design course that teaches you the Workflow Design Framework. It’s a set of repeatable stepsyou can use over and over again to take the pain out of making design decisions—no matter what kind of app you’re building, or who the users will be.
Alexis brings both technical know-how and a sophisticated aesthetic to UI/UX, to providea rich and informative class.
—Jeffrey london, london net studio
5 Steps to Amazing UX: The Workflow Design Framework
Most developers start here
But design really starts here
5 Steps to Amazing UX: The Workflow Design Framework
Design starts here...
The Workflow Design Framework is the design process I use to create amazing app designs that my clients love and get tremendous value from.
Following this method ensures that I:
Have a productive and efficient way to collect and organize all the information I’m given at the start of a project, so that I don’t lose track or forget important details
Am able to communicate clearly with my client about what’s included in the final product, increasing our shared understanding of their needs
Can progressively reduce the amount of uncertainty as the project goes on, so I can reliably estimate the scope of work remaining at any given time
The UX Design Workshop is a UX design course that walks you through the first three (and most important) steps of the 5-Step Workflow Design Framework, since these are the parts of the UX design process that are least familiar to most developers.
The solid focus on user stories and acceptance criteria deepened my appreciation of the benefits from careful design planning. While we had always paid attention to this area, Alexis raised our understanding and skills to a new level.This leads to better results for clients from the outset.
—JOHN MATHEWSON, KYO LOGIC
Learning about design from Alexis changed the way I ask questions during projects. How the user experiences the system is now as important as every other technical decision. I now strive to make the apps I build to be as easy to learn as a game on your phone.
—SALVATORE COLANGELO, GOYA
Why I created the UX Design Workshop
I created this UX design course for FileMaker developers because I want as many people as possible to benefit from the power of good design.
And I believe that everyone has the ability to improve their design skills.
Hi, I'm Alexis Allen. I’m a FileMaker developer and designer from Toronto, Ontario.
I have over 25 years of experience creating FileMaker apps for a wide variety of clients (since version 3, in fact).
I’ve also taught and delivered presentations on UI/UX design at many FileMaker conferences around the world, including the most recent Claris Engage in Austin, Texas.
Oh, and I also have a music performance degree (in cello) from the University of Toronto (yes, I still play regularly!).
I’ve always been interested in design, but I wouldn’t say I’m “talented.” Rather, I’ve spent a lot of time studying UI and UX design principles and practicing my design skills through many years of project work with clients all over the world.
Many developers have honed their skills in scripting, calculations, or custom functions, but not in UI/UX design principles.
I’d like to change that, and introduce more people to the world of design, because poor UX design can cause a host of issues during an app development project. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Great UX design can start a virtuous cycle that leads to better and better results for you, your clients, and the people who use the apps you made!
You can improve your design skills and start reaping the benefits starting today!
What’s inside the UX Design Workshop
Each week of the course, you’ll learn about a different topic. Then, you’ll practice your skills by completing the homework assignments. Here’s your roadmap:
Week 0: Introduction
This lesson encourages you to shift from a traditional, feature-driven approach to a modern, user-driven approach in software design. This includes focusing on the user's needs and goals, designing specific tools and interfaces for different roles, and optimizing the UI for reading information rather than data entry.
Introduction to Workflow-Based Design
Why it’s important to emphasize user goals over features alone
What users really care about (hint: it’s not your app’s data!)
How designing around user workflows rather than data tables can enhance user experience
Week 1: Workflow-Based Design is Good Design
Good design is not just about aesthetics. It’s more about intentionally creating something that not only communicates with the user, but also helps them easily achieve their goals. This lesson introduces the 5-Step Workflow Design Framework, which is a structured design process that helps you efficiently design and manage an app. Following this framework ensures that you properly define the scope of work before you invest tons of time building something that may or may not address users’ goals.
What is Design?
Why design is so hard to define
How to find and solve problems through design
The key differences between UI and UX design
The importance of understanding the user’s goals
Workflow Design Framework
Overview of the 5-Step Workflow Design Framework
How to construct an app using a design process
Why using a cyclical design process is better than a set of linear steps
Defining the Scope
Why you should define the scope of your project before you start development
The three important questions you need to ask in order to effectively define the scope
You’ll select your example project to work on throughout the rest of the course
Week 2: Creative Problem-Solving Success
Critical to the success of any app design project is correctly defining the problem you're trying to solve, and not just treating its symptoms. This lesson shows you how to structure “Just-Right” problem statements that are neither too large, nor too small. It also encourages you to generate lots of potential solutions to problems. That way, you have lots of methods to choose from when designing your app, and you don’t fall back on the same old solutions and patterns you might have used in the past, just because they’re familiar to you.
Defining the Problem
Why defining problems effectively and at the correct level of detail is crucial to the success of your app
Some key strategies to help you define Just-Right problems
How having constraints actually helps you develop creative solutions to problems
Creative Problem Solving
Why creativity is important to problem-solving
How to develop a creative mindset
Whether you should be concerned with feasibility
Some common roadblocks that interfere with creativity
Creative Exercises
Tap into your innate creativity through simple thought experiments and observation exercises
Week 3: Building Bridges - Structure and Information Architecture
This lesson helps you discover a good data structure for your app. It explores different types of hierarchies, which can impact how users navigate and interact with a system, and discusses the importance of aligning the conceptual model with the user’s mental model. Next, it covers various types of diagrams you can use to establish and test different possible structures for your app. Finally, it helps you to determine how to categorize the information in a way that is intuitive and makes sense to the users.
Structure Basics
The three most important aspects of an app’s structure that you need to know
How information architecture can help you determine a good structure
Which diagrams can help you visualize potential structures for your app
How metaphors can help you convey the structure to users
Diagramming
Different ways you could use diagramming to help plan your app and communicate with clients
How to use diagrams to clarify your conceptual model
How to choose the best diagram, based on project size and scope
Determining Categories
Why determining categories is harder than you think
How to use different categorization strategies depending on the context and intended audience
Week 4: All About the User
To create modern, usable apps, you need to focus on, understand, and empathize with your users. This lesson shows you a number of ways to research the people who’ll be interacting with your app, and help you to understand them and their pain points better. It also introduces you to the concepts of User Stories and Acceptance Criteria, which are important tools that help in planning, organizing, and maintaining the focus on user needs during the development process. Finally, the lesson shows you an in-depth method of documenting user workflows, which is key to documenting and communicating your understanding of everything you’ve learned so far.
Getting to Know the User
Why it’s so important to understand and have empathy for your users
How to involve users in the process and increase your app’s chances of success
Why you should be inclusive, but you shouldn’t try to design for everyone
User Stories
Why writing user stories is the key to managing your project
The best way to write user stories
Why writing acceptance criteria will save your sanity during development
The key elements to writing stellar acceptance criteria
User Flow Diagrams
Why documenting user workflows is crucial to an app’s design
How creating workflow diagrams can save countless hours of development and rework time later
The most important elements to capture when creating workflow diagrams
Week 5: Wonderful Wireframing
Wireframing is the process of sketching out your app before starting to build it. Wireframes can be hand-drawn sketches, low-fidelity wireframes, or high-fidelity mockups. They are crucial for visualizing the structure and flow of the app, and help you to identify potential problems early on. Creating wireframes (once you know how) is much faster than prototyping directly in FileMaker, and thus can save you a lot of time and headaches. This lesson shows you how to create a low-fidelity wireframe, and walks you through the process of determining your information hierarchy and navigation pattern.
Wireframes
Why drawing wireframes will save you tons of time
Why you should try hand-drawing your first wireframes
When to start adding detail to your wireframes
Creating a Lo-Fi Wireframe
What you should consider when drawing your low-fidelity wireframe
How to clearly communicate your hierarchy
Different ways you could organize your navigation, depending on the size and breadth of your app
The pros and cons of hamburger menus
Live Wireframing Demo in Balsamiq
Look over my shoulder while I design a wireframe in Balsamiq
Sit in on my feedback sessions with a user in real-time
Watch while I adjust my wireframe based on user feedback
Week 6: Design Pattern Perfection
Design patterns are established patterns that solve common user problems and feel intuitive to the user. When apps feel clunky or awkward, it’s often because the design pattern doesn’t effectively match the situation and solve the user’s problem efficiently. This lesson walks you through basic, intermediate, and advanced design patterns that you can use to create seamless and user-friendly interfaces.
Basic Design Patterns
Why selecting the right design patterns can make or break your app
We review basic design patterns baked right into the FileMaker UI
Intermediate Design Patterns
How to use more complex design patterns to handle many common user problems
When to use card windows, master-detail views, and more
Advanced Design Patterns
How to use advanced design patterns to handle more difficult user problems
How to choose the correct design pattern for the problem at hand
Week 7: Demystifying Visual Design
Good visual design improves the user experience, makes an app more appealing, increases users’ trust in you, the developer, and facilitates user adoption. On the contrary, poor visual design can result in a lacklustre user experience and reduce users’ trust in the product. This lesson details the 9 most impactful visual design principles you need to know to create an appealing UI.
Demystifying Visual Design
How good visual design enhances the user experience
How sloppy visual design can destroy a user’s trust in your app—and in you
Visual Hierarchy
Why visual hierarchy is the unsung hero of UX design
Ways of communicating the visual hierarchy to users
Grouping
How to form relationships between pieces of information on the screen
How to use the Law of Proximity and Similarity to enhance grouping
Balance
Why we like symmetry—until we don’t
How to juggle objects to create a visually balanced layout
Unity
How to achieve unity in your design
Why you should use repetition—but not too much
Colour
Why you shouldn’t overdo it with colour
How to meaningfully colour-code your layout objects
Which colours you should probably avoid
Contrast
Why contrast isn’t just about colour
The important link between contrast and your visual hierarchy
White Space
Why white space is one of the most underrated (and most overlooked) parts of design
The relationship between white space, balance, and unity
Consistency
How consistency can make your app look more professional, and give users confidence
When to make exceptions to consistency
Alignment
How you can use alignment to instantly make your design look more professional
The ways in which alignment reinforces many other visual design principles
Week 8: Ultimate Usability
Usability can literally make or break your app. Usability principles are grounded in human psychology, so understanding how people perceive and process information, as well as their memory limitations, habits, and biases, is important to creating an amazing user experience. Learn how to assess the key quality components of usability, so that you can create the best user experience possible, and enhance your chances of success.
Introduction to Usability
Introduction to the five key quality components of usability
Usability Principles
How usability is deeply rooted in human perception and psychology
Reviewing different usability guidelines
Visibility
Why you shouldn’t leave users guessing
How the Pareto principle can help you determine what to make visible
Affordance
How poor affordance leads to user errors
When to use metaphors to convey affordance
Feedback
Why you shouldn’t surprise users
How to handle errors gracefully, including the one crucial thing you need to get right
Simplicity
How to avoid the “kitchen sink” approach by simplifying long or complex tasks
Structure
How to prevent users from getting lost in your app
Ways to utilize people’s inherent ability to perceive structure
Consistency
The different kinds of consistency you should consider
Why being consistent doesn’t mean being boring
Tolerance
How to avoid making your users feel dumb (and blaming you!)
Why putting users in control makes them feel smart (and call you a genius!)
Accessibility
How designing with inclusivity in mind helps create a better user experience overall
Since taking the course, I look at every FM layout, document, and webpage more critically. I’m also looking very carefully at how I start projects. Instead of diving in, taking the time to analyze the purpose and user in order to make it more welcoming to read and use. This is just scratching the surface! Every week gave me lots of food for thought!
—BARBARA DALY, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
Through Alexis’ course, our team of developers have learned how to put the User Story front and center in planning and developing features. She also taught us the best techniques to solve difficult User Interface issues in ways that we had never thought about before. Her course gives developers the tools and the right perspectiveto solve problems in the best possible way to give the best possible experience and outcome to the end user.
—JUSTIN HESSER, KYO LOGIC
This course has given me the confidence to take on certain challenging new projectsthat I might have shied away from in the past. Now that I’ve learned a structured design process, I finally feel comfortable taking on more complex UI/UX work, because I know exactly what to do and in what order.
—ROBERT NAUD, ACCOLADE PLUS ACCOLADE
Join Today and Get...
The Complete UX Design Workshop Core Curriculum Video Training Program
8 weeks of easy-to-follow, step-by-step videos
You also get all these amazing resources...
Weekly Worksheets
Throughout the course, you’ll apply the week’s lesson to your sample project. Each weekly assignment challenges you to put that week’s lesson into practice and grow your UI/UX design skills.
Recommended Resources
Each lesson comes with a set of recommended books, links, and/or articles that provide you with additional helpful information, so you can deepen your understanding as you progress through the course, and beyond.
User Persona TemplateS
The key to creating modern apps that wow your clients is thoroughly understanding your users! But you can quickly get overwhelmed with all the information you collect about them.
The user persona template makes it easy for you to gather all your important user research into one place that’s easy to keep track of and refer to throughout your project.
USER FLOWCHART TEMPLATES
The heart of Workflow-Based Design is creating effective user workflows. But how exactly do you do that?
Our exclusive user flowchart template shows you which steps to document in a workflow (and which ones you can safely ignore).
Available as LucidChart or OmniGraffle templates, or use a diagramming app of your choice!
Workflow diagram Tips
It can be hard to strike the right balance of simplicity and detail when creating a workflow diagram.
Too much detail can make your diagram overly complicated, while too little detail can leave important gaps that could trip you up later.
This downloadable PDF is full of handy tips to help your user workflows rock!
Acceptance Criteria Reference Guide
Writing acceptance criteria is essential for ensuring success in your app design project. But if you’ve never written them before, there are some common missteps you might want to avoid.
So I created this downloadable PDF guide chock-full of the important things to remember when writing acceptance criteria. It also includes some sample acceptance criteria, as well as some examples of what not to do.
Live Wireframing DemoS
You’re going to love this bonus...Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to do design with a client?
In this series of videos, you can look over my shoulder while I design a wireframe live in Balsamiq, sit in on my feedback sessions with a real user in real time, AND watch while I adjust my wireframe based on their feedback.
Some students have said this is their favourite part of the course!
The Confident Theme
You also get a free copy of The Confident Theme—a fully functional, completely unlocked FileMaker theme file designed by me.
So you can take a peek under the hood and see what a finished product looks like.
Exclusive Students-Only Community
You also have access to the student community, and you can always post there to get personalized feedback from me on your homework assignments, as well as ask any questions you might have.
Most of my studying for UI/UX designing was just through online resources and YouTube, but there’s no step-by-step process with feedback for my work. I loved how I could design something and get feedback from Alexis right away and correct any mistakes, instead of just reading lectures. This course was a great start to my career in UI/UX design, and gave me the courage to start a portfolio of my work. Thank you Alexis!
—SHOBBIA RANGANATHAN, DIRECT IMPACT SOLUTIONS
Frequently asked questions
When does the course start and end?”
You can start right now!
New videos are released each week for 8 weeks.
This is to give you time and opportunity to work on the assignments and really practice before you start a new topic.
For the course + live sessions schedule, check to see if enrollment is open.
What’s the weekly time commitment for this course?”
It depends... on your goals, level of commitment, and how much time you have available.
Each week consists of video lectures and homework. So, it’s a commitment of about 3-4 hours per week at minimum.
If you purchased the live class option, you can add at least an hour on to that. But the more time you spend practicing your newfound UX skills, the faster you’ll progress!
How does the course work?”
As soon as you enroll, you’ll be automatically added to the course. You’ll receive an email with instructions on how to access the course.
Once you log in, you can watch the introductory video. The next day, your Week 1 video will be released. After that, a new series of lessons is released every seven days. There is homework at the end each lesson, which I encourage you to complete, as it will give you an opportunity to practice the skills.
If you also purchased the live class option (subject to availability), then you’ll also be invited to a series of weekly Zoom meetings.
Will I be able to get feedback on my work?”
If you purchased the course + live sessions, then you’ll be invited to weekly meetings where you can get personalized feedback. The class size is limited in the live class, so you’ll definitely have your questions covered in those sessions.
If you’re going through the course on your own (totally doable!), you can still get feedback on your work. Just post your homework or questions in the course community, and receive feedback and support from me and your fellow students.
What happens if I can’t make it to one of the live sessions?”
This applies to the course + live sessions option only.
All the live sessions are recorded, so if you miss one, you’ll be able to watch the recording and see the feedback that happened during that session.
You can also submit your homework to me via email and I can review it and offer feedback by return email if you know you won’t be able to make one of the live sessions.
Is there a money-back guarantee?”
Yes! If the course is truly is not for you, please send me your first two completed assignments within 14 days of the start of the course, and we will issue you a full refund.
Do I need experience with FileMaker before taking the course?”
Yes, you should have at least some initial experience with database theory and FileMaker development. At a minimum, you should be familiar with creating tables, relationships, and calculations, and with how to use the layout tools.
However, you don’t need to have any advanced FileMaker knowledge to benefit from this course.
Will the course help me create a [specific] app?”
No, but also yes...
Throughout the course, you work on a sample project (you have a choice of three different ones).
These sample projects are chosen specifically because they’re big enough for you to practice the concepts, but not so large that you get overwhelmed and confused. This is particularly important when you’re participating in the live sessions.
That said, once you learn the concepts, you can (and should!) apply the principles to any app of your choice.
Inside, you can watch the introductory Week 0 video, where I explain what Workflow-Based Design is and why you might want to learn more about it. You can download the course syllabus, and you can see the complete course structure and individual lesson topics.
How long do I have access to the course?”
You have lifetime access to the course. As long as the course exists, you’ll have full access to it.
Furthermore, if you purchase the course + live sessions, you can take the live sessions again as many times as you like. Many students have gone through the sessions a couple of times.
You’ll also be able to access any future updates that are made to the course.
English is not my first language. Will I be able to follow the course?”
The course videos are in English. However, subtitles (and homework assignments) are available in English, French, and Italian.
I’m fluent in those languages and can readily answer questions you may have. The videos themselves are very visual and reasonably easy to follow.
That said, this is honestly only something you can answer, depending on your comfort level. I suggest you sign up for the Free Preview and see if you think it will work for you.
I highly recommend this course as an outstanding learning opportunity. Alexis’ extensive knowledge and enthusiasm for FM design, combined with a thorough curriculum and hands-on experience, made for a truly transformative experience.
She was able to simplify complicated concepts, encourage a collaborative learning environment, and offer personalized guidance, making the course enjoyable and valuable.
The course covered everything from design principles to practical case studies, providing me with the necessary skills and confidence to excel in FM design
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