An interactive companion to UX · UI · Human–Computer Interaction

Every core concept from the course — but you can touch it.

Click, drag, score, simulate. Built around Jesse Garrett's five planes, Nielsen's heuristics, Fitts's Law, Gestalt principles, accessibility, research methods, and emerging trends.

30 sessions·15 interactive modules·0 passive slides

01 The Five Planes of User Experience

Jesse Garrett's model — abstract at the bottom, concrete at the top. Click a plane to expand. Drag the slider to peel through.

SurfaceSensory · Visual design
SkeletonLayout · Wireframes
StructureIA · Interaction design
ScopeRequirements · Features
StrategyWhy? · Objectives & user needs

02 A Brief History of HCI

Scroll the timeline. Click a marker to read more.

03 Persona Builder

Personas turn vague "users" into concrete people you can design *for*. Fill the form — generate a card.

M

Maya Reyes 28

Junior product manager

"If I have to read the manual, the design failed."

Mobile-first

Run usability tests without IT involvement

Tools that hide pricing behind a sales call

04 Scope Plane — Prioritise Requirements

Drag each requirement into Must / Should / Could / Won't (MoSCoW). The scope is whatever you commit to.

Backlog

Email + password login
Dark mode
Onboarding tutorial
Multi-language support
Push notifications
Offline mode
Social-graph friend finder
VR companion app
CSV export
SSO with Google
Animated splash screen
Accessible color contrast (WCAG AA)

Must have

Should have

Could have

Won't (this release)

💡 If everything is "Must", nothing is. Garrett: scope creep is the silent killer of UX.

05 Structure Plane — Card Sorting (IA)

Drag the items into categories that make sense to *you*. Then compare with how real users would group them — that's how information architecture is born.

Shopping cart
Order history
Return an item
Track shipment
Saved addresses
Payment methods
Wishlist
Two-factor auth
Privacy settings
Gift cards
Newsletter
Contact support

Orders

My Account

Help

+ new group

06 Skeleton Plane — Wireframe Sandbox

Add boxes for header, nav, content, sidebar, footer. Drag and resize. Low-fidelity, on purpose — wireframes are about arrangement, not aesthetics.

07 Surface Plane — Design Tokens Playground

Visual design is a system, not a vibe. Move the sliders → watch the preview update.

Acme

Design tokens make systems coherent.

Change one variable, every component updates. This is what "Surface plane" looks like in modern frontend.

Card

Reusable surface. Inherits radius, color, spacing.

08 Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics

Pick an app you use daily. Score each heuristic 1–5. Get an instant audit.

Score: / 50

09 Fitts's Law — Try It

MT = a + b · log₂(D/W + 1) — the time to hit a target grows with distance and shrinks with target size. Click each blue dot as fast as you can.

Hits: 0 / 10

Avg time: ms

Predicted (Fitts): ms

10 Gestalt Principles — See It

The brain groups visual elements before you consciously notice. Designers exploit this constantly.

11 Pick the Right Research Method

Based on the Nielsen Norman Group framework. Hover the quadrant to read more.

Attitudinal ↕ Behavioral
Qualitative ↔ Quantitative

Click a method to see when to use it, what it gives you, and what it costs.

12 Accessibility Simulator

Toggle the filters. Your design must work for all of these users — that's not extra, that's the baseline.

Reset your password

Enter your email and we'll send you a link. Need help?

Error Warning Success

💡 If you rely on color alone (the dots), users with color blindness lose information. Add labels, icons, or shapes.

WCAG Contrast Checker

Sample text — can you read this?

Contrast ratio:

WCAG: AA · AAA

13 Mobile & Multi-Platform

The same content rendered at three breakpoints. Watch how layout (not content) adapts.

Mobile · 375px
Tablet · 768px
Desktop · 1280px

💡 Mobile-first isn't about phones — it's about forcing yourself to cut to the essential before you have room to bloat.

14 Future Trends & Ethics

Click each card. What's the upside? What's the dark pattern lurking?

15 Quiz Yourself

Ten questions across the whole syllabus. No login, no tracking, just feedback.