By Seetha Talluru and Published in IterateUX
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”-Walt Disney
The value of design challenges in crafting exceptional products and services that align with real-world user expectations cannot be overstated. These design challenges encompass a broad spectrum, such as graphic design, architecture, construction, product design, and so on.
Within the realm of UX Design, it’s essential to understand what design challenges entail. According to UXfolio, a UX Design challenge represents a task that forces designers to formulate solutions to problems or scenarios. As part of its offerings, IterateUX extends a helping hand to newbies, juniors, and mid-level UX Designers by presenting such design challenges. These activities are valuable as they impart innovative techniques in designing solutions that address the specific needs of users, ultimately enhancing the user experience.
As individuals complete their UX Design education through boot camps and course certificates or within university degree programs, they often encounter challenges when launching a career in UX Design. These challenges primarily stem from a need for more sufficient experience handling real-world UX Design projects within a team setting.
IterateUX aims to bridge the gap between a UX Design education and a dream career in this field by offering engaging design challenges. Apart from being an invaluable opportunity, there are compelling advantages to IterateUX’s design challenges.
Benefits of the IterateUX Challenges
IterateUX Design Challenges offers a range of intriguing benefits with a primary focus on career development and educational enrichment.
In terms of career preparation, candidates reaching the final stages of UX Design job interviews have the opportunity to showcase their skills through a design challenge. This may be in the form of a take-home assignment or an on-site task. This experience can be a wonderful asset for job seekers in the field.
In education, IterateUX Design Challenges align with the requirements of various learning programs– be it boot camps or university courses– where students often undertake a UX Design challenge as a final project. These challenges help participants gain a wealth of valuable insights and skills.
Here are the other benefits of IterateUX Design challenges:
Building a Stronger Portfolio
- A design challenge provides a stronger case study in a portfolio
- It demonstrates the participants’ ability to identify a problem, research and develop an effective solution
Collaborative Team Environment
- It improves the way your team works together and solves problems
- This leads to more efficient processes to improve communication and increase success
Receiving Guidance
- IterateUX offers various workshops and resources.
- Each team receives mentorship feedback
Additionally, in the UX Design and UX Research challenges, the team that provides a strong presentation and project will receive a prize. The top 2 teams receive prizes such as IterateUX merch, UX Design books, and amazing discounts. The winning teams will be announced across Discord and social media, which will encourage more users to join the IterateUX design challenges
Participating in the IterateUX Design Challenges
Individuals looking to participate in the design challenges should join the IterateUX Discord server. There will be initial conversations started by the IterateUX creative team (creators and organizers of team design challenges) on Discord before the challenges. These conversations would involve a series of announcements on Discord such as:
Date of the upcoming team design challenges
· Registration form for participants
· Series of Events on the design challenges workshops
IterateUX currently hosts the following types of challenges
· UI Design Challenges
· UX Research Challenges
· UX Design Challenges
· UX Writing Challenges
· Logo Design Challenges
The two major team collaboration design challenges are the UX Design challenges and UX Research challenges. Each year, there are three to four design challenges. The individual design challenge can vary each year.
There are a few team challenges during the year. Upon the commencement of a challenge:
· Participants will be organized into teams and receive a design brief
· If company projects are involved, three teams will be assigned to a company to do the project
· Each team will be assigned a mentor
· Teams will collaboratively work on the design brief
· Engaging in the challenges mandates attendance at a series of design workshops, each dedicated to distinct phases of the design process.
Presentation and Critique Day
IterateUX hosts a Presentation & Critique Day to provide teams with an opportunity to showcase their projects. During these events, teams have the chance to present the project that they’ve diligently worked on. The presentation of the project involves:
- The narration of the journey from the problem statement to the solution.
- Participants enhance their communication and presentation skills.
- Participants receive valuable feedback from their mentors.
Here are some IterateUX Design Challenges presentation videos:
UX Design Challenges Day 1 Presentation & Critique:
UX Research Challenges Workshop Day 1 Presentation:
In Conclusion
In essence, the fundamental goal of design challenges is to deliver innovative solutions that resolve user-centric issues effectively. IterateUX ensures the regular occurrence of these team challenges, held twice a year. For those engaging in IterateUX Design Challenges, the experience holds the potential to significantly bolster their career trajectories while simultaneously fostering growth in UX Design education.
Enjoy this article! Please join the IterateUX Discord server and the weekly events to learn more about becoming a successful UX Designer or landing your dream UX Design career. You can also subscribe to IterateUX Medium and IterateUX YouTube channel.
