Everything I’ve learned… for free.
Meet designtrack. Think of it as an art school education without the art school price tag.
As an academic, leading interaction design provision at Belfast School of Art, one of my roles — over and above studio teaching — is signposting students to information that I think they’ll find useful.
To date, this content — which I’m sure would benefit others — has been effectively paywalled within my university’s virtual learning environment. This year, I’m trying something different: I plan on publishing most of this content to Medium, via a new publication called designtrack.
My aim is to cover content that’s primarily focused around the intersection of design, technology and business, with an emphasis on UX, UI and Interaction Design. I’ll also be including a few life lessons, for good measure. Effectively I’ll be sharing everything I teach my students.
Think of it as an art school education without the art school price tag.
I’m now a half-time lecturer, occupying the rest of my time working on UX +/ UI consulting, mentoring startups and creating learning materials (for Adobe, Smashing Magazine and others), so my advice is drawn from real world experience.
A small, but important, note: The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect my various employers (and some of the opinions I’ll be sharing — particularly about the business of education — will definitely not reflect my employers’.)
With that disclaimer out of the way, I’m looking forward to sharing thought-provoking advice and lessons I’ve learned (often the hard way) beyond the ivory tower of academia.
I hope you find what I publish useful. If you have ideas for articles — anything that would help you address challenges you’re facing — please do drop me a line via Twitter and I’ll do my best to help you. Use the hashtag: #designtrack.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate that your most valuable resource is time and I’m grateful that — if you’ve made it this far (which many won’t) — you’ve given me some of your time.
If this content sounds like your cup of tea, you might like to follow the designtrack publication for updates. Alternatively, or for a double dose of inspiration, you can follow me on Twitter.
Thanks! —Christopher
Christopher Murphy is a designer, writer and speaker based in Belfast. He’s also an educator, but he’s still on his own learning journey. His latest ‘course in a book’ — Building Beautiful UIs— is available online and, thanks to Adobe’s generous support, it’s 100% free.
When he’s not teaching at Belfast School of Art, Christopher works with businesses, large and small, to help drive innovation, drawing on his 25+ years of experience working with clients including: Adobe, EA and the BBC.
