My Journey to UX through Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF)

4 min readNov 4, 2020

In 2012, I left a decent paying web-designing job at a Multinational Company and got hired as a graphic designer, where I was asked to design an interface for Smart TV Box. Yes, it was an era when TV was still called an ‘Idiot Box’. The genius web/graphic designer in me smirked and started designing the layouts and buttons and other what not as per requirements of Stakeholders and Back-End Developers. Eventually, after a couple of months work, the easy looking simple layout turned out to be a disaster!! Things were all over the place with no rescue.

As luck would favor, I got to know that one of my friends at the same time was doing her Masters in Interaction Design. Our lousy college conversations led to know how her design for mobile apps was shaping up and she threw some unheard terms which had the word ‘design’ in the end such as ‘User Interface Design’ and ‘User Experience Design. These words sounded like holy-water dose for my layout design concerns for Smart TV Box.

I spent a good amount of time googling and finding places which offered a quick tour of the whole concept (I mean…being a qualified design graduate, a quick tour was good enough for me. At the end it was just a layout, maybe with added glitter!!). Eventually, I did find a 3-day intensive course which was of no help at all. But it did one good thing — gave me even more vocabulary to google further. So I fastened my curious belt again and did exactly the same. Spent a weekend searching and understanding whatever I had grasped in those 3 days and found a few dots on a board, But sadly, no lines connecting to those dots. Until one of my tabs on the browser led to a magical word ‘Interaction Design Foundation’ (IxDF)!

Why did I choose the IxDF instead of a proper Master’s Degree?

In one line, going back to college was an expensive affair. Although it was totally worth the cost, it wasn’t a good option for me at that given point.
IxDF had all the relevant topics well covered, categorized and the courses were easy to follow. To add to that, it offered a self paced learning platform and a community with equal enthusiasts to interact with.

It has been 8 years of association with IxDF. It has helped, not just to advance my career but also given a new design perspective to look at products and services. Now, my design skills, question framing ability and curiosity are helping two important parts of my life, 1) to teach my kid new things, and 2) to help a Multinational brand engage and bring value to customers on their platforms at level which creates revenue.

IxDF comes with a yearly membership for Students as well as Professionals. With just ₹700/month one can take up as many course as they like. They have around 30+ online self paced courses and the certificates on completion of course is recognized by many companies.

IxDF has a huge collection of Literature. The great part about it that it is open-source and access for all. Every month they have an online masterclass. Being a member of IxDF you get to attend by just paying $3 instead of $30. These Masterclasses are very insightful and are presented by Industry experts. One can ask questions and get their doubts clear about the topic.

Stay connected with Industry through IxDF’s community. They have local & global communities. There are discussion forums on different categories, which are my first go to place for any doubts or when certain ideas are not clear to me. Also to keep one motivated and engaged, there are distinction badges given.

I have finished 6 courses successfully (couple of them being top 10% — Best in Class) and I am currently undergoing a few more on the IxDF website.