Rapidly increase your UX chops whether you're just getting started out with the web, or want to transition to UX, by learning a systematic mobile-first approach to wireframing for all of your responsive web projects.
This is the same exact process I use to strategize and design UX for clients all over the world—from the US to Scotland to Singapore.
Using the power of Adobe Illustrator’s vector editing engine, you can design rapid wireframes super fast. Like, seriously mind-bending fast.
I've used these techniques for b2b enterprise software, ecommerce sites, early stage startups, and more.
And now you can learn my proven step-by-step process for strategizing and designing responsive websites and applications.
AIUX is a powerful resource for any designer, from newbies to veterans. It covers such a wide range of detail in an easy, consumable format. Well done team.
Dude. Your AIUX videos are awesome. You go into tons of detail with tactics and strategy. Wish I had these when I was just getting started!
Whoa, AIUX is looking good! Soooooo much work here! So impressed with all the time you put in here, man—good job! When can I share this out with folks?
Designers, UX folks, Matt has created an incredible course to help you master wireframing and RWD in Adobe Illustrator.
Hey, I’m Matt D. Smith. I'm a proud father of four and the Design Director at Studio Mds, specializing in iOS and responsive web design for clients all over the world.
You may have seen the Float Label Pattern I designed for input fields—that companies like Google, Microsoft, Bank of America, Shopify, and more have adopted as a standard in their products.
Current day family of six. No, we don't always dress like that. Just for the Christmas cards. =)
But back in 2005, as a fresh Graphic Design graduate from the University of Georgia, I knew VERY little about the web.
I did learn a ton about the fundamentals of design– typography, composition, color, etc., but virtually nothing about how to apply those techniques to the web in a practical way.
After a few years of designing anything and everything, I knew I needed to focus on web and digital design, but I still didn’t know much about the medium from a technical perspective.
I began contracting a large global agencies like Razorfish, Engauge, Sapient Nitro, and dozens of others.
And after a few years of learning the ropes, I became the design lead on big projects for The Home Depot, Lowe’s, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, NBC, Yahoo!, Delta, Southwest Airlines, BMW, BlackBerry, Motorola, and way more.
I learned what real UX strategy and planning looked like from a variety of top-notch professionals. And also learned what doesn't work.
The largest common denominator between each project and each company is that everyone’s UX process is different. Some had good processes and others had really bad ones.
I learned first hand for over a decade of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to UX design for the web.
I made a TON of mistakes during my career and would have killed to have a system to save me from learning all of this stuff the long and hard way.
Using my AIUX techniques as the foundation for the majority of my work, I’m really excited to uncover what works best...
My original Float Label design posted to Dribbble
For the first time, I’m going to teach you how to systematically design UX for the responsive web—strategy and tactics, with a big focus on getting fast and furious with Adobe Illustrator.
I have an exact step-by-step process that I use to go from nothing to fully thought out strategic wireframes and user-flows that are extremely valuable for clients starting new projects and refactoring old ones.
I’d put Matt in an elite group of some of the best interface designers in the Southeast. You don’t conceive of the Float Label unless you obsess about the details. All of this gives AIUX instant credibility. If you want to get better at your craft, there’s no question what you should do—sign up right now!
I really enjoyed the course. I’ve wanted to improve my skills in Illustrator and responsive wireframing for a while now, and AIUX has really helped get me there.
AIUX is a great platform to learn Illustrator from any previous skill level. With no prior experience, I've already been able to apply the lessons directly to my work at a non-profit.
Transitioning to the UX world can be overwhelming without knowing where to get started. Maybe this sounds familiar…
Getting really good at responsive design feels impossible when you’re not even sure where to begin.
CSS frameworks and out-of-the-box pre-packaged solutions can only take you so far. And even then, you're only learning how to manipulate those frameworks.
It's much better in the long run to know the core philosophy and thought process behind the strategy and design of a responsive project. A custom approach tailored solution to the exact problem you’re solving—whether for a client or the company you work for.
With so many things constantly changing with the web industry—tools, frameworks, processes, etc… how are you supposed to actually get started let alone make progress?
What if you had the knowledge and skill to easily charge THOUSANDS of dollars for one small project?
Whether you’re brand new to Illustrator or you’ve been using it for years, AIUX will no doubt improve your workflow, the quality of your wireframes, and your overall understanding of UX. I've already successfully adopted this process for two new client projects.
Being new to UX, I've found this course packed with exactly what I was looking for—practical hands-on training based on a real project, designing a complex responsive e-commerce site. Matt walks you through the process with great insight.
Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll... AIUX has none of these, BUT it could be the most comprehensive video series to date. I picked up a ton of tricks and would recommend this to designers of all skill levels. It’s an amazing way to learn from the best in the business.
With so much free content out there, why are you still struggling with UX and responsive web design? What's the disconnect?
Here are some insights from a recent survey I conducted about the primary struggles when it comes to responsive design.
The key challenge is being specific enough without being over specific; Getting developers comfortable with making some of their own interpretative decisions, but making sure I’m still providing enough guidance. Don’t have time to make comps for every single device, orientation, and resolution.- Michel H.
The concept of RWD–scalable contextual solutions that meet the user where they are no matter the size of their screen–makes perfect business sense. My biggest challenge? I don’t know enough of the basics to feel comfortable venturing into a project where I’m being relied upon as the RWD subject matter expert. Put simply: I don’t know what I don’t know. Yet.- Bill B.
I am a user experience researcher working on software for enterprise. The biggest challenge related to responsive web design is figuring out the most effective and efficient way to communicate to the developers what the user's need and the fact that I don't know enough about responsive web design to know if that need or suggestion or design change would compromise the project.- Virginia R.
As UX’er I have to create additional wires/designs for mobile views, but this additional time is often not budgeted or planned for accurately… or at all.- Mike S.
Deciding on the most important content for mobile users. My main application is b2b, so our customers’ needs on mobile are very different than daily web work.- Milo O.
Workflow efficiency: what “default” size to design at first, how many breakpoint sets (of wires and comps) to show to clients, and how to easily make edits to wires and comps that can take effect across all sets.- Ryan S.
Dealing with dynamic data in a responsive environment. For example, creating layouts that work across breakpoints, that don’t break when data outliers are rendered in a template.- Ben J.
Prototyping for responsiveness. Doing so in Sketch is kind of a pain (same for PS). InVision requires screenshots so it's not responsive.- Alex M.
Getting good at responsive web design is about more than just individual tactics. It's much more than reading blog post after blog post, hoping you'll figure things out.
You can learn the basics of any other pre-packaged framework and spin out quick websites that are technically “responsive” or you can design static desktop websites and hand it off to a developer to make it responsive...
Wouldn’t you rather have a system that teaches you fundamentals and the proven step-by-step process from a wholistic point of view?
...BUT are you really going to be effective at your job doing only that in the long run?
Are you really going to be serving the needs of users by glossing over the important nuances of a solid UX strategy?
Tactics are isolated processes designed to solve very specific use cases. They're not inherently wrong, but if you don’t know the WHY behind them, then you could be doing more harm than good.
Arming yourself with a bunch of individual tactics won't get you very far. Grids and frameworks alone won’t cut it for designing intuitive and usable interfaces.
If a client approached you to design a responsive website or application would you know how to…
A small sample of UX client invoices over the last few months. I used my AIUX process for each one.
There’s a lot of free information online that you can dig up on each one of these subjects, BUT it’s overwhelming, time-consuming, and confusing to filter all the signals from the noise.
Performance and Optimization challenges. Cramming a desktop design into a mobile view produces a nightmare project for everyone involved. Mobile-first design alone can reduce tons of complexity for performance and optimization challenges that will inevitably come up during your projects.
Tools, Grids, and Frameworks. With an unlimited amount of possibilities at your fingertips, where should you begin? How should you start? What’s the best software to use, what grid do you design on, should you follow a framework?
Not having a good RWD process can look a lot like this.
An Overwhelming Amount of Screen Sizes and Resolutions. As if mobile, tablet, and desktop weren’t enough, there are new devices added everyday. How are we supposed to design effectively for all of those devices?
Developing an efficient workflow for all of the moving pieces. With so many moving parts and so many overlapping disciplines what IS the most efficient workflow? The lines are so blurred that no one has a clear picture of what to do.
How to efficiently communicate with clients and developers. This is the problem among problems. One of the biggest frustrations for developers is having a designer that doesn’t know anything about how websites are actually built. As a designer you technically CAN design a static picture of a website, but without experience or the knowledge of a systematic design process using the proper constraints, it won't be very effective.
My systematic process took a long time to develop, but it’s become a vital part of my independent career for the last decade.
AIUX teaches the exact step-by-step system I use for mobile-first, responsive UX design.
Developed by over 10 years of experience in the web industry—designing apps and websites for global design agencies, Fortune 500 companies, early-stage startups, and many many more.
Mobile screens designed with the AIUX process.
You’ll have the exact process I use to design client work at the highest caliber.
You’ll learn the strategies, frameworks, tactics, all covered with a full sample project, where I’ll walk you through the step-by-step redesign of a complex ecommerce site.
This coursework is based on my proven process that I've developed and tested for last 10 years—the same process I’ve personally used to design UX for clients all around the globe.
You’ll have access to the full course in a custom-made web app, designed specifically for this video course. The lessons cover my ENTIRE process of starting, strategizing, and designing wireframes for a responsive web project.
In fact, I used this same process to design the responsive UX for the AIUX course app itself. The wireframes I created provided a strong foundation for my Ruby developer, who built the back-end, and for me to code the entire front-end as well as design the UI. But it all started with thoughtful and rapid wireframes.
A responsive product detail screen created with the AIUX process.
If you’re wondering whether it can work for you, yes.
It’s been tested!
Aside from the fact that I've been successfully using this process for years, this course has been tested with over 100 private beta testers, to ensure the highest quality.
On top of all of the testing, I've received phenomal feedback from the first round of customers who chose to enroll in the public launch of the course last year.
Women, men, people from the United States, Germany, Scotland, and more have enrolled and are happy paying customers.
I’ve invested tens of thousands of hours developing these techniques and I built this course so I can share my very best material to help you become a great designer with incredible UX abilities—with a ruthless focus on results and deliverables.
designers from Adobe have tested the course
I’ve been a UX designer for 8 years now—using Illustrator for 20+. And yet AIUX managed to show me features and tricks that I was completely unaware of. It’s making me a better, faster designer.
When you join the course, you'll get access to the supportive AIUX Slack community to help you along your path.
This is a place where you can ask questions about the course work, chat with other members, and get feedback on your own projects.
You'll have direct access to me, Matt, to answer any and all questions that may come up during your course work.
Plus the support of others who've already gone through the course—who are on the same professional path as you.
You'll get full access to a custom responsive app with a beautifully organized set of video coursework, downloads for each lesson, and relevant supporting material.
The user flow designed for AIUX. I designed this course using the same process I teach in the course.
You'll get these lessons in a self-paced, online video course that covers the ENTIRE process of designing mobile-first UX for the responsive web.
All recorded and accessible anywhere, anytime, from any device.
You'll learn the exact strategies, frameworks, tactics, and examples of how to get started on a project, which areas to focus on first, and how to think through and execute a full set of strategic wireframes for a responsive web project.
Responsive screen designs used to build out this course.
And you won't just sort of understand responsive design. Using the concepts taught in AIUX, you'll learn the strategies and tactics to put you on the path to become a highly sought after UX professional.
To create the material in AIUX, I dissected every step of my responsive design workflow—one that draws heavy influence from my many years of mobile app design.
It's interesting when you go from theory to actually designing responsive websites, you discover subtle nuances that weren't obvious in the beginning.
In the course work, I included common problems that you may run into, how to conquer different design techniques, and how to handle becoming more and more efficient with your tools and workflow.
In AIUX, you'll learn the fundamentals of Adobe Illustrator and Responsive Web Design, so even if you're a beginner you can get started on the course immediately. Even seasoned pros have learned valuable techniques from the beginner modules.
Beyond that, you'll quickly learn advanced techniques with both Illustrator and UX strategy, while you're designing an entire set of wireframes from scratch for a responsive web project. You'll learn the strategy behind mobile-first and responsive design decisions as well as the nuts and bolts of advanced Illustrator usage.
It's all rolled into one!
This first module covers the ins and outs of setting up Illustrator for UX design. You'll get familiar and fast with the tool and learn best practices that will set you up for future success.
In this module, we’ll focus on the what and why behind responsive design. By examining the building blocks of the web, HTML and CSS, we can make better informed decisions about our project’s layout. Beyond the code, we’ll look at why it’s important to prioritize our content and why it's critical that we design mobile-first, even with our wireframes.
Here we introduce our fictitious client, who has “come to us for a responsive redesign of their existing ecommerce site.” We’ll walk through the project kickoff, how to evaluate and audit the site’s content, as well as restructuring the site's architecture to create a more effective and usable experience.
In this module, we get all setup and ready to create our responsive wireframes. Context is extremely important when selling and presenting your designs ideas to colleagues and clients, so we’ll make sure our wireframes are very straight forward and understandable. Substance trumps style and clarity trumps cleverness.
Here we’ll get into the designs working with responsive navigation components. We’ll learn how to setup a navigation and footer design across multiple device widths, using our sitemap as a guiding light.
In this module we’ll look at the why and how of responsive screen design. Starting with a mobile-first approach, we’ll uncover the exact steps for prioritizing content across all devices for a number of key screens.
Once we've established our responsive patterns for key screens, we’ll move ahead rapidly designing only for mobile. At this point we’re documenting core functionality for the remaining screens to move as efficiently as possible.
We’ll dig into the designs and interactions behind adding products to a cart, checking out, and all the information that goes into creating a user account. We’ll cover all of the intricacies involved with returns, exchanges, and more.
Here is some of the feedback from people who decided the course was right for them...
AIUX has been a thorough training in responsive web design and Adobe Illustrator as a tool for UX design. Highly recommended!
Even with 2 years of UX design under my belt, AIUX has still taught me lots of new capabilities with Illustrator and Responsive Design. The course provides amazing content, useful insights, and much more that have supercharged my skills and speed.
AIUX teaches you how to work blazingly fast with Illustrator. So much more than tips and tricks—it’s an entire web and mobile design workflow.
The course was designed for people with beginner to intermediate skill level with little to no experience in UX design.
There is a crash course on HTML/CSS and responsive patterns that cover the KEY points about code you need to keep in mind when designing for the responsive web. But you don’t need know how to code to take the course.
User-personas and user testing are NOT covered in the course however, user-flows and anticipating user behavior from a UX perspective is covered thoroughly during the wireframe designs with a HUGE focus on usability.
You’ll learn fundamental AND advanced Illustrator usage and a responsive UX framework all rolled into one.
I use and love Sketch! I've been a regular Sketch user for the past two years. Sketch is an amazing tool and really great for detailed UI work. It was specifically built for that purpose and it does a great job for that.
I've tried and tested nearly every UX and UI design tool from Sketch, to Omnigraffle, to Photoshop, to web-based platforms like Balsamiq and more.
I don't use Sketch for UX design and wireframing for a number of reasons. Sketch's vector editing engine isn't nearly as powerful as Illustrator's. Illustrator's performance is much faster at plowing through a ton of vector objects without bogging down.
Also, it's pretty tough to draw lines in Sketch, especially ones that need to point to buttons and over to screens—the type of drawing that's really useful in UX design.
I've found nothing faster and more powerful than Adobe Illustrator for this specific task.
Illustrator is amazing for designing extremely fast with the layerless design technique—a concept I teach and use all throughout the course.
The short answer is, yes. The longer answer would require a series of conversations and questions about your app's target user, what type of problem you're solving, etc.
Even for the majority of b2b software projects, I'd still highly recommend starting with a mobile-first process to prioritize decisions.
You have enough information to decide. It’s natural to have doubts. If it’s not for you then please, don't join. If you’re ready to level-up and equip yourself for a successful career in UI/UX design then this course will definitely help.
The course videos are very extensive and there are lots of subtle details packed into each lesson. In addition to the wide-spanning video coverage, the AIUX Slack community is there to answer questions and help out.
Matt will personally answer questions as you progress through the course to help you from getting stuck.
There's an old adage about a CFO talking to a CEO that goes something like this...
CFO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?”
CEO: “What happens if we don't and they stay?”
If your company is in the business of UX design and creating responsive web apps, the cost of you NOT knowing this stuff will faaaaarrrr exceed the cost of the course.
Even having a more senior employee teach similar techniques will be far more expensive to a business owner trying to make payroll. Get the company card and let's get started.
You need his or her blessing. Talk about it and discuss if this is the path you want to take. If it is, then let's get started. Remember, there's a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can get started risk-free!
I can’t promise you specific results from this course in a specific timeframe. Nobody can. And you shouldn’t trust anyone who does. We all begin at different levels of sophistication, experience, and skill.
We all have different opportunities and life situations. This is why you'll get lifetime access and ongoing support. If you're intentional about learning these skills and applying them in your career, you will see results.
This is the only course that has been tested by product designers from Google, Adobe, BMW, InVision, Focus Lab, and more with a process that's taken over 10+ years to develop.
It is the only responsive UX design course that covers the entire process from begining to end of a real project. Aside from the extensive video lessons, you get the ongoing support of the Slack Community, help directly from Matt—all included and it's yours FOR LIFE.
AIUX contains extremely detailed material on getting super fast with Illustrator, understanding the strategy of mobile-first responsive UX design and HOW to do the hard work of designing for it—all using processes that I've pioneered from a decade of experience. Plus a 100% money-back guarantee.
AIUX is an online-video course, presented in a fully responsive web app. There are modules based on specific topics and multiple lessons that support the theme of the module's topic. You get started by watching the first video lesson in the first module, and so on and so forth.
Each video will give you step-by-step instructions and you should do the same work on your own computer. Following each video closely will ensure that you fully understand the principles of mobile-first responsive UX and super-fast wireframing.
Adobe Illustrator is required to take the course. If you don't own it, you can search for Adobe Illustrator free trial and download a 30-day trial period. 30 days is likely not long enough to complete the course, unless you put in a lot of time, so it's recommended that you purchase the full version via Creative Cloud.
The astronaut, and more specifically the “astronaut helmet,” is used as a symbol to represent future-friendly web design.
Future friendly is the philosophy that content should be the priority, and mobile-first design and development will ensure our sites work well, even on future devices (discovered by astronauts perhaps?). All of these core principles are taught in the course.
“Sometimes I get emotional over fonts.” - Kanye
When I started, I had no idea what I was doing other than moving things around in Photoshop. Once I learned the UX ropes and started applying that knowledge to my projects, people started noticing. I got more work. I got better quality work. The more this happened the better I got at my craft. This course is designed to give you a headstart on what took me years to learn and put into practice myself.
2015 UX Designer Salary Snapshot from glassdoor.com. Between $70,000 - $140,000 per year.
Now when I start projects for any client, I don't have an internal, stomach-knot of fear of not knowing what to do. I have a simple, step-by-step process that I go through.
I can calmly and effectively lead the UX charge on any responsive web design project. This is a skill-set that is high demand.
In fact designers that have a solid UX knowledge are some of the most sought after in the industry and the salaries are proof.
Try AIUX for a full 30-days risk-free.
Because this is the exact method I use for my responsive projects, I know it works. I’ve been running my independent studio for a decade and this system is an integral part of my service offerings for all of my clients.
I offer this guarantee because I only care about developing super high-quality material full of proven strategies, systems, tactics, and more that you can’t find anywhere else.
Take the course and see for yourself. If it doesn’t work, I want you to email me, prove you did the work, and I’ll refund you 100%.
That’s why my consulting business generates over 6-figures each year, why I have a solid reputation in the tech industry, and why I guarantee AIUX.
Try the ENTIRE course. If you don’t love it, just email me at ANY TIME during the course and show me you’re doing the exercises and not getting results. I’ll refund 100% of your price and I'll eat the credit card fees. You can even keep the downloads—all at my expense.
It’s time to make a decision. AIUX is closing soon and won't open again for awhile. When it does, I’ll likely increase the price beyond this introductory offer.
If you’re ready to invest in yourself and jump-start your UX career, don’t wait for some day. Don’t wait for the magic moment when you suddenly have time, or an opportunity falls from the sky.
You have the proof that AIUX works. You’ve seen results from men, women, international students, beginners, experienced designers, and people just like you.
It's not just my word alone. Top-notch industry professionals from Google, Adobe, BMW, Focus Lab, InVision, and more have tested and endorse this course.
AIUX closes soon and I'm not sure when I'll open it again. If you want in, now is the time. I'm excited to see you inside!
If you have any questions or concerns about the course, give me a call or email. I’m happy to help.
(706) 424-2728 | matt@mds.is
Matt, I LOVE AIUX. It's like codeschool for design, sick! I'm excited to get more people on my team to join the course.
I have to call it like it is, this course is pretty freakin' great. It's an amazing resource for UX design and getting faster and more comfortable overall in Illustrator.
As a non-designer, AIUX offers a ton of value. I spend a lot of time managing design projects and this course has taught me a new process to help cast vision for my teams in a way that wasn't really possible before.
AIUX provides knowledge that took years for me to discover. It will definitely bring value to a lot of new designers and veterans in the industry.
Super happy I invested in Matt's AIUX course. Definitely check it out and if it's right for you, join in before it closes!!
My Illustrator and UX skills have way improved using Matt's new responsive UX design course. You definitely need to check it out!
If you have any questions or concerns about the course, give me a call or email. I’m happy to help.
(706) 424-2728 | matt@mds.is