Erik Kennedy

I am an independent UX/UI designer based in 🌧️ Seattle, WA

Design Work

Case Study:

MDCalc

A responsive site for the world’s #1 medical calculator

UX design · UI design · Front-end prototype development
MDCalc redesign screenshot

Open Source Font:

Figtree

A friendly, clean sans-serif typeface used by 50k+ sites

Type design
Figtree type samples screenshot

Coming Soon:

GiveWell

Boosting donations to the world’s most effective charities

UX design · UI design
GiveWell redesign screenshot

Past Clients Include:

My Clients Say:

I can’t get over how fast Erik worked… [I] had no trouble handing him a half-completed design and then showing our product VP the working version in code later that day.”

Gabe Clapper

A++++++ prompt shipping... Delivers designs that exceed expectations before you expect them!”

Joey Havelick

Let's Work Together

Please Note:

I am currently seeking out UX/UI clients primarily in two spaces:

  1. Cutting-edge physical technologies such as quantum computing, private spaceflight, nuclear/fusion/geothermal energy, etc.
  2. Digital products that bring analytical rigor to improving the world – e.g. effective altruism, evidence-based medicine.

If you – or someone you know – needs design work in this space, please reach out.

Teaching Design

Online Course:

Learn UI Design

The complete online course on the visual design of software

53 lessons · 33 hours of video content
Learn UI Design screenshot

1. Introduction

  • Begin Here
  • Introduction to Figma/Sketch
  • Setup for Rapid UI Design
  • How to Build Your Design Gut Instinct
  • Starting a Project: Brand & Goals
  • 3 Ways to Design Above Your Level
  • Finding & Using Design Inspiration

2. Fundamentals

  • Analyzing Aesthetics
  • Alignment
  • Sizing
  • Spacing
  • Lighting & Shadows
  • Grids
  • Consistency

3. Color

  • HSB
  • Luminosity
  • Gray: The Most Important Color
  • Variations: The Most Important Color Skill
  • 3 Techniques to Fix Clashing Colors
  • Picking a Primary UI Color
  • Picking Secondary UI Colors
  • Dark Interfaces
  • Gradients

4. Typography

  • Intro to Typography
  • The Good Fonts Table
  • Choosing Fonts: Overview
  • Choosing Body Fonts
  • Styling Text I: The Basic Rules
  • Brand & Letterform
  • Styling Text II: Interactive Apps
  • Pairing Fonts
  • Styling Text III: Editorial

5. UI Components

  • Component Libraries I: Controls
  • Component Libraries II: States
  • Vector Illustration
  • Icon Design
  • Photography & Imagery
  • Lists & Tables
  • Charts & Data Visualizations

6. Digital Paradigms

  • Responsive UI Design
  • Designing Multi-State Screens
  • Accessibility
  • Overlaying Text on Images
  • Truncating Text
  • Mobile: iOS
  • Mobile: Android/Material Design
  • Grids

7. Communicating Design

  • Creating a Design Portfolio
  • Finding Clients
  • Click-Through Prototyping
  • Presenting Your Designs
  • Developer Handoff

People Are Saying:

Learn UI Design is an incredibly comprehensive course that will set you on a path to becoming a professional UI Designer… deep, practical knowledge straight from an industry professional.”

Jeremiah Shoaf

I’ve been watching Erik Kennedy’s Learn UI Design course to bone up a bit... If you're serious about wanting to get better at design, this is the course for you.”

Chris Coyier

I completed Learn UI Design about 2 months ago, and it’s changed my life. My skills are on a whole different level now. Probably the best-spent $1000 of my life. Thanks a lot!”

Milutin Tomic

I'm a UX designer, but since doing Learn UI Design, my visual design skills have improved so much that teams I've interviewed with thought I was a UI designer who accidentally applied to a UX job! I've seriously learned way more about design from Learn UI Design than I did from [my four-year university]!”

Xingxin Chen

The color videos BLEW MY MIND! This is EXACTLY what I’ve needed to learn for years. I could never name it, but you just showed me. I’ve been paying attention to color for decades, and have NEVER seen this ANYWHERE. Thank you, Erik!”

Kelly Kuran

Since taking Learn UI Design, I not only got a job as a 
UX/UI consultant, but went on to become the lead designer at the same company. All in one year! This course has helped me progress so fast it’s hard to believe.”

Shane Doyle

Online Course:

Learn UX Design

The complete online course on interaction design and usability

31 lessons · 18 hours of video content
Learn UX Design screenshot

1. Introduction

  • Begin Here
  • Why Good UX Doesn’t “Just Happen"
  • Overview of the UX Design Process
  • Intro to Figma/Sketch
  • Setting Up Your Workspace for Rapid Wireframing
  • Building a UX Reference Library

2. Fundamentals of IxD

  • The Best Interaction
  • Show What's Actionable
  • Think Like a User, Not Like a Database
  • Jakob’s Law
  • Obvious Always Wins
  • The 3 Laws of Locality
  • Mind your Nouns
  • What Would a Polite Person Do?

3. Design Patterns

  • Introduction
  • Navigation and Menus
  • Text Input Controls
  • Selection Controls
  • Errors
  • Search & Filter
  • Browsing & Content Recommendation
  • Lists & Tables
  • Responsive Design
  • Accessibility

4. User Research/Testing

  • The Fundamental Dichotomy of Talking to Users
  • User Research: Interviewing
  • Digital Prototyping
  • Usability Testing

5. Communicating Design

  • Creating a UX Portfolio
  • Selling UX to Clients and Teams
  • Presenting Your Designs & Getting Good Feedback

Students Are Saying:

Learn UX Design is 100x more interesting than every other UX course I’ve tried. Everything is explained so well, and with great examples!”

Brianna Deleasa

I worked as a UX designer for an agency for 3 years and took the CareerFoundry UX course about 4-5 years ago. I learned more in your videos than all that experience combined! Thanks Erik!”

Tim Gaertner

I took a university course in HCI, and Learn UX Design is way more useful for real-world design. I'm SUPER satisfied.”

Lorenzo Bersano

This course seriously made me fall in love with UX design… I'm more confident, able to justify my design decisions, listen with an open mind, and design with the empathy for the user... Thank you!”

Moriana Moraes

I really loved the User Research and Usability Testing parts of the course. I’ve read and watched so many other online tutorials – they all just explain the theory. But Learn UX Design’s lessons are practical and useful. Thanks man!”

Mayank Chopra

I took a course with CareerFoundry and it was not all that... Learn UX Design is the best UX course I've ever seen.”

Mario M

Design Writing

My design writing has been read by over 1 million people. A selection is listed below.

For more, check out my blog and my design newsletter.

7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI

7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI

Published at Learn UI Design

The King vs. Pawn Game of UI Design

The King vs. Pawn Game of UI Design

Published at A List Apart

Copy if You Can: Improving Your UI Design Skills With Copywork

Improving Your UI Design Skills With Copywork

Published at Smashing Magazine

4 Rules for Intuitive UX

4 Rules for Intuitive UX

Published at Learn UI Design

Readers Are Saying:

Excellent framework, examples, and illustrations. An MFA in 11 minutes.”

Charles Warren

This is the best article I’ve ever read on the details of user interface design... Incredible stuff.”

Mike Rundle

The guide I wish I had written about pairing fonts.”

Ricardo MagalhĂŁes

Each time I receive an email from you, I'm like 'Damn this is a long email! No way I will read all this', then I began to read and I'm like 'Damn this is so freaking brillant' and read it all.”

Jean-Philippe Cyr

[Your newsletter] is possibly the best newsletter I’ve received since 1999, when I started freelancing.”

Tricia Littlefield

I'm on a lot of lists – too many damn lists – some of them great, some of them OK, but yours is one of the great ones and they'd have to kidnap and threaten my cat to get me to unsub.”

Dan Ostlund