Attending UX/UI Training in Brussels for EMA

This May, I was lucky enough to attend a UX/UI training in Brussels. The training was organised by ESN (Erasmus Student Network) and funded by ESAA (Erasmus Student and Alumni Alliance). Most of the participants were from various ESN organisations around Europe and had experience with coding and IT. The purpose of the training was to bring together talented people who could work together to create a framework for a new ESN website. ESN was able to invite participants from the other ESAA organisations. Thus EMA, GaragErasmus, and OCEANS attended the training.

My first stop in Brussels was the most touristy thing you can do: eat a Belgian waffle on the Grand Place!

The training was run by two UX/UI designers and creators, Jan Hruby and Emmanouil F. Ioannidis, and took place over two full days at the ESN office in Brussels. We were given a complete overview of introductory concepts and important lessons for UX and UI design.

Emmanouil and Jan leading one of our first sessions on Saturday.

In a fully packed weekend, we learned all the basics from font hierarchy to color theory to prototyping. While some of the sessions were more tech-heavy (and I don't have much experience with coding programs), I still enjoyed the more graphic design-related parts.

Me and Srinivasa Bhuvan in Brussels after the trainings

I attended the training with a fellow EMA volunteer, Bhuvan. We both come from two different teams: IT and Communications, and have different background experiences. However, it's probably for the best that we're able to take away different lessons from the trainings and help to teach our fellow EMA volunteers the various aspects that are most relevant to our teams. We will be hosting several training sessions for the EMA community in the coming months, in preparation for designing the a brand new EMA website.

On a side note, Pride was happening in Brussels over the weekend which we got to attend. Happy pride!