Hierarchy.
What the eye sees first. How to engineer visual priority so the right thing always gets noticed.
The eye is not random
Every time someone looks at a screen, their eye follows a path. That path is not accidental — it's engineered. Or it should be. Hierarchy is the design discipline of deciding what gets seen first, second, and third. Size, weight, contrast, spacing, position — all of these are levers. Pull the wrong one and the user's attention lands in the wrong place.
Visual hierarchy is the argument your design makes before anyone reads a word.
How to build hierarchy intentionally
Most hierarchy problems come from treating all elements as equally important. They're not. Start by listing every element on the screen. Then rank them: what is the single most important thing? What is the least important? Build your type scale, your spacing, and your contrast to reflect that ranking. If everything is loud, nothing is.
The full course covers Simplicity, Consistency, Symmetry, User Control, Contrast, Authenticity, Detail, and Innovation — each with the same frameworks from the teams at Apple, Cash App, and Google.