Research Project
How can we better prepare students for UX careers?
The User Experience (UX) profession is consistently one of the fastest growing occupations worldwide, creating opportunities across nearly every sector for individuals skilled in the application of HCI principles and methods. However, rapid technological advancements are constantly changing how interactive products are designed, evaluated, and implemented, which challenges educators to keep pace. Therefore, we are examining ways to strengthen HCI/UX curricula to meet this emerging challenge, which includes identifying new skills and knowledge areas to include in HCI coursework, finding ways to integrate real world projects into the classroom, and developing a community of practice for HCI educators to share best practices in curriculum design and HCI pedagogy.
Related Publications
Preparing Future UX Professionals: Human Skills, Technical Skills, and Dispositions
Full Paper
Rose, E. J., Putnam, C., & MacDonald, C. M. (2020).
The field of user experience (UX) is growing and rapidly evolving. As instructors who teach in and help design UX programs for students in higher education, we are interested in developing compelling and relevant educational experiences for our students who aim to work as UX professionals. To gain a better understanding of the current expectations for working in the UX industry, we conducted 64 interviews with 71 senior UX industry professionals to learn about their current practices and their expectations of what skills new employees need to be successful working in UX. In this paper, we present a subset of findings from the study that focus on desired skills (both human and technical) and dispositions of UX employees. We discuss the implications of this research for teachers and students and a call for future work.
Assessing the implementation of authentic, client‐facing student projects in user experience (UX) education: Insights from multiple stakeholders
Full Paper
MacDonald, C. M. & Rozaklis, L. (2017).
User experience (UX) is often cited as one of the fastest growing occupations, creating opportunities across nearly every sector for individuals skilled in the application of user‐centered design principles and methods. Many information and library schools have responded to this demand by introducing more UX coursework into their curriculum, but the proliferation of agile software development and lean product design has incentivized organizations to look for experienced individuals for UX roles, even those that are considered entry‐level. As a result, aspiring information professionals face a paradoxical situation in which they are required to have UX experience before they can gain UX experience. This article provides an assessment of one institution’s efforts to overcome this experience gap by offering opportunities for students to participate in three types of authentic client‐facing UX projects. Through surveys of students and clients served over four academic years, we provide a set of lessons learned and recommended best practices for incorporating project‐based learning opportunities into UX courses.