Category: User Experience Design Courses

Based on a foundation of web technologies, this class teaches students the concepts and use of programming languages to complement and extend their capabilities as designers. Students learn how to think like a computer and to structure code (functions and algorithms, not markup) to perform data manipulation tasks, to enable user interaction that incorporates devices and services, and to gain facility across multiple programming languages. As a result, students will better understand the strengths and limitations of digital systems and, therefore, how programming may enhance (or limit) their user experience design goals. With this foundation, students will gain a solid stepping stone towards entering the realms of mobile and web applications development, physical computing, and the exciting world of the Internet of Things, or the Internet of Everything.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

, In preparation for the impending era of Extended Reality (XR), the exciting realm of emerging technologies, and rising artificial intelligence, user experience designers must fully understand the contemporary technology landscape and environment and face the challenges in the UX design field further development. In this immersive studio environment, students are involved in a dynamic triad of activities: prototyping, coding, and design. By engaging in these modes of creative endeavor, they acquire the skills to envision and resolve profound design challenges. The synthesis of these activities empowers them to harness the potential of mixed reality (XR) and related emerging technologies, shaping the future of user experience design. Students gain tech skills while seeing beyond today’s technology to formulate and solve essential design problems and understand the creative processes and practical challenges of making a better world through design.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IXD 601

This course introduces the fundamental concepts, methods, and practices of UI design, emphasizing the crucial interconnection between User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design. The course covers the step-by-step process of creating a user interface, including ideation, prototyping, iteration, and implementation. It will familiarize its students with technical aspects, design tools, methodologies, and techniques commonly used in the industry. Students delve into the UI development process through a blend of individual exploration and collaborative teamwork. They gain hands-on experience and refine their abilities to express and communicate their ideas through narrative media and deliver visual mockups and prototypes. The User Interface Design course adopts an in-studio format that cultivates an environment supportive of group discussions, constructive critiques, and compelling presentations. This structure ensures that students understand the complexities within UX and UI Design and prepares them to thrive in this dynamic and constantly evolving field.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

Students learn the principles of UX (user experience) design, enabling them to conduct comprehensive research, analyze user behavior, and apply their findings to create user-centric designs in various digital contexts. Students learn how to map user journeys and prototype meaningful scenarios informed by research and iterative modeling and testing. Students utilize and apply user-centered research and co-design methods. They learn various research methods, such as user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and data analysis. They also explore techniques for collecting and interpreting user data. Furthermore, the course will cover prototyping techniques to translate research findings into tangible designs, allowing students to work on projects where they can apply their acquired skills in real-world scenarios. By the end of this course, students will have a solid grasp of UX research principles, be able to conduct research independently, and make design decisions based on user insights.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

Designing excellent user experiences requires an understanding of the human factors that underlie a user’s comprehension of the world. This course looks at the science that formulates the way humans make sense of the world around them and how to leverage that innate human experience to design successful human-compute experiences. Particularly relevant to designers working on human-centered interactions with new technologies, this course helps students to craft experiences compatible with the strengths and weaknesses of the human’s embodied mind. Students will learn how to leverage human perception, ergonomics, and information systems to generate intuitive interactions with new technologies.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

This class explores the benefits of working with sound to enhance interactions and/or various interfaces. Students explore ways of creating new sounds, study techniques for sound design as it applies to UI and Interaction Design, and generates a final project that will exemplify the techniques studied and learned in class.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

As humankind shifts from the era of the Personal Computer (PC) to that of machine learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming ubiquitous, radically changing the relationship between humans and computing. This course explores the symbiotic relationship between User Experience (UX) design and artificial intelligence (AI), enhancing students’ understanding the core AI methodologies and their relevance in shaping user experiences and their diverse applications in contemporary UX design practices. Students learn about fundamental AI methods and examine how they intersect with and enhance the user-centered design process. Through practical exercises and projects, students learn various machine learning approaches and their application to create next-generation human-AI interfaces to unlock new human capabilities. Furthermore, they will explore practical examples of AI applications in multiple UX design disciplines, such as UI design, gaming, simulations, and robotics, and understand their impact on user engagement and interaction.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IXD 621

The Special Project course is offered on an occasional basis, with course content specific to the area being explored.

FALL 2023

SOUND DESIGN FOR INTERACTION

This class explores the benefits of working with sound to enhance interactions and/or various interfaces. We will explore ways of creating new sounds, study techniques for sound design as it applies to UI and Interaction Design and generate a final project that will exemplify the techniques we study and learn in class. Open to Undergraduate students with permission.

WINTER 2024

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

The course will cover the principles and practices of how to construct a digital story, including writing and editing for digital media, gathering and editing images, audio and video for online use. Students will experiment with storytelling in a variety of forms including multimedia, transmedia, locative media, hypertext and video games.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

The Graduate Studio I, II, III, and IV courses are designed to address projects of increasing complexity and progressively strengthen your problem-solving skills in UX Design. Students will solve a design problem rooted in a creative industries-related context, requiring substantive research and concept development phases, refinement, and execution phases. Research methodologies, design approaches, and techniques students learned in the UX-centered courses will be applied to develop and evaluate their solutions. These courses are structured to simulate the professional studio environment with formally scheduled milestones and defined deliverables and will be reviewed by faculty and industry professionals through formal presentations.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IXD 601, IXD 602

The Graduate Studio I, II, III, and IV courses are designed to address projects of increasing complexity and progressively strengthen your problem-solving skills in UX Design. Students solve a design problem rooted in a creative industries-related context, requiring substantive research and concept development phases, refinement, and execution phases. Research methodologies, design approaches, and techniques students learned in the UX-centered courses will be applied to develop and evaluate their solutions. These courses are structured to simulate the professional studio environment with formally scheduled milestones and defined deliverables and will be reviewed by faculty and industry professionals through formal presentations.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IXD 701