Instructor: Powell
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
The study of usability and user experience has a long and messy history, dating as far back as users ( humans) have been, well, using stuff. In more recent history, UXD and UX is used as an umbrella term that might include concepts such as participatory design, experience architecture, information architecture, service design, storymapping, or the design of everyday things. But what does it all mean, and why does it matter to our work as professional writers? In this course, students will be introduced to the field of usability as well as user experience. By exploring elements of usability and user experience and the various schools of thought and approaches that accompany them, students will gain a deeper understanding of where usability and user experience might fit into their worlds. Considerations of accessibility, cultural usability, and simply centering the human behind the user will be a critical discussion point for each of these schools of thought. Assignments will include executed user experience and usability studies that culminate in a proposal for a particular client or field of interest. Through the semester, this course will engage in big questions and personal assignments that allow us to explore the complicated and exciting world of user experience and usability, and perhaps find ways to USE these tenets in our everyday and professional lives.
