User-Centered Design Online Curriculum

The field of user experience (UX) encompasses a wide range of processes and methods for designing interfaces and products that are usable, useful, and desirable. Over the last decade, user experience has become a key driving force in successful product development. This course introduces students to user-centered design (UCD) and its associated methodologies, including user research, interaction design, and usability testing. Students will become conversant in a range of UCD approaches while gaining practical experience creating portfolio-ready deliverables. Although the course will focus primarily on screen UI design, the research and design principles mastered apply equally to emerging design challenges such as voice, service design, and Internet of Things (IoT).

This course will examine the psychological and social aspects that impact human interface interaction in both physical and virtual environments. Topics will include Signal Detection Theory, Gestalt Theory, Cognitive Load Theory, and various motivational theories, as well as the cultural and social implications of design.

Information Architecture (IA) is defined as “the art and science of organizing and labeling shared information environments (websites, intranets, online communities and software) to support usability and findability.” (source: iainsitute.org). This course balances theoretical grounding of IA with practical design work. We will cover principles of IA as a professional practice and how to design effective, research-supported, user-centered information systems. Students will understand and apply information organization concepts; design and apply appropriate assessment techniques for particular information environments; and develop strategies to effectively communicate design rationale and advocate for users.

Human-centered design depends on a deep understanding of user goals, needs, and behaviors that only user research can provide. This course will introduce students to key qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including surveys, interviews, and usability testing. A range of research approaches will be covered, including moderated vs. unmoderated; formative, iterative, and summative; as well as lab, field and remote studies. Key statistical and ethical concepts will be explored in the context of applied research challenges.

The goal of this course is to build practical interaction design and problem-solving skills. Students will be exposed to a toolkit of methods for every stage of the design process, from brainstorming and sketching through prototyping at various levels of fidelity. Throughout the course, students will practice divergent and convergent thinking necessary to solve real world design problems within the context of a collaborative and user-centered process.

In this course students will learn the strategies for effective leadership of design teams and processes, particularly from an institutional/business perspective. Operational topics include: building effective teams; project management; cost analysis; and resource allocation. Leadership components include: models and methods of leadership within the contexts of conception, design, implementation; operational leadership for products, processes and systems; and leadership models and theories such as the Four Capabilities Leadership Framework.

This seminar-style course is intended to bring together all of the prior knowledge and skills that the student has obtained. Students will work independently or in small teams to produce a prototype of a product or system. The process will be an iterative, semester-long project in which students (or small teams of students) will identify the purpose of the design; construct a set of wireframe documentation with justification for the design, capturing the up-front intentions behind the user experience; and mockup and/or prototype the UX with subsequent user testing that leads to a final prototype. With the exception of the final prototype, each part of the process will include peer reviews. A final presentation of the product will be the culminating activity, and will receive feedback from a program-curated group of industry experts.

The opportunities to develop innovative user experiences are no longer limited to web and mobile interfaces. This course will introduce students to challenges that extend beyond the digital screen, including design for services, devices, and emerging technologies. The service design portion of the course will focus on techniques for understanding context of use and designing cohesive experiences across multiple touch-points. The UI design portion will introduce tools for designing and testing specialized UIs for embedded systems, Internet of Things (IoT), voice, and immersive environments.

This course provides an extensive examination of the following Web Development Technologies used in developing web applications: HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS3), Responsive Web Design, Modern JavaScript, React JS.

Agile project management techniques are being applied within a growing number of companies of various sizes and industries, from the entrepreneurial to the conservative. This course covers characteristics and delivery frameworks for agile project management. The course also explores how agile methods differ from traditional project management, along with how to recognize projects that may be suitable for agile techniques. Additional topics include the values, roles, deliverables, and practices of Scrum; additional agile and iterative methods; scalability and enterprise-wide considerations.

This course will provide students with the industry skills and techniques required to work effectively on a user experience (UX) or product team in the context of different organizational environments. Students will explore a range of development processes (Agile, Lean, SAFe, and many others), and learn how UX design and user research fit into those processes. Coursework will focus on developing and applying communication and collaboration skills. Topics will include obtaining stakeholder and executive buy-in for UX resources, process change, and the integration of design thinking and design critique activities into product development processes.

The goal of universal design is to build products and interfaces that are usable and accessible to everyone, not just a small subset of normative or ‘average’ users. This course will provide an introduction to universal design for digital and physical accessibility. Students will gain an understanding of the range of physical, cognitive, contextual, and social disabilities that challenge technology users, and how inclusive design benefits everyone. Topics covered include accessibility guidelines, assistive technologies, plain language, and legal and ethical considerations.

Business Intelligence can be described as the process of transforming data into knowledge. This transformation involves the use of processes and applications to extrapolate meaning from a company’s data. This meaning usually ends up on dashboards, so that senior management can monitor assumptions and key performance metrics that are part of long-term planning cycles. As Business Intelligence processes mature, they begin to focus on using data to gain new insights. We call these processes Business Analytics, and this information is the key to Strategic Decision Making. This course provides students the opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of the modern uses of business intelligence processes. Many companies now commonly use analytics to bridge the gap between existing business intelligence processes and current day needs. Students will be able to understand the business goals and objectives driving these needs. The course also explores the importance of various types of information systems and infrastructure as a framework for business decision making.

This course provides a foundation of the history, concepts, purpose and application of both data science and analytics in a business environment. This includes the methods of data collection, preparation, analysis, visualization, management, security, and preservation of large sets of information. Also covered in the course are the primary methods of analytics, including predictive, prescriptive, and descriptive. The course will examine the various uses of analytics and how these methods identify and leverage competitive advantage in the era of ever-growing information requirements. Through Python programming for beginners and real-world public datasets, some business problems will be analyzed in this course. Tools such as Pandas, Jupyter Notebooks, or Spyder are used to identify and understand relationships in data and visualize information. The course will offer opportunities to create expressive data science projects while utilizing case studies, trends, techniques, and best practices in the data science field.

This course presents fundamental principles of statistics in the context of business-related data analysis and decision making, including methods of summarizing and analyzing data, statistical reasoning for learning from observations (experimental or sample), and techniques for dealing with uncertainties in drawing conclusions from collected data. Topics covered include applied probability, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, linear regression, analysis of variance, categorical data analysis, and nonparametric statistics.

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This course presents ethical dilemmas in digital marketing and works through the implications of various actions, such as tricking search engines (typically called ‘black hat’ techniques), posing as customers in social media, making false or exaggerated claims, and using questionable or sneaky channels (e.g. popups and plugins). In this course, we will explore several issues or concepts in depth, first introducing the facets and aspects of the topic, then utilizing that knowledge to develop our principles and values through dialogue and the examination of multiple perspectives.

Conflicts of interest are common in project and program management, business environments, and daily life. This course provides a framework to understand the basis of conflict, to select an appropriate conflict resolution strategy, and to employ tactics that optimize results for both individuals and organizations. Characteristics of negotiation explored include the two fundamental strategies of negotiation; frames of reference; value creation; value claiming; and the impact of both tangible and intangible factors on the negotiation process. With globalization of project management and the implementation of virtual teams, the challenges to successfully resolve conflicts become increasingly complex. Approaches to conflict resolution differ among collocated and virtual teams, and cultural differences, interests, and values influence negotiation strategy and tactics. As each element of the conflict resolution process is explored, the course highlights special considerations for virtual team members. By participating in this course you will come to recognize the pervasiveness and importance of negotiation. You will acquire a new repertoire of negotiating skills. You will develop a systematic and positive approach to negotiating with colleagues, bosses, clients, other stakeholders, and external groups of all kinds–in ways that equip you to deal also with all kinds of conditions and circumstances.

This course provides a foundation of the history, concepts, purpose and application of both data science and analytics in a business environment. This includes the methods of data collection, preparation, analysis, visualization, management, security, and preservation of large sets of information. Also covered in the course are the primary methods of analytics, including predictive, prescriptive, and descriptive. The course will examine the various uses of analytics and how these methods identify and leverage competitive advantage in the era of ever-growing information requirements. Through Python programming for beginners and real-world public datasets, some business problems will be analyzed in this course. Tools such as Pandas, Jupyter Notebooks, or Spyder are used to identify and understand relationships in data and visualize information. The course will offer opportunities to create expressive data science projects while utilizing case studies, trends, techniques, and best practices in the data science field.

This course presents fundamental principles of statistics in the context of business-related data analysis and decision making, including methods of summarizing and analyzing data, statistical reasoning for learning from observations (experimental or sample), and techniques for dealing with uncertainties in drawing conclusions from collected data. Topics covered include applied probability, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, linear regression, analysis of variance, categorical data analysis, and nonparametric statistics.

This course provides an extensive examination of the following Web Development Technologies used in developing web applications: HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS3), Responsive Web Design, Modern JavaScript, React JS.

The goal of information visualization is to communicate information accurately and effectively to users, helping them to analyze and make decisions about data and evidence. The course will cover various data visualization theory and techniques, while providing students with the opportunity to apply them. Students will gain an understanding as to how humans visually perceive and make inferences from data graphics. They will experiment with various data models, graphical conventions, and tools as they design, innovate and evaluate data visualizations.

The goal of universal design is to build products and interfaces that are usable and accessible to everyone, not just a small subset of normative or ‘average’ users. This course will provide an introduction to universal design for digital and physical accessibility. Students will gain an understanding of the range of physical, cognitive, contextual, and social disabilities that challenge technology users, and how inclusive design benefits everyone. Topics covered include accessibility guidelines, assistive technologies, plain language, and legal and ethical considerations.

This course will provide students with the industry skills and techniques required to work effectively on a user experience (UX) or product team in the context of different organizational environments. Students will explore a range of development processes (Agile, Lean, SAFe, and many others), and learn how UX design and user research fit into those processes. Coursework will focus on developing and applying communication and collaboration skills. Topics will include obtaining stakeholder and executive buy-in for UX resources, process change, and the integration of design thinking and design critique activities into product development processes.

The opportunities to develop innovative user experiences are no longer limited to web and mobile interfaces. This course will introduce students to challenges that extend beyond the digital screen, including design for services, devices, and emerging technologies. The service design portion of the course will focus on techniques for understanding context of use and designing cohesive experiences across multiple touch-points. The UI design portion will introduce tools for designing and testing specialized UIs for embedded systems, Internet of Things (IoT), voice, and immersive environments.

The field of user-centered design is continually evolving. New technologies and research into human factors are continually introduced and evolving. This course facilitates the introduction of cutting-edge practices and technologies as they are introduced in the industry.

Prerequisites: Prior or concurrent enrollment in all required UCD courses and permission of the chair.

The Internship course provides students with an opportunity to learn and gain hands-on experience related to their individual career goals and/or field of study. There are many benefits in pursuing an internship, including valuable workplace experience, learning from professionals, meeting new contacts, and testing your “fit” in a field.

UX internships offer students the opportunity to apply the design and research skills they have mastered through UCD coursework. Students are responsible for securing the internship and the support of a site supervisor with a UX background who is willing to commit to actively mentoring them throughout the session. The internship has to have a specific focus on one or more aspects of user experience or an adjacent field (user research, UX design, service design, etc.). Students cannot earn internship credit through their current position/employer. Students must work at least 100 hours at the internship site, and complete a portfolio piece, reflection paper or case study based on their experience.

Students are limited to completing one internship for graduate credit as part of their Master’s degree. Internships must be secured by the student and approved by the chair at least 45 days prior to the start of the session. The internship must include a supervisor to whom you report for your work at the company or organization.