DES 306 · 3 credits
User Experience Design
Planning and execution of UX research, user flows, journeys, and information architecture to design interfaces under stated constraints. Usability evaluation, WCAG-aligned accessibility, and annotated documentation support a case-study narrative.
Prerequisites
Lecture
1
Lab
6
Course Content
- User-centered design foundations
- Empathy as a design tool
- Research strategies and synthesis (personas, journeys)
- Information architecture and content hierarchy for usability
- Wireframes and screen flows
- Interaction patterns
- Usability testing fundamentals and interpretation
- Accessibility in interaction design
- Design systems basics (components, tokens, standards)
- Handoff and collaboration practices
- Historical and contemporary references
- Project documentation and rationale
- Critique
Learning Outcomes
- Plan UX research to define project requirements. (1,2,3,9,11)
- Construct user flows. (2,3,5,6)
- Construct user journey maps. (2,3)
- Plan information architecture. (4)
- Design interfaces according to stated constraints. (4,5,9,11)
- Develop design deliverables through iterative refinement. (5,6,9,12,13)
- Apply WCAG-aligned accessibility standards. (8)
- Evaluate interface usability with heuristics. (5,7,11)
- Evaluate interface usability with documented evidence of testing. (2,5,7)
- Synthesize findings into prioritized next steps. (3,10,12)
- Substantiate decisions with annotated wireframes. (5,12)
- Curate a case-study narrative with process and outcome documentation. (3,10,12)
- Critique peer work using discipline-specific terminology to propose revisions. (13)