Introduction to UXD

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• Course Description:

  This course gave me my first glimpse into what UXD (User Experience Design) is.  I learned about a skill set that I have been practicing for the past 25 years and didn't even realize that it had a name.  The concept of UXD is not about 'design', it is about a 'feeling'.  It is about the feeling that you get when you walk into a WAWA vs. the feeling that you get when you walk into a 7 Eleven.  Companies that choose to invest in UXD are companies that understand there are many ways to figure out about 'what' your consumer is feeling, and how they want to feel when they interact with your organization, product, store or website.  The class went from Monday - Friday 9-5pm, which meant that we started work on this project Monday and had our final presentation at the end of the week.  In that time we were tasked with, Interviewing, Brainstorming, Ideating, Developing, Changing, Testing, Presenting this application in just 5 days.

• Project Description:

  The project task was to come up with an application that would help employers connect with students.  Through our interview process with several employers and several students, we learned there were already plenty of applications available for employee and employment searches on both sides.  Our team felt there was no need to recreate 'handshake' or to recreate 'LinkedIn'.  What we did learn was that the employers were desperate to meet students in small groups, they felt although 'career fairs' were important they weren't engaging enough for them to really learn about potential employees for their organizations.  We also found that students were also searching for smaller group arenas where they could get to know potential employers.

  We decided to create an application called, Club Connect.  The purpose was to work with student groups that already existed, and provide an easy way for employers to connect with leadership in those groups so they could appear and sponsor various group meetings.  We also wanted to showcase the various employers to the students that were interested in engaging.  We found it could be a win win for both the employer and for the student and potential employee.