Creative and computing students got an insight into this exciting area of design, which has wide applications in the technology and software sector
WIT students, staff and researchers from the Departments of Computing and Mathematics, and Creative and Performing Arts, convened at Arclabs in Carriganore to explore the field of User Experience Design in a collaborative setting. While students learned about this exciting area of design, which has wide applications in the technology and software sector, staff and researchers devised ways of integrating the industry’s needs into educational offerings at WIT.
During the four-day summer school, (7th-10th June 2016) student participants worked in interdisciplinary teams identifying and analysing user experience design problems. Invited speakers gave introductions to Interface Design, Prototyping and Design Thinking and an insight into industry practice.
“Starting from a very hazy comprehension of the whole UX phenomenon on Tuesday morning, we left Friday afternoon with a solid foundational understanding of the relevant disciplines and limitless possibilities therein. This was achieved through engaging presentations from real-world professionals, and also a peer based UX group project, which put everything we had learned into effect,” explains Paul Roche, Year 3 Student, BA(Hons) Design in Visual Communications.
Participants presented their work and proposed solutions to their peers and experts on Friday 10th June and were joined by past WIT graduates now pursuing PhD programmes in Virtual Reality and User Experience Design.
According to summer school co-ordinator Dr Cordula Hansen, the support of industry professionals has been invaluable in introducing students to UX Design. “To have senior product managers from large companies on board meant that participants were able to get an insight into teamwork methodologies, such as Agile and scrum, and to really see the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. We are now exploring ways in which we can integrate elements of this dynamic new field into our courses and teaching practices.”
“With UX Design being such a new and in demand role in the Software Industry in 2016, it is great to see a South East third level institution taking the initiative in helping to shape and inform the next generation of designers for this new and exciting career. The Summer School was an amazing start in this initiative”, concludes John Costello, Senior Product Manager at Altify, an international software producer with offices in Dublin.
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