Monitoring the Short-Term Outcomes of Community-Engaged, Project-Based User Experience Design Courses

Abstract

This paper evaluates short-term outcomes of community-engaged learning (CEL) initiatives within the field of user experience design (UXD). Qualitative data were gathered through a thematic analysis of 101 summative student reflections and 22 interview transcripts from 19 community partner organizations. Quantitative findings resulted from an analysis of 94 student surveys. Findings offer preliminary support for CEL initiatives in UXD education and reveal that CEL benefits both students and community partners. Students garnered UXD competencies, interpersonal skills, and increased empathy through participation in CEL initiatives. Community partners gained useful deliverables and an increased understanding of the discipline of UXD as part of their CEL engagement. Two primary recommendations are suggested for improving future CEL engagement: (1) designating a coordinator/point of contact to alleviate the management burden by centralizing communications; (2) providing a clear outline of the engagement deliverables and timelines up front. ____ Este documento evalúa los resultados a corto plazo del aprendizaje a través de la participación comunitaria (CEL, por sus siglas en inglés) dentro del campo del diseño de la experiencia del usuario (UXD por sus siglas en inglés). Se recopilaron datos cualitativos a través de un análisis temático de las reflexiones de 101 estudiantes y 22 transcripciones de entrevistas a 19 organizaciones comunitarias asociadas. Los hallazgos cuantitativos se obtuvieron del análisis de encuestas realizadas a 94 estudiantes. Estos resultados ofrecen un apoyo preliminar a las iniciativas de CEL en la educación UXD y revelan que CEL beneficia tanto a los estudiantes como a los integrantes de la comunidad. Los estudiantes adquirieron habilidades UXD, mejoraron sus relaciones interpersonales y demostraron una mayor empatía a través de la participación en iniciativas CEL. Los integrantes de la comunidad obtuvieron muy buenos resultados y una mayor comprensión de la disciplina de UXD como parte de su compromiso con CEL. Se sugieren dos recomendaciones fundamentales para mejorar la participación futura de CEL: (1) designar un coordinador o punto de contacto para aliviar la carga administrativa y centralizar las comunicaciones; (2) proporcionar desde el principio un esquema claro del compromiso para las entregas de los resultados y sus correspondientes plazos.

Experiential Learning to Teach User Experience in Higher Education in Past 20 Years: A Scoping Review

“…and design (e.g., Vorvoreanu et al, 2017;Kabakova et al, 2021;Lallemand, 2021), increased knowledge on accessibility, assistive technologies, and accessible programing techniques (e.g., El-Glaly et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2020) and improved programming skill (Chaffin and Barnes, 2010). Second, students applied textbook knowledge to solve realworld challenges and valued the theory-practice link (n = 10).…”

“…doing so, they realized the messiness of solving real world design challenge and evaluating prototypes. Third, students acquired soft skills (n = 10), including demo management skill (Krusche et al, 2018), time and resource management (MacDonald and Rozaklis, 2017), and storytelling and empathy (Kabakova et al, 2021). Students also valued the importance of good teamwork (Robinson and Hall, 2018) and enhanced interpersonal and communication skill with people with disabilities (Shinohara et al, 2016) and stakeholders (Gray et al, 2019).…”

“…They showed positive attitude toward creating accessible software (El-Glaly et al, 2020) and understood the implications of inaccessibility (Shinohara et al, 2016). Fifth, students reported to become more marketable to employers, developed a professional identity, and feel prepared for their long-term career goals (n = 4) (MacDonald and Rozaklis, 2017;Talone et al, 2017;Kabakova et al, 2021).…”