User experience design (UX) is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments with a focus on the quality of the user experience. The document proposes a UX minor and eventually major at Guilford College, leveraging existing courses and adding new experience design courses. It outlines the connection to Guilford's mission, definitions of UX, the job market and career opportunities in UX, examples of other university programs, and a proposed curriculum drawing from Guilford's existing strengths across disciplines.

1. Experience Design @ Guilford
XD Minor Proposal
Guilford Faculty Meeting, April 20, 2016

2. Experience design (XD) is the practice of
designing products, processes, services,
events, omnichannel journeys, and
environments with a focus placed on the
quality of the user experience and
culturally relevant solutions.
AKA User Experience, User Design
An often-cited definition…

3. The Alumni
Michael Kopcsak
Director, UX
MaryLuong
CX Strategist
Wendy Lam
Design Strategist/Innovation
Leader
Guilford Class of ‘08
Integrative Studies
NCSU Class of ’14
MS, Human Factors &
Ergonomics
PhD, Human Factors & Applied
Cognition
Guilford Class of ‘02
Economics/Visual Art
Guilford Class of ‘94
Art/Business Management
NYU Class of ’99
MPS, Interactive Telecom
XD@GUILFORD

4. Source: Nathan Shedroff, “New Methods for Designing Experiences”

5. • Mark Dixon, Art
• Kathryn Shields, Art
• Michael Dutch, Business
• Richard Schilhavy, CTIS
• Kathy Adams, Psychology
• Robin Vest, Theatre Studies
Planning
July 28, 2015 Presentation by alums about the possibility for a UX program at Guilford
2015-16 Faculty Committee researching and developing proposal for the program (UX UXDXD)
March-April 2016 Minor proposal completed: approved by Department Chairs (March 31)
approved by Curriculum Committee (April 8)
approved by Clerk’s Committee (April 13)
considered by Faculty (April 20)
Fall 2016 Begin XD Minor and offer introductory Experience Design course (ART 250)
Proposal for XD Major
Fall 2017 Begin XD Major (still under development)
Add upper level Experience Design course

6. Connection to the Guilford College Mission
To provide a transformative, practical and excellent
liberal arts education for every student that produces
critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment,
emphasizing the creative problem-solving skills,
experience, enthusiasm and international perspectives
necessary to promote positive change in the world.

7. User experience is an emerging field that examines the how humans interact with products
and services. While the field has an emphasis on human computer interface, its essence is
improving the human the experience with products, services and other people. The field
builds on elements of psychology, art, business, and computer technology and has
applications in both the profit and nonprofit sectors. While the specific user experience
design courses within the proposed minor are new, the core of the minor already exists
within the current catalog of courses.
User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with a product,
service or physical presence.
User experience is the emotions, behaviors and attitudes that any given interaction conjure.
Program Description (from the proposal)

8. Further Connections to Guilford’s values and mission
It reframes “design” by emphasizing
• interdisciplinary approaches
• research-driven analysis
• relevant planning for effective applications
• human interactions
• issues of access for underserved communities
• critical processes to arrive at creative solutions
Our program seeks to use technology as a means and
compliment rather than the center of design strategies.

9. Five Academic Principles
The philosophical framework of this program emphasizes Guilford’s values and the
ethical dimension of knowledge based on both designers’ and users’ identity,
experiences, background, access, and needs. It highlights those social and cultural
factors (e.g. race, ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, ability, age) that impact the
interaction between relevant people and services. XD requires skills and tools to
step outside one’s limited perspective to meet specific design challenges.
Innovative, Student-centered learning The Experience Design sequence will be interactive in nature and focus on learning through
discussion and experiential activities.
Engage in creative and critical thinking The nature of the subject, Experience Design, requires students to
gather disparate information to create original work.
Cultural and global perspectives Understanding the cultural perspectives of users is a critical
requirement in the field and will be discussed in the Experience Design sequence.
Values and the ethical dimension of
knowledge
Ethical/unethical workplace behavior, ethical decision making, and
social responsibility issues are discussed in the Experience Design
sequence. The practical considerations of this field lend directly to
design oriented to all users, including diverse communities, Universal Design Learning (UDL), etc.
Focus on Practical application Students will apply their knowledge to realistic problems within theExperience Design classes and in
the elective internship .

11. Source: outoftheinkwell.wordpress.com

12. Works Cited
Ketut Sulistyawati, “Experience Design Mindmap,”April 15, 2011, tyawati
https://tyawati.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/experience-design-mindmap/
Nathan Shedroff, Experience Design 1.1 book (design, writing, and production) (Waite Group
Press, 2009/2001)
http://nathan.com/experience-design-books/
Patrick Newberry, “Experience Design: When Innovation Isn’t Enough,” Wired
http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/03/experience-design-innovation-isnt-enough/
Fredy D. Oré, “Experience Design is Shaping Our Future,” reloade, October 31, 2014.
http://www.reloade.com/blog/2014/10/experience-design-is-shaping-our-future.php
Out of the Inkwell
https://outoftheinkwell.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/living-the-experience-design/

13. The Guilford Opportunity
A UX Program Proposal

14. Introductions
Michael Kopcsak
Director, UX
MaryLuong
CX Strategist
Wendy Lam
Design Strategist/Innovation
Leader
Guilford Class of ‘08
Integrative Studies
NCSU Class of ’14
MS, Human Factors &
Ergonomics
PhD, Human Factors & Applied
Cognition
Guilford Class of ‘02
Economics/Visual Art
Guilford Class of ‘94
Art/Business Management
NYU Class of ’99
MPS, Interactive Telecom
XD@GUILFORD

15. The Question at Hand
• With increasing budgetary pressures and a
crowded competitive landscape, how can a new
degree program make a difference for Guilford
and it’s students?
UX@GUILFORD
What we heard from Jane in San Francisco…

16. Connection to the Guilford College Mission
To provide a transformative, practical and excellent
liberal arts education for every student that produces
critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment,
emphasizing the creative problem-solving skills,
experience, enthusiasm and international perspectives
necessary to promote positive change in the world.

17. “The ideal [UX professional] is this hybrid
person who's both right-brained and left-
brained, high tech and high touch…”
Donna Farrugia, Executive Director, The Creative Group
UX@GUILFORD

18. "User experience"
encompasses all aspects of
the end-user's interaction
with a product, service or
physical presence.
User experience is the
emotions, behaviors and
attitudes that any given
interaction conjure.
Anybody care to comment/explain a
great user experience they’ve had
recently?

19. UX Careers – An ROI in Education
2012 Report
“User Experience Designer”
• Ranked #43 out of 100
• Median Pay: $95,000
• Top Pay: $150,000
• 10 year job growth: 22%
• Total Jobs: 3,426,000
2015 Report
“User Experience Designer”
• Ranked #14 out of 100
• Median Pay: $89,000
• Top Pay: $138,000
• 10 year job growth: 18%
“Best Jobs in America” list

20. Breadth of Opportunities
• A recent search for “user experience”
– Indeed.com
• 20,000 employment opportunities
• Lowest salary $60k with the highest being $140k
– Linkedin.com
• 7581 employment opportunities
– Simplyhired.com
• 343,458 employment opportunities
• Queries specific to the NC market
– The Charlotte area: 128
– The Research Triangle area: 253
– Greensboro: 11
UX@GUILFORD
From 2010-2012,
QConnects, a leading CA
Based Digital Recruitment
Firm saw demand for UX
Designers jump 50%+50%
Job satisfaction 5.4
on a 1-7 scale.
2014 Nielsen Norman survey
1000+ UX designers worldwide

21. Largest Employment
Sectors for UX
• Information Technology
• Finance
• Healthcare
• Education
• Advertising/Marketing
UX@GUILFORD

22. Industry Analysts Views
Leading companies in every country and every industry are making CX a
strategic priority, investing millions to improve how customers perceive their
interactions with the firm.
The State of CX Maturity in 2014, October 1, 2014
UX@GUILFORD
What’s the top imperative at your company? If it’s not a transformation to
make the company customer experience focused, you’re making a mistake.
Technology and economic forces have changed the world so much that an
obsession with winning, serving and retaining customers is the only possible
response.
Become more Customer-Obsessed or Fail, April 6, 2015
Hundreds if not thousands of leading corporations have
created chief customer officer (CCO) positions in recent
years to help them become more customer-centric. Now
US federal government agencies are toying with the idea of
adding CCO positions and four have already taken the
plunge.
The Rise of Federal Chief Customer Officers,
March 6, 2015
Companies with customer-obsessed cultures — think USAA or Southwest
Airlines — differentiate themselves in their industries and earn major financial
benefits as a result. But customer-obsessed cultures don't just happen: To
help transform a culture, customer experience professionals must develop a
training and coaching curriculum that touches all employees.
The Customer Experience Curriculum, January 6, 2015

23. UX@College
Institutions with a UX Curriculum include major
brand names…
UX@GUILFORD
Parsons The New School for Design
Carnegie Mellon University
Art Center College of Design
DePaul University
University of Michigan
Bentley University
University of Washington
Clemson University
Rutgers
University of Texas
Purdue University
Georgia Tech

24. BS: 5 programs in NY, WA, NJ,
CA
BFA: 1 program in NY
MS: 13 programs, only 1 in the
Southeast (Georgia Tech)
National View of
UX Programs

25. The Opportunity for
Guilford College
To become a regional leader
in UX Education
Offer 3 Degree Tracks
• UX Design
• UX Research
• CX Strategy

26. Getting the program off the ground
• To minimize costs and time to market, leverage
existing courses to form the core curriculum for
the UX Degree program
• Tweak/slightly revise existing courses to better fit
with the UX Program
• Leverage Adjunct (read, “inexpensive”) faculty
from industry
UX@GUILFORD

27. Core
curriculum
(sourced from
existing Guilford
courses/offerings)
Psychology, Math,
Csci, Business
Management, Art,
Sociology /
Anthropology
At least 2
internships
A thesis project
(need to be added)
Net New
Courses
(need to be added)
A mix of Greater GSO
consortium sourced
courses, new courses
taught by industry
experts, existing
online courses offered
by others
The Guilford UX Curriculum
UX@GUILFORD
+ +
+
VMware Internship
Commitment

28. What do you think?
• Reactions, comments, concerns?
• Is there a consensus on this concept?
UX@GUILFORD

29. Next Steps
• Assess the level of interest in the Guilford
Community in a UX Degree program.
Assuming there’s interest…
• Formalize a UX Curriculum.
• Establish a timeline and a route to market.
UX@GUILFORD

30. Thank You