Special Topics in Information Science: UX Hardware Design in the Corporate World

The emphasis of this course will focus on how to be successful in a UX career in a corporate setting, focusing on hardware product design. Students will become familiar with product development phase gates leading up to a product's launch, and what UX methodologies might be most useful to employ at each phase. In order to build cross-functional empathy, we will explore the roles of the extended product team players (e.g. Architecture, Marketing, Engineering, Program Management, Product Management, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, etc.) and discuss when to engage with them and how. We will also explore how to align design recommendations with a company's financial goals by touching on how to read a company's quarterly report, prioritizing UX requirements through a fiscally responsible lens, and business case development. My goal for this course is that students come away with skills that will equip them with awareness of each corporate function's lingo ("talk the talk") and modus operandi ("walk the walk"), such that they can successfully ensure the adoption of their UX designs and recommendations. Implementing what we learn will also forge strong rapport and relationships with other product team counterparts. This rapport will pay off future dividends and help differentiate ourselves from others in our discipline, building a strong foundation from which to launch a fruitful UX career.