Undergraduate UX-related courses

I get this question a lot from undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in user experience (UX):

If I want to pursue a career in UX, what kinds of courses should I take to prepare?

In addition to courses about user centered design (i.e. CGT 256 and possibly other new courses coming up in CGT at Purdue), it would help tremendously if you learn a bit of any combination from the disciplines below:

1. programming – especially front end (e.g. CGT 141, 353, 356)
2. human behavior – any courses that help you understand cognitive psychology: how people learn, how they process information, what gets their attention (visual attention), what motivates them, how they make decisions, how they communicate, how to communicate effectively with them, how to research human behavior – aka research methods in social science, especially qualitative, such as interviewing and observation (at Purdue, for example, PSY 121, PSY 200, PSY 240, PSY 285, COM 318, COM 307)
3. business and marketing – it is important to understand how a digital product, say a company’s website, is related to the company’s business goals. For that, a bit of knowledge in business and marketing or entrepreneurship is very useful.

 

FAQs

Are there jobs out there is UX?

Yes, tons – and thousands remain unfilled.

What exactly is UX?

The resources on this Pinterest board can help you understand UX.

How to I keep up with news about UX courses at Purdue?

Follow @Purdue_UX and @CGT_Purdue on Twitter, and Purdue CGT on Facebook.

If you need more guidance, please contact me, Dr. V.