User experience (UX) encompasses all aspects of an end-user’s interaction with technology, and is one of the fastest growing career paths in the tech industry. In 2016, Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was awarded a Program Innovation Award by UCF’s Quality Enhancement Plan to create the UX Lab @ UCF. The UX Lab gives UCF undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to work on UX projects and gain real-world work experience beyond the classroom. Many of the UX Lab students have had the unique integrative-learning experience of providing UX services to companies to directly influence new software products prior to launch. Companies that have engaged with the UX Lab @ UCF include Bogen Communications (a leading provider of commercial audio solutions), and Medi-IoT (a fast-growing start-up company creating an innovative solution for sensor-based hospital monitoring).
The UX Lab is part of a larger initiative to enhance human-computer interaction education at UCF and has received over $65,000 in internal and external funding. It has been featured by Sound & Video Contractor Magazine, and at the 18th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education as an innovative program that bridges multiple disciplines (e.g., Computer Science, Information Technology, Digital Arts & Media) to prepare UCF students for UX careers. Students interested in getting involved with the UX Lab should contact Dr. Wisniewski (Pamela.Wisniewski@ucf.edu). We are also looking for new industry-based clients and corporate sponsors to support and expand the UX Lab @ UCF.