New Book Focuses on User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice

Situating itself in the Technical and Professional Communication discipline, User Experience as Innovative Academic Practice, edited by Kate Crane and Kelli Cargile Cook, provides case studies from various points of instruction and curricular design to illustrate how a user experience (UX) methodology provides invaluable insight into understanding and including student-users.

Drawing on research on student-users as they developed student-user profiles, journey maps, diary entries, course reflections, and affinity diagramming, among other sources, the authors of the chapters in this edited collection argue that UX design is not only a worthy practice, but also a necessary one. Collectively, they argue that the UX design approach allows student-users to become co-creators of class material and academic products rather than the byproducts of such work. Together, the work in this collection offers an impetus of a new way of thinking about instruction and programs: designing courses and programs not only for students but with them.

This book, like other books published by the Clearinghouse, will be available in a print edition from University Press of Colorado in the coming months. The Foundations and Innovations in Technical and Professional Communication book series is edited by Series Editor Lisa Melonçon, with Associate Editors Kristin Bivens and Sherena Huntsman.