UX for Technical Communicators

UX for Technical Communicators
6 Weeks |  Online

User Experience (or UX) is a new communication design discipline that emerged in the years following the birth of the internet. It is focused on creating digital media that is both highly functional and highly informative – whether in the form of software applications or websites – with the intent of influencing the perceptions and behaviors of users. Practitioners of UX must possess a unique combination of advanced communication skills along with expertise in usability and human-computer interaction. Consequently, UX is also a field in which all of the aptitudes and skills traditionally possessed by technical communicators – from audience analysis and project planning to written communication and information design – come together and assume a prominent role in today’s digital world. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to UX from the perspective of professional communicators and the value they potentially bring to a UX project team in the 21^st century. Students will learn about the overarching content strategies that exist on the web and how to implement them through various interaction, navigation, and visual design tools and techniques. They will also explore ways to analyze, evaluate, and test the design and content of digital media. The series of writing and design assignments in the course provide students with practice in producing some of the project deliverables relevant to most UX projects.

What you will learn:

• An understanding of the purposes and principles of user experience (UX) – a discipline that extends beyond usability
• The ability to identify different types of digital texts that exist for different types of users/readers – all part of a content strategy
• An understanding of, and practice in, applying visual design principles to digital media based on user/reader research and content strategy
• How to employ usability testing, a powerful (though certainly not the only) tool for evaluating the quality of digital media

Quarters Offered: Spring | Online
Contact: For more information about this course, please email ahl@ucsd.edu.
Note: Fulfills 2 units toward electives for the Technical Communication Certificate.

Course Number: WCWP-40341
Credit: 2.00 unit(s)
Related Certificate Programs: Technical Communication

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10/7/2024 - 11/16/2024

$375

Online

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• SECTION ID:

  184824

• CLASS TYPE:

  Online Asynchronous.
  
  This course is entirely web-based and to be completed asynchronously between the published course start and end dates. Synchronous attendance is NOT required.
  You will have access to your online course on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.

• INSTRUCTOR:
  

  Lemanski, Steven, MTC English (Prof. Writing & Rhetoric), USU-Logan BA Communication (Radio-Television-Film), CU-Boulder

  Steve Lemanski teaches  Technical Communication I , Technical Communiation II , UX for Technical Communicators and Critical Thinking for Communicators for UC San Diego Extension's Technical Communication Certificate Program .  Steve has worked as a professional writer, editor, and content strategist in the realms of marketing communications and technical communications for more than 20 years. He is now owner and managing editor of Human Factor Communications, LLC, where he helps clients re-design and fine-tune their internal and external multi-channel communications to better engage audiences and move them to action. Early in his communications career, Steve worked in media production (radio, television, and newspaper), in Colorado and Arizona. He has written, e...Read More

• TEXTBOOKS:

  REQUIRED

  The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond (Paperback) 2nd
  by Garrett, James
  ISBN / ASIN: 0321683684

  A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making 2nd
  by Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler
  ISBN / ASIN: 9780321815385

  You may purchase textbooks via the UC San Diego Bookstore.

• POLICIES:

  No refunds after: 10/11/2024.
  1st no meeting date: 11/11/2024.
  

• NOTE:

  This is an online course. There are no face-to-face class sessions. You will have access to this class on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed. To login to your course, go to your MyExtension account, select My Courses, select this course and then click the link that appears in the LOCATION section. NO CLASS 11/11.

• DATE & LOCATION:

  10/7/2024 - 11/16/2024
  extensioncanvas.ucsd.edu
  You will have access to your course materials on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.