Program Stakeholders' Experience of a UX Graduate Training Program

Experiential learning techniques employed to teach human computer interaction and computing students about user experience (UX) fall into two categories: course-based project learning (industry/community research projects) or outside-of-course training (a UX consultancy). We sought to diversify the latter category by describing an independent UX training program called the Collaborative Learning of Usability Experiences (CLUE). CLUE has four training components: UX Internship, Workshops, Knowledge Transfer, and Short Courses. We evaluated the impact of CLUE on program graduate students, host organizations (industry/government partners who mentored students during UX Internships), and faculty. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 graduate students, 13 alumni, 20 industry/government partners, and 3 faculty. Responses were coded into themes; exemplar quotes are included in this article. For graduate students and alumni, UX Internships advanced their career and skills, but successful internships required supportive program mentors and teams. For other training components, graduates wanted the program to balance topic breadth and relevance, build a community, and be flexible with program requirements. For industry and government partners, UX Internships had three benefits: tangible business gain, access to fresh ideas and energy, and access to skillful students to build a talent pipeline for future hiring. Industry/government partners wanted the program to engage in good communication and build personal connection with the program faculty. Faculty wanted the program to offer tangible benefits and opportunities to build professional networks. We provide practical recommendations on making a successful UX training program that can satisfy the needs of all program stakeholders.