Educational User Experience Design — A conversation at the intersection

I’ve been working in the field of User Experience Design (UX) for quite some time. After 17 years working in the interactive division of WGBH Educational Foundation, creating educational media and serious games, I landed at CAST. This is the educational research & development organization that pioneered Universal Design for Learning (UDL). From the frying pan into the fire, essentially, as I had gone from creating companion educational media and serious games to creating educational tools and environments as the instruments for rigorous research. While at WGBH, I had often wondered whether an educational interactive or game I had a hand in creating had hit it’s mark. Now, at CAST, I know. Learning goals are precisely articulated, evidence-based design processes pursued, solutions divined, and efficacy measured.

Simultaneously, my appetite — and need — for a more rigorous, like-minded cohort grew. I found community in the UX world, and in EdTech. But the conversations were not often enough focused on the intersection of UX for education. So, I decided to start the conversation. Educational User Experience Design (edUX) was born — locally through a Meetup in Boston, and internationally through a LinkedIn group. These two endeavors have confirmed for me that there was both a vacuum and a hunger for this conversation.

Increasingly in professional and academic conversations and conferences, there is considered focus at this intersection of design, education, and research. Each informs, empowers, and strengthens the other. We are stronger together, and we have so much yet to talk about.