Adjunct Professor
Shaping young graphic design minds about the power of UXUI
September 2024 – December 2024
SUMMARY
I was given the amazing opportunity to give back to my professors who taught me and step-in as an adjunct professor for a UXUI class for the Fall 2024 semester. Being mentors and supporting others has always been a passion of mine that I practice in my professional career and personal life frequently; with the opportunity of being an adjunct professor I was able to step into my mentors shoes and present young minds of the significance of UXUI and the impact it brings in their work and process.
I had an absolute blast getting to know my students and their skillsets, utilizing their strengths to reimagine their weaknesses, and individually cater my lessons to nurture their potential individually… while staying as an Associate Product Designer at Red Ventures.
INTRODUCTION
My professors were in need of support to teach a UXUI course for the Fall semester, as one of the other professors had to step out for this term. Previously when I was their student, I expressed interest in being a professor when I decide to retire- as being a mentor and supporting others is my personality. Coincidentally, this course was a topic that I’m professionally involved in.
The position was officially an Adjunct Professor, essentially I was just stepping in for the semester. Funny enough, I was a 24 year old professor teaching “younger” minds who were 22-23 years old… living one of those funny college movie scenes where a college lecture had a middle schooler in their class (except we were all basically the same age).
Although this role required me to balance this teaching along with being a designer for another company (and driving an hour every Monday and Wednesday to get to class), I absolutely enjoyed this experience of supporting aspiring designers and mentoring them throughout the semester.
PROJECT 1
For this project, you will design a one-page scroll website focused on a topic related to college life or campus. Each student will select a specific aspect of college life, such as dorm living, campus events, student resources, or mental health support, as the central theme for their website. The goal is to create an engaging and informative website that effectively communicates the significance of the chosen topic and encourages visitors to take action or become more informed.
The project involves all stages of the web design process, from initial research and concept development to the final high-fidelity design. You will be evaluated on both your design process and the final presentation of your work.
PROJECT 2
In this project, you will design and prototype a native app with at least 8 screens. The app can build upon the same concept you explored in Project 1 (your one-page website). You will need to step outside your comfort zone by focusing on a different group of students or a specific campus area, such as Engineering students or the campus greenhouse and gardens. The project emphasizes developing an empathic understanding of user needs by conducting real interviews and focus group sessions.
Focus Group Requirement:
To ensure you gain a deep understanding of your target audience, you are required to identify and introduce a real focus group for your app. This group should consist of students or staff from a specific college, major, or campus organization that differs from your own experience. You will conduct interviews with this focus group to help inform your persona development and user journey mapping.
PROJECT 3
As we continue to grow as a society, more and more people are facing dietary restrictions. This could be gluten-free, lactose-intolerant, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, muslim, buddhism, etc. Unfortunately this has been growing at a rapid rate that not all restaurants, cafes, etc. can keep up with; due to this many people find themselves in a situation to consuming the same meal everyday, desperately looking for a new-delicious place to eat, or even trying to develop some cooking skills to provide themselves with food - but even then they have to look for those specific ingredients.
Now imagine this restriction while being a college student on a campus that hasn't kept up with all the dietary needs. The struggle to support your food lifestyle while balancing class responsibilities, work, and financials.
SEMESTER PLAN
Ideally, there would be a semester program prepared for the class and I am the substitute teaching the class with that plan; however, there wasn’t a concrete plan in place, there was only a growth plan prepped for student success.
With that, I had to step up to the plate to prepare lesson plans and lectures for my students to assure that they’re thoroughly understanding the impact of user research that drives an effective user experience. This practice applies both to graphic design projects and product design works, once mastered it elevates students work to another tier of purposeful design.
For my UXUI class of 2024; my students underwent a series of a mini projects and effectively executed 3 major projects: