9/17/2025 12:35:31 AM	GD 90 Course Outline as of Fall 2026	Changed Course
CATALOG INFORMATION
Discipline and Nbr:  GD 90	Title:  USER EXPERIENCE
Full Title:  Designing the User Experience
Last Reviewed:9/15/2025

Units		Course Hours per Week			Nbr of Weeks	Course Hours Total
Maximum	3.00	Lecture Scheduled	3.00		17.5 max.	Lecture Scheduled	52.50
Minimum	3.00	Lab Scheduled	0		6 min.	Lab Scheduled	0
		Contact DHR	0			Contact DHR	0
		Contact Total	3.00			Contact Total	52.50
		Non-contact DHR	0			Non-contact DHR Total	0

Total Out of Class Hours:  105.00

Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50

Title 5 Category:  AA Degree Applicable
Grading:  Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:  00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As: 
Formerly: 

Catalog Description:

Students in this course will focus on the user experience of the design elements of digital products such mobile apps, websites, games, conversational technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Using specific design thinking processes and industry standard software, the focus on user experience will cover topics that include conducting user research, uncovering user pain points, ideating and evaluating new solutions, prototyping and testing solutions with real users, and rapidly iterating. Students will learn to map poor user experiences to identify problems, quickly test ideas for improvement and build and refine user experiences that will surprise and delight the target users and turn them into raving fans. Preparation for jobs as a user experience (UX) designer, game designer, web designer, app designer, design team member or product manager will be covered.

 

Prerequisites/Corequisites:

Recommended Preparation:
Course Completion of GD 51

Limits on Enrollment:

Schedule of Classes Information
Description:

Students in this course will focus on the user experience of the design elements of digital products such mobile apps, websites, games, conversational technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Using specific design thinking processes and industry standard software, the focus on user experience will cover topics that include conducting user research, uncovering user pain points, ideating and evaluating new solutions, prototyping and testing solutions with real users, and rapidly iterating. Students will learn to map poor user experiences to identify problems, quickly test ideas for improvement and build and refine user experiences that will surprise and delight the target users and turn them into raving fans. Preparation for jobs as a user experience (UX) designer, game designer, web designer, app designer, design team member or product manager will be covered.

 

(Grade or P/NP)
Prerequisites:
Recommended:Course Completion of GD 51
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP

ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

Associate Degree:		Effective:		Inactive:
Area:
CSU GE:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
IGETC:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
CSU Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 2019	Inactive:
UC Transfer:		Effective:		Inactive:
C-ID:

Certificate/Major Applicable: Both Certificate and Major Applicable

COURSE CONTENT

Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Utilize the design thinking process to improve user experiences.

2. Conduct effective user research to better understand users and their pain points.

3. Ideate and evaluate potential solutions.

4. Rapidly prototype and test new user experience designs.

 

Objectives:

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Conduct user research to gather useful information about target users and their pain points.

2. Organize information about users and convey research findings with a variety of industry standard methods and artifacts.

3. Learn to brainstorm, sort, evaluate and prioritize ideas that improve the user experience.

4. Demonstrate skills for low-fidelity prototyping and testing, and describe the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of prototyping and testing methods.

5. Describe the process of user experience design as an iterative process.

6. Analyze an interaction design problem and propose a user-centered solution, justifying the solution and identifying the trade-offs.

7. Prepare high quality, professional documentation and artifacts relating to the design process for preparation for a professional portfolio.

Topics and Scope

I. Introduction to User Experience Design

   A. User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design principles

   B. UI design principles

   C. Product design to user experience

   D. User experience and the web

   E. Empathize with users

   F. UX design steps

        1. Empathize

        2. Define

        3. Ideate

        4. Prototype

        5. Type

II. UX Design Thinking

   A. Equal parts of beauty, ease and accessibility

   B. Leveraging pre-existing skills

   C. Applying design thinking to real problems

   D. Five planes

        1. Surface

        2. Structure

        3. Scope

        4. Strategy

        5. Skeleton

III. User-Centered Design Research

   A. Defining strategy

   B. Success metrics

   C. User needs

   D. Usability

   E. Team roles and process

   F.  Discovery

IV. Systems Thinking

   A. Function and content

   B. Defining requirements

   C. Functional Specifications

V. Empathy and Users

VI. UX Interviewing

VII. Insight Synthesis

VIII. Decision Mapping

IX. Prototyping

X. User Interaction Design

   A. Information Architecture

   B. Structuring content

   C. Architectural approaches

   D. Organizing principles

   E. Navigation design

   F. Way-finding

XI. Mock-Up Software

XII. Project Management

Assignments:

1. Writing assignments (1-16), such as:

   a. Discussion boards

    b. Creating user personas

    c. Writing project briefs

   d. Weekly readings (1 - 50 page) with reflection discussion board posts

   e. Responding to peer discussion board post

2. In class assignments (1-16), such as:

   a. Group based mock interview based problem solving

   b. Group based brainstorming and concept generation

   c. Interface analysis and problem solving

   d. Sketch and create a storyboard of the interactive prototype

   e. Creating high-fidelity prototypes

3. Comprehensive semester-long project: User experience design package, including

    a. Personas

    b. User stories

    c. Preliminary layouts

    d. Storyboards

     e. UX testing plan

    f. User interaction analysis

    g. Prototype implementation

4. Quizzes and/or exams (0-16)

5. Participation and attendance

Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.

Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.		Writing 10 - 25%
Writing assignments
Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills.		Problem Solving 25 - 50%
In class assignments
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.		Skill Demonstrations 25 - 50%
Comprehensive project
Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams.		Exams 0 - 20%
Quizzes and/or exams
Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories.		Other Category 5 - 10%
Participation and attendance

Representative Textbooks and Materials:

Usability and User Experience Design: The Comprehensive Guide to Data-Driven UX Design (1st). Franz, Bejamin; Kauer-Franz, Michaela. Rheinwerk Computing: 2024

Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting UX Metrics (Interactive Technologies) (3rd). Kaufmann, Morgan: 2022

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