User

Despite the lack of formal User Experience (UX) degree programs, and the general confusion and disagreement about what areas of study such a degree would require, UX careers are very hot with employers from many industries looking for employees with a strong background in UX research or UX design.

But you’d be forgiven if you thought UX simply referred to building a customer-friendly web storefront. The principles of UX are applicable to the user experience in a wide variety of disciplines, including technology, industrial design, architecture and the aerospace industry.

Elizabeth Rodwell, assistant professor of digital media and information and logistics technology in the Technology Division at the UH Cullen College of Engineering, defines UX for her students each semester.

“It’s a process of designing systems or products that are useful, easy to be used, and delightful to interact with,” Rodwell said in a story on the UH website.

UX is not new. Since the 1960s, NASA has been doing similar work and considering the human factor in any technology creation.

“Anything we interact with can have UX principles applied to it to make it better,” Rodwell said.

As a UX researcher, she is especially interested in the human problems behind technology, as well as the intersection between UX and artificial intelligence. She is the author of the forthcoming book,