Abstract:

Nowadays learning in the field of Information and Communication Technologies has become a long-term process and cultural-hybrid experience in an always-changing-world. The fast evolution – both in complexity and variety – of devices and applications is increasing the need of an even more user-centered approach to design and development of digital services and artifacts.

According to this evolution, User Experience and User Interface (UI) design play a strategic role in planning and solving interaction between people and communication ecosystems also for people with technical or humanistic background.

Therefore acquiring skills in the field of communication, visual and interactive design is becoming a crucial challenge also in non-desing vocational courses and degrees.

The paper is aimed to present the first outcomes of the wider research project Zero Design Background, focused on the theoretical and practical problem of teaching – visual and UI – design disciplines outside the project culture.
The research plan approaches both on- and off-line visual and UI design field – graphic design and graphical/multimodal user interface design – and relatives issue of teaching such principles and praxis in a learning context where design thinking, culture and methods are not the previous and knowledge-shared background.

The project covers the visual and UI design teaching field mapping, analyzing and reviewing a wide and heterogeneous resources such as basic design literature and bibliography, Visual/Graphic/Ux/Interaction/UI/web design courses – bachelor and master degrees both public and private – on line forums, on-line community blogs and resources, magazines and periodical publications, software and/or on-line learning platforms.

Keywords:

Teaching User experience, teaching user interface design, Ux curricula, UI curricula.