IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Dec 2023

The State of UX Pedagogy

Philip B. Gallagher Mercer University ; Guiseppe Getto Mercer University

Abstract

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research problem:</b> A considerable amount of scholarship has amassed over the last 20 years regarding the teaching of user experience (UX) design, but there has been no systematic attempt to review this literature. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research questions:</b> 1.What is the definition of UX pedagogy according to technical communication and adjacent fields? 2. What is the state of specific UX pedagogical approaches in technical communication and adjacent fields? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Literature review:</b> Our corpus contained 76 sources directly pertaining to the teaching of UX. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Research methodology:</b> The theoretical framework of this study marries rhetorical theory and critical thinking. The former provides technical communication literature reviews with keen discourse analysis and the latter offers objectivity to the evaluation. To use this framework, we sought sources using journals related to technical communication and large databases from adjacent fields, including the ACM digital library and IEEE Xplore. We completed our search using Google Scholar to ensure broad coverage. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Results and conclusions:</b> Our review of sources revealed a variety of trends and a remarkably diverse conversation on UX, including various definitions of UX pedagogy, and a large variety of theoretical orientations, educational models, instructional approaches, industry influences, methods, and ethical concerns. From this diverse corpus, we hazard a unifying definition centered on teaching the UX process through hands-on approaches such as engaged learning. We close our article with recommendations for continuing to refine UX pedagogy in the future.

Journal
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Published
2023-12-01
DOI
10.1109/tpc.2023.3314313
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis writing pedagogy teacher development argument assessment technical communication book reviews
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (3)

  1. Shalamova et al. (2025)
    Conversation Design: The Evolving Paradigm in Technical and Professional Commun…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Getto et al. (2025)
    UX Research, Management, and Design: What a Textual Analysis of UX Job Ads Mean…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Sun et al. (2025)
    The Impact of Linguistic Accommodation on Transactional and Relational Goals in…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

References (65) · 13 in this index

  1. Rose et al. (2017)
    Making practice-level struggles visible: researching UX practice to inform pedagogy
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Getto et al. (2016)
    Toward a Model of UX Education: Training UX Designers Within the Academy
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Verhulsdonck et al. (2021)
    Investigating the Impact of Design Thinking, Content Strategy, and Artificial I…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Rose et al. (2021)
    User Experience and Technical Communication: Beyond Intertwining
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. 10.1109/ipcc.2012.6408613
     ↗
Show all 65 →
  1. Chong (2016)
    The Pedagogy of Usability: An Analysis of Technical Communication Textbooks, An…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. 10.1109/ipcc.2016.7740527
     ↗
  3. Redish (2011)
    Overlap, influence, intertwining: The interplay of UX empirical research since 2000
    J. Usability Studies
  4. Friess et al. (2021)
    Identifying Commonalities and Divergences Between Technical Communication Schol…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. 10.1145/3517132
     ↗
  6. 10.1109/procomm52174.2021.00014
     ↗
  7. 10.3758/BF03195567
     ↗
  8. Charmaz (2006)
    Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis
  9. Turner (2022)
    What do we teach when we say we teach UX A study of the practices of TPC instructors
    Programmatic Perspectives
  10. Martin (2017)
    Promoting user advocacy to shift technical communication identity and value
    Tech. Commun.
  11. Opel et al. (2018)
    Beyond Student as User: Rhetoric, Multimodality, and User-Centered Design
    Computers and Composition
  12. 10.1007/s41979-018-0005-3
     ↗
  13. Hughes (2002)
    Moving from information transfer to knowledge creation: A new value proposition for techn…
    Tech. Commun.
  14. Brown (1982)
    Learning how to learn from reading
  15. 10.1037/0278-7393.20.6.1456
     ↗
  16. 10.1207/S1532690XCI2103_02
     ↗
  17. 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1984.tb00842.x
     ↗
  18. 10.4324/9780203053324-9
     ↗
  19. Pedagogy
  20. Jarratt (1998)
    Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured
  21. Tate (2001)
    A Guide to Composition Pedagogies
  22. Tham et al. (2022)
    Extending Design Thinking, Content Strategy, and Artificial Intelligence into T…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  23. 10.1007/978-3-319-42070-7_2
     ↗
  24. 10.1109/ProComm52174.2021.00015
     ↗
  25. 10.2478/dim-2020-0004
     ↗
  26. Amant (2016)
    Introduction to the special issue: Cultural considerations for communication de…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  27. Sonka et al. (2021)
    Finding a Teaching A11y: Designing an Accessibility-Centered Pedagogy
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  28. Norman
    The definition of user experience (UX)
  29. Guidelines for Research Reports and Integrative Lit Reviews | Samples of Research Reports…
  30. 10.1145/3121113.3121215
     ↗
  31. 10.1145/2507065.2507082
     ↗
  32. 10.1007/978-3-030-78462-1_5
     ↗
  33. 10.1007/978-3-030-85616-8_28
     ↗
  34. 10.1177/1534484305278283
     ↗
  35. Clark (2016)
    Content Strategy: An Integrative Literature Review
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  36. 10.1109/ipcc.2011.6087228
     ↗
  37. 10.4324/9780203793206
     ↗
  38. Tracy (2020)
    Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact
  39. 10.4135/9781849209496
     ↗
  40. 10.1145/2556288.2557264
     ↗
  41. 10.1145/3025453.3025726
     ↗
  42. Verhulsdonck et al. (2020)
    Creating Content That Influences People: Considering User Experience and Behavi…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  43. 10.1145/3301661
     ↗
  44. Batova (2021)
    An Approach for Incorporating Community-Engaged Learning in Intensive Online Cl…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  45. 10.1145/3290605.3300279
     ↗
  46. 10.21606/learnxdesign.2019.15013
     ↗
  47. 10.1145/3160504.3160566
     ↗
  48. 10.24908/pceea.vi0.13860
     ↗
  49. 10.21606/drs_lxd2021.11.170
     ↗
  50. 10.14434/ijdl.v11i1.26065
     ↗
  51. 10.1145/3328020.3353923
     ↗
  52. 10.1007/978-3-030-23538-3_20
     ↗
  53. 10.1145/3472714.3474566
     ↗
  54. 10.1109/ICETA.2015.7558493
     ↗
  55. 10.1109/MITE.2016.013
     ↗
  56. 10.1145/3125659.3125685
     ↗
  57. 10.17730/0888-4552.43.2.17
     ↗
  58. Bilousova
    Fundamentals of UIUX design as a component of the pre-service specialists curriculum
  59. 10.1109/IPCC.2016.7740493
     ↗
  60. 10.1109/ProComm52174.2021.00006
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 11 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  2. Pedagogy Apr 2024
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing teacher development collaborative writing assessment technical communication professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies gender and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Oct 2022
    Contributors ↗
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy teacher development argument assessment technical communication archival research multimodality gender and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter
  4. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Mar 2020
    Using a Transfer-Focused Writing Pedagogy to Improve Undergraduates’ Lab Report Writing in Gateway Engineering Laboratory Courses ↗
    Dave Kim; Wendy M. Olson
    rhetorical criticism genre theory first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing teacher development argument transfer assessment technical communication professional writing scientific writing book reviews
  5. Pedagogy Jan 2024
    The Radical Role of Student Writing in Composition ↗
    Jessica Masterson
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing