Innovative UX Methods for Information Access Based on Interdisciplinary Approaches: Practical Lessons from Academia and Industry

Professionals in the field of User Interface (UI) Design or User Experience (UX) Design are in high demand worldwide because digital technologies have been deeply integrated into people’s work and their daily lives (Pattabiraman, 2019; BLOC, 2015). Because of the interdisciplinary nature of UI/UX design, professional training at different levels is being offered at both academic and industry settings. In the context of information science, researchers stated that “many information and library schools introduced more UI/UX coursework into their curriculum” (MacDonald & Rozaklis, 2017, p. 268). At the tutorial workshop during the ASIS&T 82nd Annual Meeting (2019) in Melbourne, Australia, the chair of the workshop assembled a panel of UI/UX instructors from both academic institutions and industry to discuss the theme “Innovative UI/UX methods for information access based on interdisciplinary approaches.” Particularly, the objectives were (1) to provide guidance, concepts, and terminologies for UI/UX curriculum redesign for an Information-Science School (iSchool); (2) to generate some directions, areas, or topics to help UI/UX instructors enhance the effectiveness of their teaching; (3) to address the interdisciplinary nature of UI/UX design and prepare the workforce to meet the market demand. The panel consisted of Laura Ruel, Ryan Tyler, Qian Xu, Javed Mostafa, and Fei Yu. Fei also chaired the workshop and coordinated panel discussion. In addition, Hong Cui, Stan Karanasios, Anna Keilbach, and Ba Xuan Nguyen joined both workshop activities and discussions as participants. This article is a narrative of what the panelists and participants discussed at the interactive tutorial workshop.