User Experience Capacity-Building (UXCB): A Conceptual Model and Research Agenda

Many User Experience (UX) practitioners face organizational barriers that limit their ability to influence product or service decisions, but there is little concrete knowledge about how to overcome these challenges and make organizations more UX-friendly. In this talk, I will introduce a novel concept called User Experience Capacity-Building (UXCB) to describe the process of building, strengthening and sustaining effective UX practices throughout an organization.

Developed through an integrated literature review of relevant HCI and capacity-building literature, this paper defines UXCB and proposes a conceptual model that outlines the conditions, strategies and outcomes that define a UXCB initiative. Four areas of future research are presented that will deepen our understanding of UXCB as both a practice and an area of scholarship.

Craig M. MacDonald is an associate professor in the School of Information at Pratt Institute where he developed and coordinates the Master of Science in Information Experience Design and User Experience (UX) advanced certificate programs. He holds a PhD in Information Studies and Human-Computer Interaction from Drexel University and an MS in Applied and Mathematical Statistics from Rutgers University. His research focuses on strengthening UX practices and improving HCI/UX education, and he has presented his work at top-rated conferences in HCI and Library and Information Science. He has expertise in usability testing, user research, and interaction design and he has led over 150 students through course-based and extracurricular UX consulting projects on behalf of libraries, cultural heritage institutions, start-ups, and media companies.