Personally, it’s been a big 12 months. In addition to the joys of existence, since this time last year I bought a house, produced a spawn, and started teaching Experience Design at Macleay College. And thus far, I haven’t defaulted on the mortgage, paid for a psychologist for my daughter, nor had a formal complaint lodged against me in class. Not bad, all things considered.   

By Sam Court, Lecturer and Head of Experience Design at The White Agency

Being around enthusiastic people is always humbling, especially when that energy is focused on exploring new concepts that attempt to make the world a little bit better. And the guys from Macleay aren’t bad either … But in all seriousness, over the last 2 months, the class has already achieved so much:

• Converted an interest into a design challenge.
• Empathised with potential audiences by researching them in their worlds.
• Explored concepts that could help these people make their lives better.
• Outlined a scope and a conceptual structure for how they might experience the new service.
• Begun sketching a skeleton for how this service might work and turned that into a prototype, ready to test with real people.

It’s been my privilege to support these guys as they learn about designing experiences, through the lens of their passions. From better wardrobe management, to tracking and rewarding safer driving, and even to deeper engagement in the policies that hold society together. It’s fair to say that the class tries to embrace both the breadth and depth of the human condition.

Whilst there are many new concepts for the class, I’m a new teacher, and this is a new course. Ian Thomson, Program Leader for the Advertising & Media Faculty at Macleay, has given me such an amazing opportunity to simultaneously teach and learn. And as this first trimester builds to a crescendo, it’s brilliant to see the guys’ UX training wheels drop off, just as I’m also taking off my floaties. This class has patiently taught me so much about communication and collaboration, and as the famous design philosopher Karen Carpenter once said: “We’ve only just begun”.

The students’ final presentations will be held at The White Agency on April 26 in front of an industry panel. Get in touch if you’d like to attend – I’m sure the guys would love the most robust feedback possible.

Sam Court teaches User Experience as part of the Bachelor of Advertising and Media.