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Advances in Human Factors, Business Management, Training and Education pp 15–21Cite as

Keeping the HF/UX Curriculum Current with the Critical Decision Method

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 498))

Abstract

Vicious problems are problems that reinvent themselves. One vicious problem is how to educate the next generation of usability (UX) professionals. I borrowed a method from naturalistic decision-making research: the critical decision method (CDM). A CDM is an ethnographic approach that elicits the implicit knowledge of experts in their area of expertise. The methodology reveals the decision points, options, and outcomes with which a decision maker struggles. The decision points derive key attributes, meanings, and goals for the area of concern. UX businesses have a vicious problem similar to education: whom to hire for a UX position, who is qualified and who is not? I used the critical decision method to elicit required skills within the local UX market. These contributed to a reworking of the UX curriculum. The methodology and the results are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, MO, USA

    Lisa Jo Elliott

Authors
  1. Lisa Jo Elliott
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Correspondence to Lisa Jo Elliott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Vaasa , Vaasa, Finland

    Jussi Ilari Kantola

  2. Hungarian-Netherlands School of Edu man, University of Szeged Hungarian-Netherlands School of Edu man, Szeged, Hungary

    Tibor Barath

  3. Faculty of Technology and Maritime Scien, University College of Southeast Norway Faculty of Technology and Maritime Scien, Kongsberg, Norway

    Salman Nazir

  4. TiER1 Performance Solutions , Colorado Springs,, Colorado, USA

    Terence Andre

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Elliott, L.J. (2017). Keeping the HF/UX Curriculum Current with the Critical Decision Method. In: Kantola, J., Barath, T., Nazir, S., Andre, T. (eds) Advances in Human Factors, Business Management, Training and Education. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 498. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42070-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42070-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42069-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42070-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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