We got a strong message back. College courses had prepared them with the tools and frameworks for applying user-centered design processes, but hadn't really prepared them for the many dynamics they would encounter on the projects themselves. The many different roles on projects - the challenges and, sometimes, frustrations of having to make a case for UCD to a variety of different people who had their own needs and motivations - the occasional frustrations of stops, starts, and miscommunication - all these things had a much greater impact on their daily lives than their education had led them to believe.
Russ Unger and I decided to write a book to help bridge this gap in classroom learning and learning in the project field. It's called A Project Guide to UX Design, and we hope it helps both students in HCI related fields who are getting into project work, and those already working on projects who would like to learn more about the basic UXD toolset.Learn more about the book here:
http://tinyurl.com/84zwa8
If you read it, let us know what you think! You can also get updates and a bonus sample chapter by visiting the book's website here:
http://www.projectuxd.com
