Whether it’s helping us wake up, calm down, get where we need to go, or even make a great cup of coffee, we’re constantly interacting with digital technology.
How we engage with that technology matters, and MacEwan’s new Digital Experience Design (DXD) major — the only baccalaureate program between Vancouver and Toronto — is preparing students for one of the most in-demand digital careers.
“In Alberta alone, there will be a shortfall of skilled DXD graduates until at least 2030,” says Robert Andruchow, chair of the Department of Design and associate professor at MacEwan University.
“We created the DXD major to fill the need for in-depth, hands-on learning to prepare people to work in what the World Economic Forum considers one of the top 10 fastest-growing careers in the world.”
Graduates will find careers as user experience designers and digital experience designers, designing innovative apps, websites, games, augmented and virtual reality tools, wearable devices, and digital services.
No matter which digital products they create, grads will primarily focus on solving real-world problems.
“Digital experience design skills are one of the top five most in-demand skills in Alberta with almost 4,000 jobs listing user experience as a skill requirement,” explains Isabelle Sperano, section coordinator of the Digital Experience Design program and associate professor at MacEwan University.
“Students in DXD will work with real clients to research, create prototypes and come up with digital solutions that are focused on the people using the technology.”
Students at MacEwan receive 600 hours of direct user experience training, 1,000 hours of design courses and 400 hours of liberal arts courses.
The combination prepares students to be critical thinkers who are curious about how human behaviour can inform design, and who are trained to use research when they need to better understand a problem.
Although the major itself is new, the university’s students have already been tailoring their design degrees to fill the DXD gap.
Working on a project for the City of Edmonton, for example, showed Soyinka Seguin, Bachelor of Design ’24, how improving online vehicle-for-hire experiences for people with accessibility needs could make a difference.
“It made me realize there is more out there that we can do as user experience designers,” he says. “It’s being mindful about how and why I design and who I work for. The objective is not only to provide solutions, but also to ask, ‘How does this improve the lives of those around you?’”
While technology is helping to make life easier, it must also be useful, usable, and desirable, explains Sperano. “Digital experience design is really about designing in a way that makes sense to the person using the app, website, or any digital product. When a digital experience designer does their work well, our experience with that technology is effortless.”
There’s no one more prepared to design those experiences than a generation of people for whom waking up, getting to school, connecting with friends and family, studying, and relaxing have always been tied to tech.
“The current wave of new students we are seeing at MacEwan have grown up immersed in technology,” says Andruchow. “Who better to lead the way in designing it?”