8 BRAND STORY certificate, meaning that a student can earn both certificates with just the addition of a few extra courses. Similarly, the UX Writing certificate can be stacked with Oregon Tech’s Technical & Medical Writing and Proposal & Grant Writing certificates. Another component that sets Oregon Tech’s UX certificate programs apart is the fact that the Oregon Tech program is credentialed. “It’s been vetted by professional UX folks in the field, where we went through a rigorous process of developing our curriculum and getting external reviewers to look at the curriculum before we launched it,” Lancaster says. “That way, we’re making sure that if companies are going to hire people from the certificate, those people will meet their expectations.” The UX horizon Demand for UX expertise in the workplace is only expected to grow in the near term. Accessibility has become very important—making digital content accessible for everyone is now required by many jurisdictions—and even though AI has entered the UX chat, it still takes skilled humans to understand how to make apps and software user-friendly. Businesses will always be on the hunt for ways to tap into the kinds of benefits that effective UX can produce, whether that’s more seamless customer experiences, higher sales, fewer complaints or stronger brand loyalty. And on top of the skills and knowledge to be gained through the UX certificate programs, students will likely find bigger rewards for themselves along the way. “People who go through these sorts of training programs tend to grow professionally in understanding others and just have a greater understanding of other people,” Lancaster says. “Whether it’s diversity in the workforce or empathy or just teaching them to think about how others experience things. I think all of that is important.” n For more information, visit oit.edu/ux. “It’s been vetted by professional UX folks in the field, where we went through a rigorous process of developing our curriculum and getting external reviewers to look at the curriculum before we launched it. That way, we’re making sure that if companies are going to hire people from the certificate, those people will meet their expectations.” AMBER LANCASTER, OREGON TECH ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING PROGRAM DIRECTOR
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