UX Workshop Series at HTBLA Kaindorf

In an in-depth elective course, HTBLA computer science students became familiar with the theoretical background of UX/UI design, followed by three hands-on workshops.  

In the first session, Kornelia briefly introduced Parkside to students, explained what we do and how we work. She then moved to UX research, teaching them research mapping, research methods, and the importance of knowing the user, user stories and context. Students left with an assignment to have a look at other websites and create task flows and an information architecture.

In the 2nd workshop, Kornelia showed students various types of mockups, gave sketching tips and taught them how to create concepts and test paper prototypes. She also talked about the importance of understanding the content & navigation hierarchy and choosing proper navigation for a website or app. During the class, students have tried out the “Crazy 8’s” (a  core design sprint method & fast sketching exercise), and for homework,  they had to come up with a mockup of their product and test its paper prototype.

The 3rd workshop was about design style guides, design systems and usability heuristics. Students learned how to create a UI design in Figma and how to come up with a clickable prototype of their design. Their last homework assignment was to implement what they’ve learned so far and create their own UI design together with a clickable prototype.

The icing on the cake was the final presentation of the UI designs and prototypes that students have come up with. We invited them to our headquarter in Graz, where they presented their clickable Figma prototypes and received feedback from Kornelia, their two professors and fellow colleagues.

They also met some of our employees and talk about their work, activities and projects. They had a chance to see first-hand what a software development & UX/UI company looks like, and how our cross-functional teams work together. After the presentations & discussion, we all had a delicious lunch on our terrace.

As a socially conscious and responsible company, we’re actively supporting local education institutes. We believe that the closer connection between the business sector and academic community enables exchange and transfer of knowledge, creates long-term partnerships and encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. These types of cooperation between schools/universities and companies help students to acquire the right skills & mindset and prepare them for the labor market and work life.

This is our third year since we’re working with HTBLA Kaindorf and we’re happy that we have the opportunity to introduce Parkside as a company to their students and support them on their way to achieving educational and professional goals.

— Dipl.-Ing Christoph Kohlweg, teacher at HTBLA Kaindorf