Sr. User/Design Researcher / Information Architect Specialist
User Experience Designer
ID&T Cert
Synopsis of Program (Cont’d.)
Education—Credentials—
Professional Qualifications
Additional Information
Undergraduate Certificate
College of Extended Learning
ID&T Cert Focus
The Multimedia Studies Program (MSP) is a hands-on vocational training program geared for high-tech employment—specifically specialized for user/design research, information architect, user experience design, interaction design, product design, usability testing, and project/product management jobs.
ID&T Cert Portfolios
Preparation and development of hard-copy portfolios and résumé were required for graduation.
Final presentation and review of portfolios required for graduation. The review process consisted of a panel of three high-tech industry professionals—reviewed portfolios and passed them all.
Portfofolio Website Required for Graduation
ID&T Cert IA Vocational Training
The MSP is a vocational training program—a private college—though part of SFSU. In addition, I took far beyond the required courses and units for the program.
The MSP is highly regarded in the community and specifically by hiring managers. The program prepares designers professionally and vocationally to work in the industry. It was successfully accomplished in conjunction with the MAIA program. The MSP was supplemental to the MAIA program.
ID&T Cert IA Specialization
Specific vocational training relevant to the Internet industry—for doing:
User/design research, information architecture, user experience design, navigation systems design, information design, user-centered design, organization of Web materials, Website reviews and annotated usability reports with screen shots, mapping and diagramming, use case scenarios, end user flows, interaction design, product design, site maps, rapid prototyping, production; and
Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), animation, multimedia, graphic design, typography, branding, color theory, interactive script writing, Web content development, HTML coding, extensive design research—planning, development, building of Websites—mobile device design, and usability testing; internships successfully completed.
ID&T Cert Campus
The MSP San Francisco State University has a very unique campus, located in the heart and center of the downtown financial district of San Francisco.
One of my excellent Professors at MSP for the interactive script writing course and interaction design project.
The MSP ID&T Cert and MAIA programs at San Francisco State University provided great courses—very specific to-the-point-relevant curricula—for doing:
User research, information architecture, user experience design, interaction design, product design, interface design, user-centered design, social media, card sorting, taxonomy, task analysis, usability testing, and management.
The MSP offers a comprehensive curriculum in Web Design, Graphic Design, UX/UI, Mobile Devices, and Social Media, including IA. When I attended MSP, the IA program was very robust and extensive, geared for user-centered design. Of course, the program extended into professional-intensive vocational training and user experience design. Learning by doing—the professional practice of IA—successfully completing comprehensive IA/UXD projects over the period of one year and a summer session.
The course categories of the program included: graphic design, Web design, Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Flash), digital video and audio, UX/UI, mobile devices, information design, information architecture, interface design, and social media.
Additionally, the broad categories of the program included: design, technology, software, and career development. The gist about what I did at the MSP was that I specialized in Information Architecture (IA) and design.
In conjunction with the MAIA program, the solid curricula provided extremely robust programs of vocational real-world training on various projects/internships and user research, demanding very high participation. Working with Professors that did work in notable high-tech companies in the Bay Area, San Francisco, Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, Mountain View), and New York.