A Design Sprint based model for User Experience concern in project-based learning software development

This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents a model that includes ways to propose and construct software artifacts concerned with User Experience issues in Project-Based Learning (PBL) semesters long units. Project-Based Learning has been a trend in conducting teaching practices in modules related to software development. One of the cornerstones of Project-Based Learning is authenticity, a principle that guides the creation of software and development in the classroom by grounding it in a real-world context. However, the authenticity as addressed today in Project-Based Learning for software development, while recognizing that it is important to have quality in the end-user artifact, does not explicitly include User Experience (UX) in its scope. Creating software products that consider UX can have several advantages for students who create them and for a community that will benefit from these systems. This paper presents a proposal for a Project-Based Learning model that uses UX in the scope of projects. This model was built based on theoretical evidence found in a systematic literature review and practical evidence found in three exploratory case studies conducted during the development of this work. The purpose of the model is to increase the acceptance rate of the software developed by the students and help them in creating a portfolio for seeking their first job. The advantages and limitations of the model are discussed and reported. The results indicate that the model is suitable and can be used in any software development discipline and related areas.