DUX Lab

Led by Jeff Siarto

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Design & User Experience Lab (DUX)

The Design and User Experience Lab (DUX) is a community of designers and developers at Michigan State University. It’s the organizational home of the UXMS program capstone and a place where students can come together with faculty and corporate partners to build new user interfaces

The DuX Lab tackles challenges related to creating intuitive, accessible, and engaging user interfaces. Our projects often address:

  • Improving usability and accessibility in healthcare and education systems.
  • Designing mobile and web applications for real-world clients.
  • Exploring emerging patterns for AI-driven user interfaces.
  • Bridging gaps between research insights and practical design solutions.

Methods and Technologies

  • User Research & Usability Testing
  • Prototyping Tools: Figma, Adobe XD
  • Front-End Development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React
  • Mobile Development: iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin)
  • Data Visualization & Interaction Design
  • AI/LLM Interface Exploration

Areas of Interest

  • User Experience Design (UXMS)
  • Computer Science
  • Data Science
  • Graphic Design
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Engineering
  • [Other relevant majors]

Preferred Interests and Preparation

Students with experience or interest in the following areas will thrive in DUX:

  • Coursework in UX Design, Human-Centered Computing, or Web Development.
  • Familiarity with design tools (Figma, Adobe Suite).
  • Basic programming skills in JavaScript, HTML/CSS, or mobile development.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills for working with interdisciplinary teams.

Meeting Schedule & Location

  • Meeting Time: To be determined based on accepted student input
  • Location: To be determined based on accepted student input

Team Advisor

Jeff Siarto
Jeff Siarto
UXMS Interim Director, College of Communications Arts and Sciences
siartoje@msu.edu

Jeff Siarto is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University and currently serves as the Interim Director of the MSU User Experience (UXMS) program. He focuses on user-centered design and applied UX education, guiding students to think critically about usability and accessibility. As the lead of the Design & User Experience (DUX) Lab, he mentors interdisciplinary student teams working on real-world projects. Within the VIP program, he supports DUX teams by shaping design workflows and fostering collaborative, human-centered solutions. His leadership bridges academic learning with practical UX practice.