Our history & mission

Our beginnings

UX@UA was founded in August, 2017, when Gianna Biocca from Research, Discovery, and Innovation and Rebecca Blakiston from the University Libraries had a coffee chat about their interest in UX. They appreciated finding a fellow UX-minded colleague, and realized there wasn't an easy way to make these connections.

There is no single UX program, degree, or central office at the UA, and people are doing UX work and studying UX methods across many departments and disciplines. Gianna and Rebecca wanted to create a mechanism for finding these other UXers on campus, building relationships and collaborations, and learning about UX together.

The UX@UA meetups have grown from watching webinars and having discussions to hosting guest speakers, workshops, speed networking events, and more.

In 2019, we created this UX@UA website as a resource hub for the UX community. Since then, we've expanded our efforts to include drop-in consulting, a mentorship program, training series, and more.

Our mission

We are a learning community that aims to grow UX expertise at the University of Arizona. We provide a variety of resources including:

  • Professional development and networking
  • Low-barrier UX tools and techniques

Our aims are for UX enthusiasts of all levels to:

  • Feel empowered and inspired 
  • Develop their skills and toolset
  • Connect with UXers in Tucson and beyond