Tomorrow's Tech Dreams Start Here

From the touch screen on your phone, to the"Popcorn" setting on your microwave; there's somebody, somewhere, who had to figure out how to make that work for you, and hopefully; how to make it work in such a way that the experience was seamless, satisfying, and really served your needs. But that doesn't happen all the time. If you've ever yelled at your computer, tried unsuccessfully to pair your phone with your car, or even tried to cancel a subscription onliine only to find out the "cancel" button doesn't work; you suspect that somebody, somewhere, is either purposely trying to rip you off, or just incompetent. Of course, neither one of those things may be true, but in the moment; you really don't care. You're just the victim of another tech gizmo that doesn't work, and all you want to do is throw it out the window. On the other hand, there are days when you are just super happy that everything is clicking along in your world, and the things you need to do your job and live your life just work. In fact, they work so well that you either don't notice them, or if they are really amazing; you tell all your friends they ought to get one too. That of course, is no accident. There is an entire field of study called "User Experience Design", or "UX", dedicated to ensuring that how you interact with a product actually works for you. To find out more about it, I talked to Daniel Alenquer, who is the Director of Kent State's School of Visual Communication Design, where they just started offering a Bachelor of Science Degree in User Experience Design. Listen now: