EVENTS:

Refer to Calendar for Sessions and Meetups.

 

COURSES:

LCL21 is offering two courses.

  1. Course 1: Conversation Design for Linguists
  2. Course 2: Product Development for Linguists

Both courses are described below. For registration for courses go here.

 

 

Course 1: Conversation Design for Linguists

Instructor: Brielle Nickoloff

Course Description

The goal of this course is to equip linguists with the knowledge, practical skills, and two projects in their design portfolio that they can use to start their career in or adjacent to conversation design.

Detailed course description

At the end of this course, you will have designed at least two different conversational prototypes—one chatbot conversation and one voice-based application. You will know how to document your design process as you go, and at the end you’ll have the beginnings of a digital portfolio that will house your work. You’ll learn how to critically analyze a use case to decide if it’s a good fit for a conversational user interface (CUI). You’ll partake in two different design sprints and in addition to your design artifacts, this course will give you a breadth of knowledge about conversational interfaces. If you’re looking for a conversation design course that was created for linguists by a linguist who’s been in the trenches of voice and chatbot design for their entire career, look no further.

Course Roadmap

The course is organized into three different modules.

  • When you’ve completed Module 1, you’ll have a firm grasp on the history and present day of conversational interfaces, along with an understanding of how conversation design fits into the larger field of UX design
  • When you’ve completed Module 2 you’ll have two portfolio projects completed
  • When you’ve completed Module 3 you’ll know how to position your unique skills as a linguist as a conversation designer in the job market. You’ll have an understanding of how your background in linguistics uniquely sets you up to excel in the discipline of conversation design, along with how to communicate this while interviewing for a job

Date/Time

  • July 6-29, every Tues + Thurs 2:00pm – 4:00pm Pacific US/5:00pm – 7:00pm Eastern US (GMT -4)
  • Final project presentations:
        • Friday, July 30 9:00am – 11:00am Pacific/12:00pm – 2:00pm Eastern US
        • Panel: (Day/time to be determined)

 

Course 2: Product Development for Linguists

Instructor: Na’im Tyson

Objectives 

Linguists play essential roles in organizational teams that develop products. Linguists aren’t often trained on *how* teams work together in industry and how the process of product development works. Knowing this process will open doors to a wide variety of industry jobs in organizations that can be both profit-driven and mission-driven. 

Creating software products is more than just writing code, it also requires an analysis of what your customers want, and how to meet their needs. As a result, understanding product development is key to a successful career in technology. By the end of this course (built in collaboration with Google), you will understand how product teams and processes work, and learn how to develop an idea into an actual product that delights your users.

Your Learning Objectives include:

  • Understanding how product teams and processes work
  • Learning how to develop an idea into an actual product that delights your users 
  • Understanding how Linguists fit into the product management process
  • Practicing and implementing the Customer Discovery Process in order to:
  • Collect customer data on their wants and needs
  • Appreciate product development is key to a successful career in technology

Date/Time

  • July 6-29, every Tues + Thurs 3:00pm – 4:30pm Pacific US/6:00pm – 7:30pm Eastern US (GMT -4)
  • Final project presentations:
        • Thursday, July 29 3:00pm – 4:30pm Pacific US/6:00pm – 7:30pm Eastern US (GMT -4)
        • Panel: (Day/time to be determined)