ADDA UX
ADDA UX is a community of practice at Athena facilitated by our Design Expert in Residence for students interested in exploring UX design as a tool for social change.
Participants will receive a $150 stipend, a supportive community, dinner at each meet-up, and guidance from our expert facilitator.
Who Can Join:
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Barnard and Columbia students who are interested in leveraging UX Design for social change.
The Commitment:
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Eight weekly evening sessions on Tuesdays from 6 - 8 pm at the Athena Center.
Applications to join are accepted during the first two weeks of each semester. Check back in early Fall 2025 for your opportunity to apply!
ADDA UX is one of multiple communities of practice we offer at Athena. Communities of practice are groups of people who meet regularly to get better at something — here, changemaking. Read more about the other Communities of Practice we offer here.
Meet our Guest Expert!
Nabil Vega | Design Guest Expert
Nabil is a queer, trans, Muslim, Bangladeshi artist and designer committed to activating liberatory principles through design, new media, and social practice.
As a product designer, they’ve collaborated with small and large organizations, non-profits, and individual brands to:
- Strategize and design solutions for communications, business, and organizational challenges
- Collaborate on and create visual design systems, multimedia campaigns, and web/mobile app strategies
Pre-pandemic, Nabil coached individuals to own a human-centered design process through weekly critique, lecture, and development sessions as an instructor in a six-month UX/UI Design boot camp at The Flatiron School, previously Designation. Their work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in museums, festivals, galleries, and publications.
Frequently Asked Questions
ADDA UX is offered every semester. In Spring 2025, the community will meet weekly on Tuesday evenings for eight weeks. During each gathering, students will apply UX Design principles to a project of their choosing with a focus on accessibility.
The community’s weekly meetings are held at the Athena Center on the 4th Floor of Milstein.
No coding experience is expressly required for our community of practice. But if you want to learn, check out other coding resources - such as the Vagelos Computational Science Center - and come back to us!
The ADDA UX community of practice is open to current Barnard and Columbia students interested in leveraging UX Design for social change.
It’s possible your project isn’t completed by the end of the year — that’s fine! No matter where you are with it, you’ll be a part of our broader community and can access the Athena Center at any time. We’ll be here to offer continued guidance.