Creative, User Experience (UX), & Accessibility Practice

The Creative, User Experience, and Accessibility Practice (CrUX) team is a user-centered design & accessibility practice. We collaborate with units and teams across Duke to create digital experiences that are easy to use, accessible to all, and built to meet real user needs — helping you save time, reduce costs, and deliver better results for your audience. 

The Web Accessibility office provides free training and accessibility assessments to ensure the design, content, and development of Duke's web products are available to people with a wide range of abilities.

Why UX Matters

Every digital project has two goals: meet business needs and serve users well. When user experience (UX) is overlooked, adoption suffers and rework costs rise. By focusing on real users from the start — through research, testing, and design — we make sure your product is clear, usable, and impactful.

how we partner with you

Students

We love helping students build skills, improve projects, and prepare for careers in UX and design. We provide:

• Free UX/UI Consultations: Bring your school or personal project ideas and get expert feedback.
• Free Workshops + Training: Join semester workshops to learn research, design, and testing methods. Visit the UX/UI page on the Pathways site each semester to view and sign up for current offerings.
• Portfolio Support: Get guidance on how to present your work to future employers.

Staff:

We collaborate with departments and units to improve Duke websites, products, and applications. Our team can:

• Partner with developers on custom-built applications to ensure user-friendly design.
• Consult on website or product content and structure to improve usability.
• Provide accessibility assessments and guidance for compliance and inclusivity.

Faculty:

Give your students hands-on experience with industry practices and help them showcase work that stands out. We offer:

• One-day or custom workshops on UX topics (user research, usability testing, interface design, accessibility).
• Guidance for student projects — from conducting user studies to building portfolios.

How we help

We use proven methods to guide your project from idea to launch:

• UX Research: Understand user and stakeholder needs with evidence, not assumptions.
• Usability Testing: See how real people interact with your product or website.
• Information Architecture: Organize content so it’s easy to find and understand.
• User Flows: Map how users move through your site or app.
• User Interface (UI) and Visual Design: Create intuitive layouts, consistent visual hierarchy, and aesthetically engaging interfaces.
• Workshops: Facilitate problem-solving and alignment.
• Web Accessibility: Ensure every web experience works for all users.