11 June 2025
How the Program Was Created
In 2019, the UX design industry in Quebec was facing a reality: there was no undergraduate training in user experience design in the province. In Ontario there were around six such programs, while in the U.S. and Europe, they were fairly widespread.
By a happy coincidence, ÉTS, seeking to diversify its clientele, approved the creation of a bachelor’s degree program in digital design. A first in Quebec. All that was left was to assemble the team.
A Founder Coming from Industry
Félix Faucher earned a bachelor's degree in design from Concordia University in 2006, and a master's degree in communications from UQAM in 2013. In 2018, he enrolled in Cognitive Ergonomics at Polytechnique Montréal, where he was a lecturer until the birth of his first child. Afterwards, he chose to devote his energies to his family and his career as a UX designer, a role he held for two decades for companies in the fields of finance, artificial intelligence and logistics.
When he learned that ÉTS was looking to set up an undergraduate program in digital design in Quebec, he applied and got the job. “Creating a department from scratch, when there was a real need in both industry and academia, was a unique opportunity!” says the director of the Bachelor’s program in UX design at ÉTS.
The Project Is Launched
Félix Faucher worked on several fronts. First, he recruited professors from various engineering departments at ÉTS with a marked affinity for user experience design. Second, he prepared a detailed file to meet the criteria of the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur for the creation of a university program. At the same time, Félix attended seminars and conferences in America and Europe, developing contacts with specialists with relevant expertise. Finally, Félix established the program’s objectives, based on the work on the future of design education by two eminent specialists. They were the American Don Norman, often described as the “godfather of UX design,” and the German René Spitz, a leading researcher in design education and social responsibility. This process took place over a four-year period, during which the new Pavilion F housing the design program was built, and the spaces and facilities for the program were planned. In December 2023, the ÉTS design department was born, and in 2024, the first professors were hired.
Félix Faucher, Professor of Design and UX Design Program Director, Design Department
Heterogeneous Profile of Next-Gen UX Designers
By the start of the new academic year in September 2025, the professors will be ready to welcome the first cohort of 48 students, drawn from technical fields as well as the arts and humanities. “UX design requires both human and technological skills, so we encourage a heterogeneous mix of profiles,” asserts program director Félix Faucher. Indeed, UX design can lead to user research, digital product design, service design and many other fields of specialization.
A UX Experience Centred on Empathy
Félix Faucher’s rich professional background and diverse academic background have strengthened his ability to synthesize, enabling him to anchor the program in the reality of the 21st century. “We propose a rather broad definition of UX design, encompassing service design, human factors and cognitive science, as well as the environmental impact of digital technology and inclusive design,” sums up Félix Faucher, Director of the UX Design program.
