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Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence in the classroom was a non-starter; now, classes all across ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University are using AI to assist in research and communication like Usability and User Experience. 

Professor Heidi McKee teaches an advanced English course in how professional writing is used to improve the user experience through digital and print communication. They worked closely with alumni-owned marketing company Semify, seeking ways to improve internal and external communications. 

Headed by CEO Patrick Briggs – a 2006 English alumnus – Semify is a white-label marketing agency specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing tactics. Briggs reached out to the College of Arts and Science in search of ways to engage ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú students in real-world projects. After connecting with McKee, the two devised a semester project that benefitted both students and Semify. 

That’s where Allison Willis came in. As Chief Operating Officer at Semify, Willis served as an executive sponsor for the students’ project, acting as a liaison between the company and the class as the semester progressed. 

English Professor Heidi McKee teaches the course in Usability and User Experience, focusing this past semester on a case study in AI research.

“Practically, that meant scoping the project with Heidi, making introductions across the company, encouraging employee participation, and engaging with the students as I would any consulting partner,” Willis said. “The whole point was to give them a real client experience, not a simulation.”

That real-client experience stemmed from Semify’s growing success. With multiple brand acquisitions under its belt in the last few years, the company had grown significantly, emphasizing a need to check in on employee communications. This became a major part of the class’s project. 

The scope of the project made for no small lift. Students were charged with designing a survey, interviewing individual Semify employees, and navigating the collective findings. 

“From the design to the implementation, the data collection to data analysis, and data reporting. Students did every step of that,” McKee said. 

Interacting with the company’s employees was one of the most valuable takeaways for the students. 

“It was really interesting and insightful to see how [employees] perceived the internal communication and the internal dashboard that they use,” said Laura Cogswell ’26, who took the class as a senior majoring in Data Analytics. “And, the employees we interviewed were super nice and outgoing,  really talkative, and made the process really easy.”

Given that this part of the course was a full-fledged research study, the students went through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) for research ethics and applied for study approval through ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú’s Institutional Review Board. 

For the second part of the project, students turned to the future of marketing, assisting Semify in performing Semify user experience research that focused on what may be SEO’s successors, artificial intelligence optimization (AIO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). 

With the first result of any Google search being an AI summary and people turning to large-language models like ChatGPT to answer questions, AIO and GEO may be the next major marketing strategies.

Focusing on AIO makes your materials and information more easily understood and picked up by large language models, whereas a focus of GEO means these models are naming and recommending a business more often. The two interact: by making a business more readable to AI, AI will cite a business as the answer to a consumer’s search. 

Students used eight different AI personas, mimicking the types of potential customers who are searching online for what Semify offers. Through three different large-language models – Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude – they learned what AI recommended based on various keywords and audiences. 

Katie Barton, a Professional Writing and Emerging Technology in Business and Design co-major, said this element involved coding and data visualization, skills many of the students didn’t have prior experience with. That, plus interactions with a real-world company, added to why the class was a major experiential learning opportunity. 

“It was a glimpse beyond the veil of what comes next because there was so much we saw in terms of company culture and communications – that's what our survey was all about,” Barton said. “Getting to learn about that and have those skills for the future and that background knowledge, it's really nice.” 

After analyzing survey responses, interviews, and AI search data, the team of students put together a presentation of their findings, which they presented to Semify. 

“They handled the scope well, organized themselves thoughtfully, and presented their findings clearly. It was a strong showing,” Willis said. 

One final piece that was important to McKee was having her students be involved in every step while still working as a team,  building up everyone’s individual skillset and professional resume. The whole class came out of the semester – and many of them, out of graduation – with several new skills and insights for their careers.