This course was fundamental of user experience for fall 2020. I thought the class was just okay. The first half of the course focused on ux fundamentals (theory and frameworks), the second half of the course focused on ux methods (actually starting a project and doing user research). Professor Carrigan is very clear in their recorded lectures, although they spoke a bit slow during it. I usually watched the 1-2 hour lectures in 1.5 speed to not fall asleep. The course content itself is really interesting, as I intend to go into ui/ux, but they had a way of making the class a chore. For example, the slides were often overloaded with text, and because we had 3 intensive projects from weeks 5-10, I felt like I was constantly working for this class.
The midterm, although I was one of the few who got an A on it, required a lot of memorization from the slides and was very detail-oriented. The exam was multiple choice, and the average was a solid B. The final was much more straightforward after people began to worry that it would be like the midterm. Although I don't know what I got on it, I'm assuming I got an A (and would assume many more people in the class did as well).
The projects are with a randomly assigned group of 4 other students, and I got a pretty solid group. We had to conduct user research and write up 3 separate reports, each of ours being between 10-23 pages. They aren't essays, more like slides, but were still time consuming. As part of our discussion posts, we had to volunteer in 2 other groups' studies for each project (6 sessions total). I thought they were fun, and they ranged from 10 min to an hour depending on the method used. My only issue with this part of the class is that the projects, graded by the TA, seemed to be graded in comparison to other groups. That is, our grade depended on how good other groups' reports were. This annoyed me because the project instructions were somewhat vague, and we got docked on points just because "x group included ___, which your group didn't". These additional points were never mentioned in the project requirements so how were we supposed to know to include them?
Nevertheless, I would give this class a 7.5/10. If you really need a ux class, then take this. Otherwise, just watch Youtube videos on ux lol.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
Discussion Posts (1/lecture): 20/20 - 20% of grade
Midterm: 47/50 - 25% of grade
Final: A/55 - 25% of grade
Project 1: 88 - 10% of grade
Project 2: 88 - 10% of grade
Project 3: Not given - 10% of grade
Final Grade: A (percent not given). I don't think this class was curved.

I took Early Adversity (psych188b) with Dr. Goff in fall 2018. It was definitely one of my favorite classes at UCLA and it led me to choose to go into the field of early childhood trauma research. Dr. Goff is THE MOST down to earth and honest professor I've ever had. She knows what it's like to be a student and she always keeps things in perspective. She's also hilarious (she doesn't sugarcoat anything, she has some blunt humor lol), and great at explaining complex concepts with relatable examples. She also doesn't tolerate disrespectful or offensive comments from students, which I really appreciated in the context of this course material.
This course gave me a GREAT foundation for understanding neurodevelopment and translational research, and prepared me really well for Psych115 and Psych119A (both of which are very rigorous, difficult neuro classes). She knows how to get you to really understand and remember the way the brain and the body work without relying to heavily on rote memorization. The tests had short-answer questions, some of which required you to draw things like the brain and the fight or flight response. I really preferred this over multiple choice courses I've taken with Dr. Goff. If you're interested in the differential effects of abuse and neglect, in the development of disorders like conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder (+ treatments like attachment therapy), or in facial expression processing, I really recommend taking this. Some topics discussed include orphanages abroad, cults, substance use, abuse, and neglect.
That being said, this course can be very heavy. Do not take this if you have triggers related to abuse, neglect, etc. Dr. Goff will be understanding if you do, but it will be hard for you. Seemed like most of the people I took this class with did have a history of trauma, and that was something we discussed (no one overshared, it just tended to come up given the subject matter). Lots of discussions and interesting questions.