Summer Springboard
Experience Design
ON THE CAMPUS OF CAL POLY SLO
CREATE AND IMPLEMENT EXPERIENCES FOR CLIENTS; FROM SPORTS AND RECREATION, TO CURATED VACATIONS AND TRIPS, TO WEDDINGS, TEAMBUILDING, PROFESSIONAL EVENTS AND MORE.
THIS IS A TWO-WEEK PROGRAM WHERE YOU’LL FOCUS ON ONE COURSE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION.
Experience Design @ Cal Poly SLO
- Use design thinking to empathize, ideate and prototype experiences.
- Learn and practice brainstorming techniques to facilitate with others.
- Create user personas and experience journey maps.
- Identify and design touchpoints and transitions.
- Communicate ideas through narrative storyboards and other visuals.
- Collaborate in teams.
Summer Springboard
Experience Design
About This Course
A design program for teens on a university campus in San Luis Obispo
This class invites students to learn about human-centered, end-user focused, experience design. Students will learn how experiences are intentionally designed to shape emotions, behavior, choices, and create meaning and learning, in events, tourism, hospitality, recreation, and community settings. With excerpts from the text Designing Experiences (Rossman & Duerden), students will learn to gather end-user qualitative data, create a user persona, and apply positive psychology principles, map, and create intentional experiences to engage diverse audiences for desired, positive outcomes.
The readings and lectures draw from the Stanford School/IDEO, Martin Seligman’s positive psychology, the Heath Brother’s Moments, Priya Parker’s the Art of Gathering, and include hands-on empathy maps, customer journey maps, and creating touchpoint templates.
TOPICS YOU'LL EXPLORE
Hands-on Learning
Leverage the Experience Design Lab to engage in creative ideation and rapid design prototyping. Apply the skills gained and insights from end-user interviews to develop and pitch a compelling business idea that incorporates multiple unique experiences.
Career Exploration
Excursions will include visiting local business to better understand the guest journey and how it is imagined and implemented based on the desired experience.
RESOURCES
Course Infosheet
Click here to view or download the printable infosheet for this course.
Program Catalog
Click here to request our catalog to learn more about our summer programs and courses.
Campus Page
Click here to view the website page for this campus and learn more.
“It was great here. Almost everything was perfect and I genuinely feel that I gained something from this. I finally know what I want to do in life and want to work hard for it.”
-Malcolm C. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Experience Design
Meet Your Instructor
Dr. Keri A. Schwab is a Professor in Cal Poly’s Experience Industry Management Department, where she teaches and mentors undergraduate students in experience design, event planning and management (formerly recreation, parks, and tourism). Her research examines motivations, retention, and benefits associated with recreation participation, and has conducted research on youth engagement.More recently, she has explored physiological responses to nature in a study on physiological changes while crafting a ‘selfie’. Her applied work has supported public agencies with recreation planning, visitor studies, and park trend analyses.
DR. KERI SCHWAB
“Summer Springboard was an amazing experience, and I am so glad I chose to do this program. It taught so much about what I want to pursue in my future.”
-Taliha B. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Experience Design
Dates & Tuition
| 2026 Dates |
|---|
| Session 1: July 5 – July 17, 2026 |
Click here to enroll in this course using our online enrollment form.
| Tuition |
|---|
| Residential Tuition: $5,298 |
| Commuter Tuition: $2,998 |
Apply by November 30 to lock in the lowest prices of the year. Tuition increases on December 1.
Tuition Protection Plan: Allows for cancellation for any reason up until the day of the program.
| Location |
|---|
| City: San Luis Obispo |
| State: California |
| Campus: Cal Poly |
Summer Springboard programs are not run by our campus partners (with the exception of Cal Poly, UW Foster and NYSID which are run in partnership with SSB). Universities and their affiliated departments and partners do not control and are not responsible or liable in any manner for any part of the Summer Springboard program.