“Understood the assignment”: A UX-led investigation into student experiences of GenAI

This chapter explores how undergraduate students with limited experience of academic writing intuitively engage with GenAI. Using an adapted user experience model for usability testing (Blakiston, 2014), the study investigates how beginner users navigate and interact with large language models (LLMs) in real time, focusing on prompt generation and iteration. By analysing screen recordings and audio narrations, the study considers how the process of translating assessment tasks into instructive prompts offers valuable insights into how students approach academic writing tasks with the support of LLMs. Preliminary findings suggest that GenAI literacy should be integrated into academic skills-based curricula, building student competence and confidence in the ethical and effective use of GenAI for assessment purposes. This is best achieved through partnership work with current students.