Education

 EDUCATION

ACADEMIC TEACHING

 

Recommendations

 

Michael Glueck, Autodesk, Senior Research Scientist

  • Ilona Posner taught my undergrad Interaction Design course at the University of Toronto. This was by far my favourite undergrad CS course, CSC318. She always brought enthusiasm and energy to the evening lectures, and made sure to engage all students in the material. There were always small exercises to do outside of class, such as find examples of bad interaction design in in our daily lives. Looking back, these seemingly trivial activities had the largest impact. Ilona encouraged me to develop my own awareness and critical eye and make interaction design a part of my life.

 

Garry Beirne,  Intelliware Inc., Director, Solutions Delivery

  • I have worked with Ilona a number of occasions She completed a usability review of a complex system for a client in the pharmacy industry. Her insights, intuition and report quality were extremely professional and comprehensive, and the report is strongly influencing the course of product development. We were so impressed with her work that we hired her to give first a full day workshop, and then a 9-week course to our developers and communications staff on Usability & User Experience. We were very happy with the outcomes this course and many of the learnings were incorporated in our development process. She is an excellent communicator, teacher and creative thinker. I can highly recommend Ilona as a powerful leader in usability and user experience.

 

Rick White, Scotiabank, VP Marketing

  • Ilona and I taught a graduate class for two summers.  Ilona focused on the client experience while I looked after the marketing strategy.  Ilona was tremendously collaborative and insightful in helping to make the program a challenging and solid learning experience for our adult students.  She also was a fun partner to work with.

 

Ana Serrano, Director of Habitat New Media Lab at Canadian Film Centre

  • Since 2000, Ilona Posner with her experience and enthusiasm has made valuable contributions to our Interactive Art and Entertainment training program.

 

Students, Course: Designing Systems for Real World Problems,
University of Toronto, Department of Computer Science & Summer Abroad in Berlin, August 2025

  • I would retake the course every year if I could. I find Berlin to intoxicating and the content we do in the course fun and useful.
  • I would definitely take this course again. I like the prof, teammates and classmates. I also have many memorable travel experiences. The combination of theory, class discussions and hands-on experiences makes the course greater. As I am a founder of a startup, the things I learned are really useful.
  • It has only been good surprises in this course. It definitely exceeded my expectations, so I definitely would take this course knowing what I know now.
  • Once in a life time learning experience in multiple ways: our professor and her knowledge, the friends we make along the way, the history and culture of Berlin, the group project that we’ve been working on the past few months, and the real-world application of our skills.

 

Students, Course: Designing Systems for Real World Problems,
University of Toronto, Department of Computer Science & Summer Abroad in Berlin, August 2023

  • 100% Re-take!This was such a unique experience, the lessons were very useful and I can see myself revisiting and utilizing what I learned. On top of that, the environment was highly conducive to my learning, the class atmosphere was exceptional, and the overall experience is unforgettable!
  • The course exceeded my expectationsof what I would learn, and is one of the highlights of my degree.
  • You are one of the few professors I have had that truly took andlistened to student feedback, and through that, you created a very comfortable learning environment.
  • I think everything we learned in the course and through our assignments is relevant to my future whether directly or indirectly. Even if I don’t pursue a career in user testing or design, the skills learned are so applicable to any field.
  • I would definitely retakethis course simply because working alongside different people and engaging in a small classroom in a foreign country create an entirely unique experience that I cannot find anywhere else.
  • I would definitely have taken this course; in fact, I would have been a lot more enthusiasticthan I actually was. I loved the entire experience and I learned so much during the process.
  • One of the best things I took away from this course was how to present and sell your ideasto an audience. I saw the value in minimalism and concision and delivering your message in the most efficient way.
  • I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you once again for an absolutely incredible semester! This was a truly exceptionaland memorable learning experience, and I hope to pay it forward. Thank you!

 

Students, Course: Design Thinking for A.I. Solutions
Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence, George Brown College, Online Worldwide, April 2021

  • This course is the most interactive course I have ever attended, even exceeded plenty of the in-person courses before COVID.
  • Current AI’s design is bad and hard to explain to the user. With this course, developers can create easy-to-use AI solutions.
  • I have never thought about spending so much time preparing for a product design. Now, I understand it is actually saving a lot of time and cost in total.
  • Thanks to this class, now I have a new way of thinking when solving a problem. I really love the Design Thinking approach, because it will solve many problems with the crappy, unintuitive applications that are swarming the marketright now
  • This class must be mandatoryand essential to everyone that is going to be working in the software industry. … without having proper knowledge and designing a proper interface the product will eventually fail.

 

Students, Course: Projects in Translational Research
Translational Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Sept 2019 – April 2020, including the teaching of Medical Professionals during COVID-19 pandemic

  • I learned how to iterate. This is so important particularly in health. Getting as much data and going back to drawing board. I had no idea what usability testing was before this class – beyond things I heard commercially – butI’ve been using many of the skills acquired in this class day-to-day. For example, I led a group in piloting a post-dc COVID virtual clinic – used similar heuristics, cognitive walkthrough, storyboarding and usability testing to launch our app.
  • I liked how we focused on application of those tools. Also, despite the COVID being a very unfortunate circumstance, I felt I learned the most during this time. I learned a variety of online tools and platforms that I can take with me to be able to complete things like storyboards, cognitive walkthroughs, brainstorming, etc. I think the best thing I learned in the class were the tools available to be able to codesign, This course was an absolute pleasure.

 

Students, Course: Ergonomic Design of Information Systems
Faculty: Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, MIE, University of Toronto – Fall 2018

  • Thank you for one of the most futuristic coursesI have taken at U. of T. 
  • I signed with IBM as a UX Designer. For every role that I interviewed for (UX researcher or designer positions), I was asked to complete a take home “case study”. I performed very well in these assignments and IMPRESSED the companies with my design thinking process, strategy, deliverables and presentation. I cannot thank you enough for the class assignments we did in MIE344. They were very well thought-out and by following those steps and guidelines, I was able to compete with experienced UX-ersand land some pretty sweet offers.
    I am very fortunate to have had you as my Prof! THANK YOU!!!!
  • A human centred design course that is worth taking. The experience of developing an interface with my group members is something that I am proud to put on my resume, and concepts I have learned from this course will be lifelong beneficialto me.
  • I learned about the importance of iteration in product design. Being someone who likes to work on side-projects, I’m used to going straight to coding with some minor thought given to prototype design. Now, I know to develop paper prototypes and then iterate on themusing wire-framing and design software.

 

Students in Course: User Experience Design
Faculty: University of Toronto, Information School, Knowledge Media Design – UXD, Fall 2017

  • It was a pleasure to take this course and I have to say it exceeded all of my expectations. It was exactly what I was hoping for when I enrolled here… I truly appreciate the hard work you put into securing Cineplex as an industry partner, their guidance was an invaluable asset for our group, and I found it to be an incredible learning opportunity.

 

Students in Course: Designing Systems for Real World Problems
Faculty: Computer Science, University of Toronto, Summer Abroad in Berlin, Summer 2017

  • Awesome professor! She is passionate about her field and reflects that in her lectures. Expect to participate actively both in-class, and in the group assignments as there are no excuses for slacking off. The hard work you put in will be reflected in both your grades and what you get out of the course.
  • Very professional and down to earth! Probably the best professor I’ve had!Her lectures are fun and interactive… Probably the most organized CS class I’ve ever had overall. This was for a Summer Abroad course, but Ilona was very accessible outside of class and cared about her students succeeding in both class and in industry. There are quite a lot of assignments but you get to experience iterating on a product and testing on users in real life.

 

Photo of the class of CSC396 with ILONA POSNER and 23 students posing at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, July 2025

OCADU, Executive Masters of Design for Advertising Students taking the course “Embracing Technology,” 2009-10.

  • “I feel, learned more from this class than in any other… I really loved the way you structured things…I think the real measure of a course is whether it has value afterthe fact. I’m working on something now and find myself drawing on some of your course material in my thinking. Thank you for that…  I wasn’t entirely sure what my expectations were of the EMDes course but I know that what I gained in your course delivered it.” Artistic Director, Principal, Advertising Agency, Canada.
  • “I found the course very interesting and really enjoyed / appreciated your passion for the subject. I will take away a number of very important bits and pieces.” Account Executive, Interactive Group, Major Advertising Agency, Canada.
  • “The most important concept learned in the course was the ‘Trinity for Success.’ I had never thought of the ‘balancing act’ between the user, business, and technology… My favorite part was examination and appreciation of behaviour – looking past simply identifying a customer and taking into account their behaviour and how this plays an integral role in strategic decision making… I feel I am already beginning to apply my learning from this course to my work this week.  Most importantly I keep asking myself what the user experience might be with each campaign execution we are working on for fall launch.” Advertising & Media Planner, Major Canadian Broadcaster.
  • “The most important concept I learned was, it’s not about you, it’s about the user (i.e. usability, content…), and this relation is exceptionally fragile cause we’re not there when our website is being used or our blog is being read (or not!). Every step needs to be well thought of, tested, and continuously monitored.” Web Designer, Tech Expert.
  • “I enjoyed your teaching style. It was fun, loaded with examples and stories to help to the learning stick, yet informative.” Artistic Director, Advertising Agency, US.
  • “The course allowed us to combine design to strategy and if we look at the most successful companies in almost every field (Apple, Ikea…) it is obvious that design is part of the strategy.” International Multimedia Designer & Producer

 

CFC Interactive Art and Entertainment Program Participants. 2000 – 2011

  • “Ilona has teaching under her skin…  I wish we had more time with her.”
  • “Very relaxed and comfortable instructor to be around. I was thrilled to have her great experience and wisdom in the group. I would have liked more time to spend with Ilona.”
  • “She was a mentor, teacher, thought-provocateur and beacon of shining light to me at the CFC…  Thanks for making me think!”

 

Logos of Schools for whom Ilona Posner has done UX Training