There is a class at Brigham Young University called EXDM 300: Creating a Good Life, dedicated to helping students design their lives and apply positive psychology.
The class introduces basic experience design concepts while emphasizing positive psychology principles. It also fulfills BYU's general education credit for global and cultural awareness by exploring "the good life” across multiple countries, cultures and diverse populations.
“I think the concepts being taught in the class are really cool and really interesting. I think it’s been really fascinating,” sophomore Annabelle Ward said.
Ward is taking the class during the fall 2025 semester as a prerequisite for the experience design management major.
One big assignment for the class is the BYU experience project. During the semester, students plan to attend activities at BYU and find new ways to engage with the university. Throughout the semester, students follow this plan and collect a minimum of 100 points.
For one activity, Ward went to a BYU football game for the first time. She was not able to get a ROC pass for the year, but the assignment pushed her to attend the game with her family.
“It was really fun to go with my grandpa and my aunt and uncle and have them teach me a little bit more about football,” she said. "To be there, the energy at the game was just so crazy.”
The lectures also look a little different from other general education classes. They usually start with an ice breaker or an activity to get students out of their chairs and interacting.
BYU sophomore Berry Ward said her favorite activity involved forming groups to create skits about reconnecting with nature.
“We went outside one day and made a skit using three things we found outside. It was really funny, and everyone had really good skits. We sang a song from 'The Lorax,'” Ward said.
Professor Brian Hill helped develop EXDM 300 and has taught it at BYU for 13 years. While this class is a prerequisite to the experience design management major, only the second half of the coursework reflects the principles commonly taught in the major; the first part focuses on positive psychology.
“We’re talking about design thinking, and the importance of experiences, designing and using design thinking to think about your life,” Hill said.
Hill said the principles of positive psychology are foundational for design thinking. When learning to design experiences, he said, one must keep the happiness of others in mind.
“I do think some of the things that we do feel a lot like busy work and repetition … Sometimes we cover the same topic like three times,” Ward said.
When asked about feedback on busywork, Hill said: “When students are hands-on with material and from a course, they are way more likely to apply it, and it’ll stick with them. I want students to think about the concepts more than they would.”
Current students said the class covers topics that are directly and personally applicable to their lives.