Our MSc in User Experience (UX) Design course follows a human-centred design approach to understanding, designing, and evaluating digital experiences. User Experience includes all aspects of an end-user’s interaction with a product/service. We use UX to drive change within context, content, and users. Empathising with a user’s needs, motivations and behaviours is critical in today’s evolving digital landscape.
Our User Experience course welcomes you into postgraduate study from a range of backgrounds including computer science, design, media, and psychology and supports technical and non-technical disciplines. You’ll gain in-depth theoretical knowledge and build on essential UX skills through testing, analysing, and evaluating. Complimented by hands-on practical experiences focusing on creative thinking, problem-solving and prototyping. The UX course focuses on modern technologies that allow us to create meaningful, disruptive, and transformative experiences.
The course covers industry and academic knowledge, encouraging best practices. You'll learn to adopt industry frameworks and tools mixed with academic methods and methodologies. These create the foundations for designing, developing, and studying emerging technologies. Our academic experts specialise in designing content and interactions for core, ubiquitous and future technologies. They have expertise in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, and Software Engineering. This knowledge will guide you through UX applied research and help you develop skills in applying design principles. You'll also learn about data collection, analysis and evaluation for both qualitative and quantitative data. You'll apply this knowledge by developing a portfolio of low and high-fidelity digital prototypes. This work will be rooted in research problems and industry challenges.
Prepare for the workplace by designing, developing, and evaluating appropriate technologies to meet your users' needs. You’ll focus on building physical and digital experiences. Based on the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ubiquitous computing. By learning how these technologies work, how to design for interactions, employing practical approaches for building prototypes and the application of methods for evaluation. You'll also consider the legal/ethical implications of collecting data. Whilst applying practical methods for studying data collection and analysis.
You'll have many opportunities to work in collaboration with other students in the school and our research centres. These include Human-Computer Interaction, Mixed Realities, and Internet of Things research projects. We use industry and research activities to inform course teaching. Aiming to provide you with the theoretical and professional skills needed in both areas. You'll leave the UX course with sought after skills that are transferable to a range of future careers.
Our UX Design course is flexible, it's designed to be studied full- or part-time, or as a sandwich option. This means the course fits around you and your personal needs
Why study with us
- You’ll have access to bespoke HCI labs for ideating, developing, and evaluating. Helping you craft the skills to become a competent UX design professional. Both the ChiCI Lab and our innovative Imaginarium support your learning, development, and research.
- You’ll study a curriculum based on industry and academic input with applied learning and research.
- You'll have the opportunity to enhance your CV by undertaking a professional placement. This will extend your study time by six to twelve months.
What you'll do
- Learn in a small group environment, providing plenty of opportunities for developing your practice, networking, and getting involved with research activities.
- On this User Experience master's degree, you'll use emerging technologies. From the latest mobile devices to virtual reality headsets.
- Learn in an environment that demonstrates how academic research can respond to real-world industry needs.
Course Breakdown
The course covers seven modules, you'll learn how to conduct UX research, demonstrated using practical skills to develop solutions as a response to challenges. Learning content is provided through lectures, guest lectures, labs, and seminars. We promote the co-creation of materials and assessments. You'll work collaboratively and independently on industry and academic challenges.
During the course you’ll develop theoretical understanding, knowledge of trends, emerging ideas and ongoing research activity. Alongside becoming familiar with planning, self-management, communication, critical evaluation and technical skills.
Module overview
Compulsory modules
• CO4804: Masters Project
• CO4828: Research Methods
• CO4830: IT Projects and Programmes
• CO4902: User-Centred Design
• CO4904: Industry Project
• CO4906: Advanced Topics in User Experience
• CO4907: Prototyping and Evaluation
Course delivery
Following the pandemic, we have found that some courses benefit from a blended learning and teaching approach. Therefore, the majority of your teaching will be face-to-face on campus, with some online teaching where we have learnt it works best.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.
Future Careers in UX Design
The course will encourage you to follow a career in UX either via industry or further academic study. We aim to produce UX designers who are competent in essential UX skills and have theoretical and practical knowledge.
UX designers enjoy the process, impact recognition and opportunities User Experience brings as a career. Many of our alumni now work as UX specialists for major organisations such as the BBC and Tata and agencies. Both the course and our graduates are responsive to an evolving profession. Drawing insights from research and industry experience to ensure they can take advantage of the opportunities this exciting field brings.
Typical roles include:
- UX designer
- UX researcher
- UI/UX developer
- Information architect
- Interactive designer
- Usability analyst
Previous graduates of the User Experience course have been successful within the industry. Many also complete further academic study in the form of a PhD degree.
Example careers include (but not limited to):
- User Research
- Design Research
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Interaction Design
- User Interface Design
- Usability Testing
- Software Development (mobile, web, IoT)
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