User Experience Design MA

This unit focuses on the advanced technical skills essential for idea generation, problem-solving, and practical development in user experience design. You will explore and experiment with various media and technical processes, enhancing your ability to design innovative digital products and solutions. The unit encourages an expanded approach to the discipline, challenging technical expectations in contemporary design practices. Content includes coding, physical computing, user experience methodologies, user flows, agile working, storytelling, systems thinking, and emerging technologies (AR/VR/AI). This research-led framework, combined with continuous experimentation, will deepen your practical expertise and working methods with fresh ideas, equipping you to broaden and influence the evolving landscape of user experience design.

This unit encourages your exploration of a range of leading practices and emerging research within user experience design through reflective analysis and interactive sessions. Through individual and group projects, you will develop a critical understanding of your discipline within socio-economic, political, ethical, and cultural contexts. Key themes include design history, identity and representation, human/computer interaction, visual language, aesthetics, Gestalt psychology, and wicked problems. You’ll develop a range of research approaches, using discursive interaction to inform your inquiry methods and push your creative boundaries to inspire new perspectives between digital design disciplines. A research-led approach will help you to use established and contemporary techniques to extend and explore your chosen area of expertise.

This unit deepens your expertise in professional-level technical skills crucial for human-centred design in user experience. Using techniques from the ‘advanced technical skills’ unit, you will experiment with various media to support personal and professional growth. Through individual and group projects, you’ll refine technical processes and develop innovative solutions to enhance problem-solving abilities. Unit briefs focus on creating effective solutions for contemporary and emerging media platforms, supported by practice-based research exploring user environments. Topics include coding, prototyping, user flows, journey mapping, service blueprints, interface design, and emerging technologies like AR/VR/AI. A research-led approach enables you to employ established and contemporary techniques to advance your expertise.

This unit is designed to enhance your knowledge of leading practices and emerging research within and around the field of user experience design. By developing effective research and reflective strategies, you will improve your critical comprehension of key methodologies and gain a broader understanding of creative communication within socio-economic, political, ethical, and cultural contexts. Building on the content covered in the ‘dialogue, debate, and domain knowledge’ unit, you will explore themes such as design history, identity and representation, human/computer interaction, visual language, Gestalt psychology, and wicked problems. Research-led projects will help you develop your overall creative persona and develop strategies for conceptual and practical problem-solving, positioning you as a critically engaged practitioner.

This unit marks the culmination of your master’s study, consolidating your specialist knowledge, communication skills, and sophisticated practices within user experience design. Through meticulous planning, organisation, and support from tutors and industry professionals, you will develop a research question and design a viable project to test your hypotheses, aiming for innovative outcomes that may involve multiple outputs or a deep focus on a specific aspect of your practice. Throughout this unit, you will deepen your understanding of the historical, theoretical, cultural, technical, and economic contexts surrounding your discipline. You will examine challenges related to social and environmental sustainability, identifying relevant industries, audiences, and stakeholders. Research-led practice will enhance your ability to synthesise experiments into complex creative outcomes that will support you as an ethically minded and innovative thinker in the field of user experience design.