User Experience Design BSc (Hons)
Optional Diploma Years:
Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 diploma), or Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 diploma), available between years 2 & 3
Want to shape how people engage with the ever-evolving digital world? And understand the different ways users experience a design?
Our User Experience Design degree gives you the essential skills to become a successful UX designer — shaping how people engage with digital products and services. The course will enable you to create interactive products such as website and app prototypes, video motion graphics, digital imagery and designed research outputs.
You’ll explore the people and technologies involved in the design process and learn to identify users’ needs and goals and map their emotional journeys, using skills such as user research, copywriting, typography, motion, coding and interaction design. Through a mixture of projects, you will become adept at generating insight-driven solutions for organisations and brands, charities, social causes, and design-for-good initiatives addressing the problems we face in the world.
Our practical studio projects mirror the type of briefs you would be given in a design agency, resulting in outcomes that genuinely prepare you for the real world of work. As you progress, you will generate case studies for your portfolio that showcase your knowledge of user research, user interface design and interaction design to copywriting, typography and motion.
Recent awards:
- BSc (Hons) User Experience Design student receives the highest accolade at this year’s Creative Conscience Awards
- Black Pencil and Yellow Pencil awarded to User Experience Design student at D&AD New Blood Awards 2023
Why Study with us
- Share your first year with other graphics students, and then continue to work alongside each other, allowing for a unique cross fertilisation of knowledge, skills and experience.
- Develop problem-solving skills by understanding and interpreting project briefs, conducting discovery research, generating ideas, developing prototypes, testing and refining them into successful concepts.
- Undertake project briefs initiated and taught by industry designers and enter national and international design competitions judged by the design industry.
- Engage with industry through portfolio reviews and surgeries, talks from practising alumni, interview practice and graduate portfolio showcase events.
- Hone your project management, communication and collaborative working skills so that you leave with a standout CV and portfolio.
Course Content
Integrated Foundation Year (optional)
Our Integrated Foundation Year is designed to equip students with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in their chosen degree subject. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to various disciplines, blending critical thinking and creative problem-solving with practical hands-on experience. This year serves as a bridge to undergraduate studies, allowing students to explore their interests within a supportive and inspiring environment, while familiarising themselves with the campus, workshops, and tutors.
Year 1
In the first year, the curriculum is shared across related graphics courses, enabling you to gain a broad grounding in the discipline before going on to specialist units in your chosen field in the second and third years. In your common first year, you will explore the fundamentals of design. With a focus on process, you will explore techniques, technologies and research-inspired design as you work on individual and team projects. The course expands to cover a huge range of experimental processes, platforms and technologies, meaning that you will build a strong portfolio, demonstrating your design skills and innovative practice. This unit introduces theories and ideas of design and visual culture and teaches you how to use them in your practical work.
40 credits
In this unit, you will explore and experiment with techniques, materials and media. You explore the fundamental principles of visual communication and develop skills in typography, printing, layout, photography, design research, idea generation, and storytelling. You’ll learn technical skills in various design-related digital design applications such as Figma, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects, and develop your knowledge of user experience by learning about methods that are useful at every stage of the UX process. You’ll be introduced to essential skills in organising and presenting complex data and information using infographics, wider graphic language, as well as how people view, process, and act on the wealth of visual information they receive every day.
80 credits
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Year 2
In this unit you’ll experiment and iterate the design process through workshops and projects covering user research, design principles, mobile UX, wireframing, prototyping, motion graphics and sound. You will learn how to identify and research competitors, your audience, and how to translate the results into initial design requirements. You’ll explore user-centred design principles and methodologies and how designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process. To support your development, you will develop broader knowledge and understanding of the historical, social, ethical and cultural ideas in relation to user experience design.
80 credits
This unit will introduce you to how collaborative working can help you focus and enhance your creative strengths, working with fellow students and our creative communities. You’ll have the opportunity to experience group work in the context of industry-based projects to specify, develop, deploy and evaluate a web-based system, including prototype software, links to web-hosted work, static layouts, and animations. This unit will take you through the entire process, from requirements gathering, user-centred design, proposal development, implementation and evaluation. Students will also assess their outputs from the perspective of different roles within an organisation and consider alternative perspectives and their value to your work.
40 credits
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Diploma Year (optional)
Students have the opportunity to spend a year after the second of their degree (or the third year if studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year) enhancing their employability options through a Level 5 Diploma. They can choose from courses designed to provide:
- opportunities to gain industry insight, developing employability skills through a series of supported experiences, expanding professional networks and building confidence in the workplace, or
- an introduction to creative computing, building an understanding of how coding skills can be used to advance and complement creative practice.
Final year
This is the first and shorter of the two units that make up your final year of study. Your final year allows you to refine your existing creative practice, develop your skills and reflect upon your experience, with opportunities to engage with live projects, competitions and industry networks to broaden your portfolio and strategically enhance your career direction. You will specialise in areas such as user research, interaction design, prototyping, motion graphics and web design skills, and explore emerging trends like artificial intelligence and virtual reality. You’ll develop an individual research project that advances your knowledge of contextual issues, cultural theories and debates. Group and individual tutorials will provide stimulating and supportive sessions to help you develop your research ideas and those of others.
40 credits
This unit will allow you to deliver final major design projects, embracing the entire design process and demonstrating your approach to, and engagement with, contemporary digital design issues. You’ll engage in a human-centred design process and apply practical, theoretical, and technical knowledge to examine a subject or theme to realise and communicate your design solution. Emphasis is placed on students’ abilities to evaluate, make informed choices for selecting techniques and processes, and create innovative outcomes. You’ll have the opportunity to display your final year project as part of our degree show, Grad Fest, which allows you to showcase your work to our network of industry professionals and prospective employers.
80 credits
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Alex Crisp
Tabbed Section
Typical UK offers
A / AS Levels – GCE
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BCC (104 UCAS Tariff points) or above. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, Norwich University of the Arts will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade Merit or above
UAL Extended Diploma
Merit
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio (if required), responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
International applications
We accept qualifications from all over the world. To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.
Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).
We also accept some alternative English qualifications. Learn more about our English entry requirements.
You can email us on international@norwichuni.ac.uk if you’d like to discuss your application individually.
BSc (Hons) User Experience Design degree portfolio guidance
Portfolios should show examples of your work — both finished and work in progress — that demonstrate your interests and skills. Your portfolio should be made up of work that reflects your creativity, personal interests and influences, as well as demonstrating your technical skills and ability. It doesn’t have to be perfect as we can assess your potential from your work in progress.
Your portfolio should be relevant to this course, but you can include a wide range of work that shows your creativity, technical competence, industry awareness and career aspirations.
Because User Experience Design encourages applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds we are flexible on portfolio content.
However, as a guide, we ask for at least two of the following or similar:
- One or two website or app designs that demonstrate your design skills.
- A coding project you’ve undertaken (any coding language is accepted)
- Sketches, interface diagrams or similar that demonstrate your idea development skills.
- Visual research into similar products or services in the market place
- A short piece of critical writing about one or more digital services, for example that analyses positive and negative elements of a website from a user’s perspective.
- Evidence of research projects in any discipline, perhaps collecting and analysing people’s opinions or analysing statistical data.
- Examples of experimental collaborative projects (such as attending Game Jam events or Techathons)
Further portfolio advice and tips
Get more advice on presentation formats, layouts and when to submit your portfolio in the application process.
2024/25 University fees for new entrants
Norwich University of the Arts will assess students’ tuition fee status using the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs
Students from the UK or Ireland and EU students with ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status will be charged ‘Home’ fees if they meet the relevant residency requirements. They will usually be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK government, meaning that they won’t have to pay Norwich University of the Arts’ tuition fees upfront.
Students who do not meet the necessary residency requirements will usually be charged ‘Overseas’ fees and will not be eligible for the UK government tuition fee loan. Since 2021/22, this includes new entrants from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who do not have ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status, because the UK has now formally left the EU.
| Fee status | Course | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £9,250 |
| Overseas | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £18,000 |
Inflation in subsequent years
The rules for inflation on fees in subsequent years depend on the type of fee status and level.
- For Home undergraduate students starting in 2024, inflation may be applied to your fees in later years, if the UK government were to increase the fee cap beyond the current limit of £9,250 per year. If such an increase were to apply, we would confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we would limit the increase to the maximum allowed by the Office for Students.
- For Overseas undergraduate students starting in 2024, inflation will be applied to your fees in later years. We will confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we will limit the increase to no more than the Office for Students’ recommended inflationary measure, which is RPI-X. RPI-X is calculated by the Office for Budget Responsibility. In setting fees for the following year, we will use the Office for Budget Responsibility’s RPI-X forecast for quarter 3 of the relevant year.
For Home and overseas postgraduate degree students starting in 2024, fees will remain the same for each year of your course.
Financial support for UK students in 2024
Tuition fee loans and loans for living costs are usually available to UK and some EU students, as well as non-repayable Norwich University of the Arts bursaries based on family income. Find out more about applying for funding.
International students
We offer a range of scholarships for international students to support your studies with us.
- Group briefings
- Academic tutorials
- Group tutorials
- Lectures
- Workshops
- Critiques (crits)
- Seminars
- Finished pieces of work
- Presentations
- Written work
- Your research
- A reflective journal
Work-based Learning Opportunities
Between Years 2 and 3 of this course, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake one of the following additional qualifications:
Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 Diploma)
Our Creative Professional Development Diploma gives you the chance to spend a year exploring your post-uni job options through a structured programme of input sessions and work-based learning. This year offers two much-sought-after industry placements – the first lasting six weeks, the second 12 weeks, and a group project or ‘hackathon’ exploring freelancing and business start-up.
Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 Diploma)
Our Creative Computing Diploma introduces you to coding and computational skills that will advance and complement your creative practice. No prior experience of coding is needed, just a curiosity about creative computing and a desire to push your own practice into new realms. You’ll also develop a wider knowledge of the creative tech industries, available roles and opportunities.
Integrated Foundation Year – BSc (Hons) User Experience Design
An Integrated Foundation Year offers students a chance to build on their experience within their undergraduate course of choice.
An Integrated Foundation Year will help to build confidence and develop subject specific practical, creative and conceptual skills – making full use of University studios and workshops.
Typical UK offers and entry requirements for Integrated Foundation Year entry
GCE A/AS Levels
2 A-level qualifications at grades CC or higher.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)
UAL Extended Diploma
An overall Pass
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
An overall Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 24 points
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
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@norwichuniarts
Norwich University of the Arts is proud to announce that it has been named the inaugural Arts University of the Year by the Daily Mail University Guide…
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Norwich student receives the highest honour at Creative Conscience Awards 2024
A BSc (Hons) User Experience Design student receives the highest accolade at this year’s Creative Conscience Awards, while BA (Hons) Graphic Communication graduates secure Silver and Bronze.
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Body Matters AHRA International Conference
Thursday 21 November – Saturday 23 November 2024
The 21st Architectural Humanities Research Association International Conference is taking place at Norwich this November, with the theme ‘Body Matters’.
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In conversation with
Clara reflects on her experience on the Graphics shared first year at Norwich, where studying alongside other graphic students creates a unique opportunity for the exchange of knowledge, skills and experiences.
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