User Experience Design BSc (Hons)

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.

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.

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.