Master of Science - User Experience (UX) Design (professional placement)

The 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. UX is used 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.

The User Experience course welcomes students into postgraduate study from a range of backgrounds including computer science, design, media, and psychology and supports technical and non-technical disciplines. Students will 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. Students will learn to adopt industry frameworks and tools mixed with academic methods and methodologies. These create the foundations for designing, developing, and studying emerging technologies. 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 students through UX applied research and help them develop skills in applying design principles. Students will also learn about data collection, analysis and evaluation for both qualitative and quantitative data. Students will 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 users' needs. Students will 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. Students will also consider the legal/ethical implications of collecting data. Whilst applying practical methods for studying data collection and analysis.

Students will have many opportunities to work in collaboration with other students in the school and UCLAN's research centres. These include Human-Computer Interaction, Mixed Realities, and Internet of Things research projects. UCLAN uses industry and research activities to inform course teaching. Aiming to provide students with the theoretical and professional skills needed in both areas. Students will leave the UX course with sought after skills that are transferable to a range of future careers.