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Academic Catalog 2021-2022

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Experience Design, MFA

2021-2022 Edition

  • Undergraduate
  • College of Professional Studies Undergraduate
  • Graduate
    • General Admission and Transfer Credit
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    • College of Arts, Media and Design
      • Academic Policies and Procedures
      • School of Architecture
      • Art + Design
        • Experience Design, MFA
        • Information Design and Data Visualization, MFA
        • Experience Design, MS
        • Game Science and Design, MS
        • Information Design and Data Visualization, MS
        • Game Experience Design, Graduate Certificate
        • Game Science, Graduate Certificate
        • Experience Design, Graduate Certificate
        • Information Design and Visualization, Graduate Certificate
      • School of Journalism
      • Interdisciplinary Programs
    • D'Amore-​McKim School of Business
    • Khoury College of Computer Sciences
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    • Appendix
  • Course Descriptions
  • Catalog Archives
  • Overview
  • Program Requirements
  • Plan of Study

The Master of Fine Arts in Experience Design embraces research-driven design thinking for entrepreneurship, innovation, and other areas, preparing students to be vital contributors and leaders at the intersection of innovation and design.

Experience design is a holistic and integrative approach to design that utilizes investigation into the human experience in specific situations to improve its quality, given an understanding of human goals, needs, and desires. For example, in the context of healthcare, an experience designer does not focus on the design of any one technology product, information system, or physical space. Instead, the designer is charged with understanding and improving the overall sequence of events that impact the patient before and during a hospital stay as well as through follow-up care.

The experience design program moves beyond design thinking to produce outcomes that demonstrate the value of human-centered research and design methods. It draws on findings from a range of professional and scholarly disciplines (including business, psychology, human-computer interaction, engineering, cybernetics) to understand and shape specific situations. It extends across many industries and aspects of life: healthcare, technology, services, travel, education, entertainment, shopping, dining, and the nature of work itself.

Through examining how people behave in a real context in relation to emerging technologies, the Master of Fine Arts in Experience Design allows graduates from design and related disciplines (such as communications, computer science, business, architecture, art, journalism, humanities, and the social sciences) to gain knowledge and experience in the design competencies. To accomplish these goals, students will learn how to invoke cooperation, collaboration, and integration across disciplines and practices.

The Master of Fine Arts in Experience Design seeks to prepare students to be vital contributors and leaders of professional experience design teams where technological innovation intersects with design. Successful graduates will be able to analyze how people undergo real-world situations, enabling them to enrich experience by orchestrating new design-driven relationships. They will be equipped with the skills to identify shortcomings as well as opportunities for improved engagement between systems and elements—virtual or physical—with the humans who encounter them.

Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.

Core Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Required Core
ARTG 5120Research Methods for Design4
ARTG 5600Experience Design Studio 1: Principles4
ARTG 5610Design Systems4
ARTG 5620Notational Systems for Experience4
ARTG 5640Prototyping for Experience Design4
ARTG 6310Design for Behavior and Experience4
ARTG 6600Experience Design Studio 2: Group and Interpersonal4
ARTG 6700Design Studio 3: Synthesis4
Thesis
ARTG 7100Critical Design and Research Seminar4
ARTG 7910Design Project and Exhibition4
ARTG 7990Thesis4

Electives

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete 16 semester hours of elective courses, such as these in consultation with your advisor:16
ARTG 5310
Visual Cognition
ARTG 5320
Statistics for Design
ARTG 5330
Visualization Technologies 1: Fundamentals
ARTG 6320
Design of Information-Rich Environments
ARTG 6330
Information Design Mapping Strategies
ARTG 6110
Information Design Theory and Critical Thinking
ARTG 6900
Special Topics in Design
GSND 6320
Psychology of Play

Program Credit/GPA Requirements

60 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Sample Two Years, One Co-op (Optional) Plan of Study

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
ARTG 56004ARTG 56104Co-op or Vacation
ARTG 51204ARTG 63104 
ARTG 56204ARTG 66004 
ARTG 56404Elective4 
 16 16 0
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHours 
ARTG 67004ARTG 79104 
ARTG 71004ARTG 79904 
Elective4Elective4 
Elective4  
 16 12 
Total Hours: 60
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