Experience Design, MS

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 Science 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 study how to invoke cooperation, collaboration, and integration across disciplines and practices.

The Master of Science 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 should 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.

The MS degree is intended for graduate students from related fields—media, design, communications, data science, and more—who would like to acquire competencies in experience design to complement their skills and address their professional needs. Embedded in the course offering of our Master of Fine Arts in Experience Design program, students in the MS program will have the opportunity to join MFA students for activities such as attending guest lectures and workshops.