M.A. Design, Interaction and User Experience Design

The professional MA in Design degree with a concentration in Interaction and User Experience Design at the University of Kansas educates students in the theory, methods, and practices of interaction design. It affords students the requisite professional knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform as interaction designers. The program is developed for prospective students who already hold a related baccalaureate degree and who are seeking advanced study in a versatile, rapidly growing professional design discipline. Courses are offered at both the Lawrence and Edwards campuses to accommodate the needs of working professionals.

Interaction Design is the activity of researching and fashioning products, services, and systems that are useful, usable, and desirable to people. Interaction Design offers a human-centered approach to innovation, creatively mediating how businesses engage with customers and how brands and entire organizations can become more relevant in the marketplace. Broadly speaking, interaction design is the activity of defining the contextual behavior of artifacts, environments, and systems.

Applicants to the Interaction and User Experience Design concentration should have at least two years of full-time professional work experience in design or in a related field.

The Master’s student in Interaction and User Experience Design should evidence the ability to conduct original design research, translate research insights into actionable design inputs, and produce an interactive artifact of relevance and quality.