User Experience Design MSc

Why choose this course?

The aim of the User Experience Design MSc course is to equip you with the behavioural theory, design practice and technology know-how that is necessary for a career as interaction designer, usability engineer, user researcher, or head of user experience. The course focuses upon the analysis, design, prototyping and evaluation of multimedia, multi-modal, and multi-platform user interfaces that are easy to use and support a great user experience.

Each taught module guides students through a UX project – to optimise an interaction, to innovate a digital lifestyle, to apply emerging technology in a persuasive way, and to collaborate on the development of virtual reality. Each project provides opportunities to analyse, design, prototype and evaluate cutting-edge technologies, follow industry trends and apply contemporary theories. A final 'capstone' project completes the student's portfolio.

This course was developed in consultation with our industry panel, which includes Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, DreamWorks and Samsung Design Europe. Kingston University is an active member of TIGA, the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) and supports the User Experience Professionals' Association (UXPA UK).

This course was accredited by the British Computer Society (BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT in 2012.

Apply for this course

Mode	Duration	Attendance	Start date
Full time	1 year	Mixed, including block and day/evening sessions; estimated 50 days on site per year	September 2023
Full time	2 years including professional placement	Mixed, including block and day/evening sessions; estimated 50 days on site per year plus placement year	September 2023
Part time	2–3 years	Mixed, including block and day/evening sessions; estimated 25 days on site per year	September 2023

Location

Penrhyn Road and Kingston School of Art at Knights Park

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Reasons to choose Kingston University

This course prepares you for a career as a usability engineer, user researcher, user experience designer and general "ux-er".
You will graduate with an online professional presence and a portfolio that displays your skills.
Facilities include four Tobii eye trackers and biometric sensors.

Why study User Experience Design?

Philosophy and outlook

Online everything

Online services increasingly pervade all aspects of everyday life. User experience is recognised as a key element in the differentiation and success of these services – on the internet, customers must understand and enjoy, or they will go elsewhere.

The trend towards 'online everything, anytime, anywhere, anyhow' seems set to continue. New computing and communications technologies are in the pipeline, online businesses are growing, and digital content is accumulating.

Design for quality and innovation

This trend raises many professional challenges for user experience design, notably:

how to guarantee that the routine steps of online life can be completed quickly and easily
how to innovate and create genuinely novel experiences
how to organise for distributed, collaborative projects, demonstrate the value of user experience design work, and how to operate within integrated, digital media agencies

Digital studio

We created the User Experience Design MSc to meet these challenges. The course provides:

a project-based curriculum in a 'digital studio' environment
opportunities for industry-based learning (start-up incubator projects, 'live'/externally hosted projects)
the opportunity to tailor in-depth studies to suit your background, interests, and practice niche

Digital Media Kingston

To support delivery of the course, we created Digital Media Kingston. This collaboration between the School of Computing and Information Systems and the School of Design provides the multidisciplinary perspective needed to accommodate students with backgrounds in art and design, computer science and the humanities, and to fully address the range of user experience design issues.

Accreditation

The British Computer Society

This degree has been accredited by British Computer Society (BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT. Accreditation is a mark of assurance that the degree meets the standards set by BCS. An accredited degree entitles you to professional membership of BCS, which is an important part of the criteria for achieving Chartered IT Professional (CITP) status through the Institute. Some employers recruit preferentially from accredited degrees, and an accredited degree is likely to be recognised by other countries that are signatories to international accords. This degree is accredited by BCS for the purposes of partially meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional.

This degree has been accredited by BCS, on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of partially meeting the academic requirement for a Chartered Engineer (CEng). Accreditation is a mark of assurance that the degree meets the standards set by the Engineering Council in the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC). An accredited degree will provide you with some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for eventual registration as an Incorporated (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng).

What you will study

This programme will give you the following opportunities:

Take the role of a user experience (UX) designer/analyst in an interdisciplinary team of students from across the Digital Media Kingston programme, and use industry-standard techniques to deliver on time.
Learn about fundamental User Experience activities - analysis, design, prototyping and evaluation - in the context of practical projects. Projects are selected in consultation with students (and mostly individually), so that you can tailor your degree towards the industry sector, technology or job role that suits your interests and ambitions.
Consider user experience in relation to cutting-edge technologies (big screens, tablets, smartphones, context-aware embedded devices and multi-modal games console), current industry trends (big data, multi-channel services, digital lifestyles), and contemporary theory (cognition 'in the wild', usability vs experience).
Explore at least one kind of specialist practice in depth, to further distinguish and focus your learning, and practice track record.
Learn how to present yourself to potential employers through your online professional presence and portfolio.
Work with industrial hosts, and research-active academics to produce excellent, professional pieces of work that push the boundaries of current understanding and achieve design innovation.

For a student to go on placement they are required to pass every module first time with no reassessments. It is the responsibility of individual students to find a suitable paid placement. Students will be supported by our dedicated placement team in securing this opportunity.

The course comprises four taught modules and a final project.

Year 1

Optional placement year

Final project (June to September)

Core modules

Digital Studio Practice

30 credits

You will work with a multidisciplinary group of students as appropriate for your course (User Experience Design MSc, Game Development (Design) MA, Game Development (Programming) MSc and Computer Animation MA); involved with the digital media production process in response to a project brief developed in consultation with the industry panel and/or research staff. Projects concern contemporary platforms, such as iPhone, Android, Windows, Playstation, Xbox and Next Generation controllers and innovative input devices. You also develop a professional profile (online CV/portfolio) fitting for your role and intended destination which you maintain throughout the course.

Coursework: report, prototype, and presentation (group and individual)
Schedule: allow one weekday per week in the first semester
Staff: course staff

User Experience Design (Systems)

30 credits

This module focuses upon the usability testing, detailed design and prototyping of single-user interaction with data-intensive, web services and applications via the desk-top, particularly for information seeking and shopping. The emphasis is upon quantitative measurement for optimisation and efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction.

Coursework: usability test report, prototype, presentation
Schedule: allow approximately one day per week during the first semester
Staff: Dr Martin Colbert

UX for Emerging Technology

30 credits

The module focuses on the research, design, prototyping and testing of UX for emerging technologies, such as Internet of Things, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and CyberSecurity. Specialist techniques covered include conversational design, emotional design, service design, and tools for UX in distributed, collaborative groups.

Staff: Dr Makayla Lewis

User Experience Design (Content)

30 credits

This module focuses upon user research, participatory design and prototyping for new interaction concepts, particularly those for multi-user or multi-modal interaction with media-rich information sources for personal and ubiquitous computing platforms. The emphasis is upon qualitative insight and creativity for user engagement and persuasion across the end-to-end user journey, particularly in mobile contexts.

Coursework: design report, prototype, presentation
Schedule: allow approximately one day a week in the second semester
Staff: Dr Jay Kiruthika

User Experience Project

60 credits

This module relates the work of the course to a practical solution and demonstrates skills in defining, analysing and developing a substantial solution to an individually defined user experience design-related problem. You will be guided and supported in your choice of project by course tutors and this will be informed by individual career and personal development planning undertaken during the preparation of the proposal.

Assessment: a portfolio of work, including a thesis (8,000 words), literature review, user research data and prototypes, plus a 'viva' demo presentation
Schedule: allow approximately fortnightly supervisions for four months (or equivalent)
Staff: course staff

Work placement scheme

Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the work placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Student Route visa.

Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.

Core modules

User Experience Project

60 credits

Assessment: a portfolio of work, including a thesis (8,000 words), literature review, user research data and prototypes, plus a 'viva' demo presentation
Schedule: allow approximately fortnightly supervisions for four months (or equivalent)
Staff: course staff

Work placement scheme

Many postgraduate courses at Kingston University allow students to take the option of a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The responsibility for finding the work placement is with the student; we cannot guarantee the placement, just the opportunity to undertake it. You may find securing a professional placement difficult as they are highly competitive and challenging, but they are also incredibly rewarding. It is very important to prepare and apply yourself if this is the route you wish to take. Employers look for great written and oral communication skills and an excellent CV/portfolio. As the work placement is an assessed part of the course, it is covered by a student's Student Route visa.

Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.

Entry requirements

Typical offer

A 2:1 or above honours degree or equivalent in art and design, computer science, or humanities. The most relevant undergraduate degrees are relevant to digital media – graphic design, communication design, interactive media, information technology – but also psychology, ethnography. The course attracts students with both BA and BSc degrees.
Possible weakness in the undergraduate degree may be compensated with relevant work experience, and other evidence that you are motivated and able to study at this level. This may be demonstrated both through qualifications and portfolios of work. If you have an online portfolio/PDF of design and digital work (and a description of your design process) we recommend this is included as a link in your personal statement.
Experience in digital media, user interface development and user interaction design is particularly valuable. Experience in an application domain (health care, business information, retail) is also relevant.
Exceptionally, applicants may have no first degree but more than five years working in information technology, the creative industries or humanities. In these circumstances, an online portfolio/PDF of design and digital work (and a description of your design process) should be included as a link in your personal statement.

International

In order to complete your programme successfully, it is important to have a good command of English and be able to apply this in an academic environment. Therefore, if you are a non-UK applicant* you will usually be required to provide certificated proof of English language competence before commencing your studies.

For this course you must pass IELTS academic test in English with an overall score of 6.5, with no element below 6.0, or meet the scores listed on the alternative online tests. Please note that we do not accept Standard XII as proof of Academic English.

Applicants who do not meet the English language requirements may be eligible to join our pre-sessional English language course.

Please make sure you read our full guidance about English language requirements, which includes details of other qualifications we'll consider.

* Applicants from one of the recognised majority English speaking countries (MESCs) do not need to meet these requirements.

Country-specific information

You will find more information on country specific entry requirements in the International section of our website.

Find your country:

Teaching and assessment

Mock-ups, functional prototypes, demos, videos, presentations, design documents, essays.

All taught modules are project-based and assessed by practical coursework. Typically, this involves an in-class presentation for formative feedback mid-way through a teaching-block ('term'), followed by project deliverables at the end of term i.e. as appropriate, project proposals and strategies, personas, user journeys, task models, styleguides, low-fi/mid-fi/hi-fi prototypes, styleguides, and evaluation reports. Project deliverables are typically accompanied by a design report, which relates project processes and decision-making, and/or explains the final design.

In the majority of modules, the coursework topic and project strategy are selected by students, in consultation with module staff and in the light of the student's existing skills, portfolio and intended destination. In the digital studio practice module, students are assigned to a multi-disciplinary groups, and asked to respond to a set creative brief.

Guided independent study (self-managed time)

When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.

Support for postgraduate students

As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.

Your workload

Year 1: 16% of your time is spent in timetabled learning and teaching activity.

Year 1

Scheduled learning and teaching: 290 hours
Guided independent study (self-managed time): 1510 hours

Contact hours may vary depending on your modules.

How you will be assessed

Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation). The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows, though depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose:

Year 1

Coursework: 100%

Feedback summary

We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.

Class sizes

You will be taught in a class of about 60-80 students for talks and about 30-40 for workshops. Classes are about 50% talks and 50% workshops. Some modules are common across other postgraduate programmes, therefore you may be taught alongside postgraduates from other courses.

What this course offers you

These course features are intended to maintain academic standards and ease the transition from university study to commercial practice, whilst providing an enjoyable and stimulating experience that develops individuals holistically:

Project-based teaching and learning.
Talks on principles and methods, and guided practical workshops support the development of UX practice.
In-class presentations and workshops, and discussions encourage collaboration.
Coursework topics tailored to development of your portfolio and destination.
Balanced consideration of research, design, prototyping and evaluation in the context of project management.
A broad coverage of UX issues that covers mobile, desktop and other devices (Internet of Things).
User Performance and Experiential Criteria (from utility and efficiency to engagement, persuasion and brand perception).
Key topics of User Journeys, Design Thinking, Usability Testing.
Possibility of dovetailing study and work via externally hosted projects, placements and start-ups.
Whole-day or whole-week delivery eases scheduling for part-timers.

Who teaches this course?

About Digital Media Kingston

The User Experience Design MSc course is delivered by Digital Media Kingston.

Digital Media Kingston (DMK) is an interdisciplinary, collaborative project between the School of Computer Science and Mathematics, and School of Design at Kingston University. Its mission is to bring together creative expression, theoretical analysis, scientific rigour and technological innovation to underpin innovation and excellence in the computational arts.

The teaching element of the DMK project delivers a suite of four related courses: Computer Animation MA, Games Development (Design) MA, User Experience Design MSc, and Games Development (Programming) MSc. You will share the majority of your taught modules with students taking these digital media courses.

Postgraduate students may run or assist in lab sessions and may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader.

Dr Kiruthika Jayaramakrishnan (Jay)

Professor Vesna Brujic-Okretic

Dr Makayla Lewis

Dr Gregory Mills

Mr Paul Neve

Guest tutors and supervisors

User Experience is a practical subject, so what counts, is not just what you know, but also how you do it. There is great diversity in UX practice, and London is a great incubator for it. So we are lucky to be able to invite a range of researchers, designers, product managers and mentors to lead tutorial groups, and to supervise your coursework projects. Working with experienced practitioners is probably the best way of learning how to practice, and it keeps everyone in touch with real world demands and the professional community.

Alberto Ferreira

Raida Shakiry

Robert Thorneycroft

Fees for this course

2023/24 fees for this course

Home 2023/24

MSc full time £9,860
MSc part time £5,423

International 2023/24

MSc full time £17,500
MSc part time £9,625

2022/23 fees for this course

Home 2022/23

MSc full time £9,620
MSc part time £5,291

International 2022/23

MSc full time £15,400
MSc part time £8,470

Tuition fee information for future course years

If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.

If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.

Fees for the optional placement year

If you choose to take a placement as part of this course, you will be invoiced for the placement fee in Year 2. Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme and the costs for the placement year.

Scholarships and bursaries

Kingston University offers a range of postgraduate scholarships, including:

If you are an international student, find out more about scholarships and bursaries.

We also offer the following discounts for Kingston University alumni:

Kevin Walsh scholarship

The Kevin Walsh Scholarship is a one-year scholarship for a taught Master's course in the School of Computer Science & Mathematics. It covers the cost of the home fees for a Master's degree as well as providing a maintenance grant.

For more information, visit the Kevin Walsh Scholarship page.

Postgraduate loans

If you are a UK student, resident in England and are aged under the age of 60, you will be able to apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. For more information, read the postgraduate loan information on the government's website.

Additional costs

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees.

Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.

Textbooks

Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. You may prefer to buy your own copy of key textbooks, this can cost between £50 and £250 per year.

Computer equipment

There are open-access networked computers available across the University, plus laptops available to loan. You may find it useful to have your own PC, laptop or tablet which you can use around campus and in halls of residences. Free WiFi is available on each of the campuses. You may wish to purchase your own computer, which can cost between £100 and £3,000 depending on your course requirements.

Photocopying and printing

In the majority of cases written coursework can be submitted online. There may be instances when you will be required to submit work in a printed format. Printing, binding and photocopying costs are not included in your tuition fees, this may cost up to £100 per year.

Field trips

All field trips that are compulsory to attend to complete your course are paid for by the University. There may be small fees incurred for optional field trips such as travel costs and refreshments.

Travel

Travel costs are not included in your tuition fees but we do have a free intersite bus service which links the campuses, Surbiton train station, Kingston upon Thames train station, Norbiton train station and halls of residence.

Placements

If the placement year option is chosen, during this year travel costs will vary according to the location of the placement, and could be from £0 to £2,000.

Facilities – our modern teaching environment

Equipment

Three laptops, each equipped with a Tobii Nano eye tracker, are available for student loan.

Research vehicle website

We operate a website for studying live web traffic (real online behaviour in context).

Your own laptop

There are machines at the University that provide a way of completing the coursework. However, there is no single standard toolbox for user experience.

Part of being an independent practitioner is knowing how you like to work, what tools you like to use and knowing how to push these tools to the limits. A good approach to the course is to 'mix and match' your own tools to suit the team/client/problem.

There are new tools released every month, so we encourage people to get hold of, and own/borrow their favourite kit and install it on their own machine.

Media technology labs

A multimedia and graphics studio that houses 39 Pentium 4 PCs all with DVD writers and our full graphics software which includes Maya complete, Adobe Production Studio, Premiere Pro, Photoshop CS2, Illustrator, After Effects, Encore, Audition, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Combustion.

Digital media workshops

The digital media workshops provide a wide range of software and specialist technical support in the key areas of CAD, 2D and 3D design, digital imaging and processing, high-quality photographic printing, audio and video production, mono and colour printing (up to A3+), and large format plotting (up to B0+).

All 132 computers in the digital media workshop are set up as dual boot workstations. This means that both the Windows XP and Macintosh OS X platforms are available on each machine. You are therefore able to choose the platform (PC or Mac) that you want to work with at any given time.

Other technical resources that are available to students on the DMK suite of courses include:

games development suite
gyroscopic inertial motion system
NTI vendor suite
digital photography labs
premier filming space
post-production suite
animation suite
sound recording suite

Examples of student work

Work from the User Experience Design (Systems) module

Usability test report

A local GP surgery website and PatientAccess.com were usability tested to see how quickly and easily patients can register for the NHS Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

The test results showed that, whilst almost everyone was able to complete the registration page for EPS, only a third of participants understood what they needed to do to register in the first place, and after registration, only half understood which services were now available to them. The perceived ease of use of both sites was in the 'Unacceptable' range. If the top 10 redesign recommendations were implemented, the registration experience could be improved significantly.

Work from the Digital Studio Practice module

Game localisation

This project involved three students – an animator, a games designer and a user experience designer. The project brief was to show how multiple versions of the same game could be more appealing for different audiences – Asia, USA, Europe. The user experience student conducted the design research, project management, and obtained player feedback about the localised prototypes.

Game biometrics

This project involved three Ux students and two games design students. The project brief was to research, design, prototype and get feedback about the concept of a 'biometrics dashboard' – software that integrated data from various physiological sensors attached to users (EEG, GSR, etc) and then displayed this data to games designers, so that they could more fully appreciate the player experience. The user experience designers created the prototype for their game designer 'clients' and domain experts.

Work from the User Experience Design (Content) module

Here are some examples of projects undertaken as part of the User Experience Design (Content) module.

Presentation

An app that helps you take better pictures. With 91% of mobile users taking a photo at least once a month compared to 73% of digital camera owners, it's now accepted that smartphone pictures are equal or better than those from your point-and-shoot. Normally people use apps to edit their mistakes - how about an app which improves the photo during the process?

Prototype

This prototype knows the user's intended destination. It serves as the user's ticket, letting the user in and out of stations, guiding them around the tube system, prompting them when to get on and off, and bills their account.

Work from the Media Specialist Practice module

Case study of Contextual Inquiry: a gift app for small groups

This coursework researched Karen Holzblatt's 'Contextual Inquiry' method (an approach to interviewing informed by ethnography), and then used the method to analyse a gift selection app for small groups.

Styleguide for data tables

This coursework researched the design of various user interface components and showed how these components can be combined to create an easy-to-use data table.

Work from the Digital Media Final Project module

Here you can see some examples of final projects undertaken on this course.

A diary study and redesign of Fitbit app sleep monitor

Four volunteers were asked to use the Fitbit wristband to monitor their physical activity for a five-week period, and to record the way they used Fitbit in a diary.

The diaries identified various barriers to the adoption of Fitbit, and its sleep functions in particular. Consequently, the Fitbit sleep monitoring app was redesigned to be more intuitive, and more supportive of informed intervention.

Responsive design

Modern websites must display well on screens of all sizes. This ‘Body of Work' project developed a prototype online photo gallery using Adobe Fireworks, TAP engine and the Dolphin browser. The prototype was then evaluated on 7" Android devices in a naturalistic setting. The key visual design challenge was to provide intuitive navigation to high impact content and a compact layout.

Usability testing

This 'Dissertation' project was keen to go 'beyond human-computer interaction' and so conducted a detailed study of the usability, credibility and persuasiveness of a travel website. This clip, recorded on our old analogue equipment, shows an interaction which could cause a user to abandon the site:

Recorded on our previous analogue kit. Usability testing is also covered on the User Design (Systems) module.

This experiment looks at user requirements of a mobile wardrobe:

Mobile interaction is also covered on the User Experience (Content) module

Optimisation for conversion

This project applied a user-centred process to a design agency's web pages. The redesign highlighted calls to action, displayed important options visually, and removed unnecessary text. Information seeking became easier and conversions increased significantly.

The work brings together persuasive design (User Experience Design (Content) module), with user-centred evaluation (User Experience Design (Systems) module) with traffic studies and web analytics (Media Specialist Practice module).
Usability test of interactive seating plans (from CIM506 Usability Engineering 2008/09)

A student compared part of an existing website with a prototype of its replacement

The design of interactive seating plans is critical to the success of website selling tickets. Proposed designs are often tested on a selected audience before being released to the public at large.

Working with a major ticketing website, a student tested two versions of an interactive seating plan with users from different European countries, and compared the results. The use of pop-up windows, the representation of seating options, and the means of navigating around the arena, all turn out to have important impacts upon ease of use and user preferences.

Interactive Seating Plan (copyright Ticketmaster)

Philosophy and outlook

Online everything

Online services increasingly pervade all aspects of everyday life. User experience is recognised as a key element in the differentiation and success of these services - on the internet, customers must understand and enjoy, or they will go elsewhere.

Design for quality and innovation

This trend raises many professional challenges for user experience design, notably:

how to guarantee that the routine steps of online life can be completed quickly and easily;
how to innovate and create genuinely novel experiences; and
how to organise for distributed, collaborative projects, demonstrate the value of user experience design work, and how to operate within integrated, digital media agencies.

Digital studio

We created the User Experience Design MSc to meet these challenges. The course provides:

a project-based curriculum in a 'digital studio' environment;
opportunities for industry-based learning (start-up incubator projects, 'live'/externally hosted projects)
the opportunity to tailor in-depth studies to suit your background, interests, and practice niche.

Digital Media Kingston

What our students say

As an international student, I felt welcomed into the programme even before I landed in London. I personally found communication with course directors straightforward and helpful throughout my journey of receiving my postgraduate from Kingston University. The course itself was a good balance of theory and practice whilst encouraging independent studies. As a student who was also working part time, I was given the space to pursue a dissertation inspired by my employer, which ultimately led me to a permanent position after receiving my degree. Understanding methodologies such as design thinking during my time at Kingston has helped me throughout my career as a product manager. By having a comprehensive knowledge of user experience of both research and design, I am able to lead and collaborate effectively with designers and researchers in my organisation and have no trouble leading my own usability testing sessions! Pursuing this program had also inspired me to become a member of UXPA-UK and eventually led me into a leadership role on the board of the organisation.

Alina Kandinova

After you graduate

Graduate destinations

Some work in-house, at companies such as John Lewis, Aviva, IBM, E-Bay, BSkyB, RAC, Thomas Cook, BBC) in UK and around the world at Google (USA), Symantec, Microsoft and TPVision (India). Others work for agencies such as Systems Concepts, weare:London, AIA Worldwide, Amaro, Wilson Fletcher and UI Centric, in the UK, and around the world at MediaEngine (Italy), Oxx (Norway) and Thoughtworks (Johannesburg).

Graduates increasingly find employment within UK Government, public sector and charities (Dept Work & Pensions, Ministry of Justice).

You can find out even more (actual employers, career paths, in-demand skills) by asking to join the User Experience course Linkedin group. The group is open to anyone interested in UX careers.

Join the User Experience course Linkedin group

When does teaching take place?

This course is offered one-year full time, and normally two to three years part time. The full MSc course consists of an induction day, four taught modules, and final project (which is equivalent to two modules).

Three of four taught modules run as one whole day per week during each semester, while the User Experience Design (Systems) module is offered as two one-week blocks, several weeks apart. Normally, each module will include approximately 70 hours contact time, with prior-reading and followed by directed learning. A further approximately 230 hours per module is expected for self-guided study and coursework.

The course is structured to suit all student groups, with block teaching allowing part-time students to study whilst meeting other commitments, and overseas students are also able to complete their degree within visa limitations.

Full-time study

Full-time students starting in January encounter two differences in the course:

The spring semester modules (User Experience Design (Content) and Media Specialist Practice) are taken before autumn semester modules (User Experience Design (Systems) and Digital Studio Practice). The key need here is to identify a specialist field of interest relatively soon in the course - the undergraduate degree title is often helpful here.
The Final Major Project begins in May/June ie earlier relative to the course. January start full-time students need to identify a specialist field of interest relatively soon - the undergraduate degree title, and the topic selected for MSP are often helpful here. (Hand-in remains at the end of the course ie January)

So full-time students starting in January may specialise sooner, and for longer. However, given the way we manage the course, any difference is not that important, especially given the student's opportunity to influence their assignment topic. For part-time students, and students with work experience, any difference is even less important.

Part-time study

Part-time students will normally complete the four taught modules in the following order:

Year 1: User Experience Design (Systems) and User Experience Design (Content).
Year 2: Digital Studio Practice, and Media Specialist Practice, followed by the Final Major Project.

This way, a general, technical comprehension of grounding in the field is established first, before undertaking user experience roles in group work, or exploring specialisms in-depth. However, modules may be taken in any order.

Some part-time students complete the final project at the end of the second year but it is also possible to spread the work out until January or September in a third year.

Graduate destinations

Graduates of this course now work in roles such as user experience designer, user experience researcher, product owner, usability consultant, interaction designer, and information architect and content strategist. Some work in-house, at companies such as John Lewis, Aviva, IBM, E-Bay, BSkyB, RAC, Thomas Cook, BBC) in UK and around the world at Google (USA), Symantec, Microsoft and TPVision (India). Others work for agencies such as Systems Concepts, weare:London, AIA Worldwide, Amaro, Wilson Fletcher and UI Centric, in the UK, and around the world at MediaEngine (Italy), Oxx (Norway) and Thoughtworks (Johannesburg). Graduates increasingly find employment within UK Government, public sector and charities (Dept Work & Pensions, Ministry of Justice).

You can find out even more (actual employers, career paths, in-demand skills) by asking to join the User Experience course Linkedin group. The group is open to anyone interested in UX careers.

Changes from 1 August 2022

Up until 31 July 2022, this course was taught in the Faculty of Science Engineering and Computing. For students enrolling from September 2022, the course will be delivered by the Faculty of Engineering, Computing, and the Environment. There will be no impact on the teaching or the award of the degree.

Course changes and regulations

The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.

Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.

Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.