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User Experience Design - MSc

Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies....

  • Level Postgraduate Taught
  • Study mode Full Time/Part Time
  • Location City Centre
  • School School of Computing and Digital Technology
  • Faculty Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment

Overview

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies. The course places a strong emphasis on the development of professional technical skills that are in high industry demand and will position you well for careers around the field of user experience (UX).

STEAMhouse building exterior

Introducing STEAMhouse

STEAMhouse is a centre for technology, innovation, creative thinking, prototyping and business development. Our brand new £70 million pound building is the new home for the School of Computing and Digital Technology.

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This course is open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

The course has been designed to support graduates from a wide range of disciplines (including those with technical and non-technical backgrounds) who wish to specialise in the area of user experience (UX) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The key topics taught on the course include interaction design (techniques for user-centred design), front-end development (using industry standard development environments), visual design (creating interfaces with strong aesthetics), accessibility (methods for supporting inclusive design), and usability testing (collecting and analysing data via user evaluations). You will also have the opportunity to consider and create user experiences for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, eye gaze tracking, speech interfaces, mid-air gesturing, haptic systems, and brain-computer interfaces.

The course philosophy is focused around industry and research-led activities, supported with assignments that are closely aligned to the development of essential knowledge and technical skills used in practice. You will therefore have the opportunity to work closely with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs thus supporting you in developing a strong portfolio of work (which is essential for gaining employment in this field). The course will also provide opportunities to collaborate with academics based in the School of Computing and Digital Technology’s Mixed Reality and Human-Computer Interaction research group to work on cutting-edge research projects. 

Graduates from the User Experience Design course will be well placed for industry roles that are in high demand including front-end developers, user experience designers/developers, information architects, usability consultants and UX researchers, web designers/developers, and interaction designers. The course will also position you well for undertaking further academic study and research through pursuing a PhD degree. 

Why Choose Us?

  • Highly employable graduates - Our graduates are well placed for industry roles in User Experience Design. 

  • Industry-focused and research-led The course philosophy is around preparing you for industry. You will have the opportunity to work with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs. 

  • Develop a specialised and professional portfolio - You will be supported to develop a strong online portfolio of work which is essential to gain employment in this sector. 

  • Excellent industry partnerships - Our links with leading organisations (e.g. BBC, Jaguar Land Rover, GlaxoSmithKline, Imagination, Konica Minolta, IBM, Microsoft) present opportunities for working on industry defined and mentored projects. 

Studying with us during the Covid-19 pandemic

The University has put in place measures in response to Covid-19 to allow us to safely deliver our courses. Should the impact of the pandemic continue in future years, any additional or alternative arrangements put in place by the University will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of the student contract.

OPEN DAY

Join us for an on-campus open day where you'll be able to explore our campus and facilities in person. Booking for the next event isn’t open yet. Register your interest below and we’ll email you as soon as booking goes live.

Next Event: Saturday 24 June

Register Your Interest

Entry Requirements

Essential Requirements

A first Degree (2:2+) broadly related to User Experience Design (including Computing, Mathematics, Engineering, Business, Marketing, Psychology, Art and Design, etc.), with an interest in the technological/scientific approaches to User Experience Design.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply
  • UK Student
  • International Student

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: MSc

Starting: Sep 2023

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 12 months
  • £9,250 in 2023/24
  • Full Time
  • 18 months with Professional Placement*
  • £10,175 in 2023/24
  • £1028 per 20 credits
  • Year 1 - 80 credits
  • Year 2 - 100 credits

Fees for Part-time students

This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.

Award: MSc

Starting: Jan 2024

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 12 months
  • £9,250 in 2023/24
  • Full Time
  • 18 months with Professional Placement*
  • £10,175 in 2023/24

International students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.

Award: MSc

Starting: Sep 2023

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 12 months
  • £16,870 in 2023/24
  • Full Time
  • 18 months with Professional Placement*
  • £18,557 in 2023/24

Award: MSc

Starting: Jan 2024

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Full Time
  • 12 months
  • £16,870 in 2023/24
  • Full Time
  • 18 months with Professional Placement*
  • £18,557 in 2023/24

If you're unable to use the online form for any reason, you can complete our PDF application form and equal opportunities PDF form instead.

Access to computer equipment

You will require use of a laptop, and most students do prefer to have their own. However, you can borrow a laptop from the university or use one of our shared computer rooms.

Printing

You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment.

Field trips

All essential field trips and associated travel costs will be included in your course fees.

Access to Microsoft Office 365

Every student at the University can download a free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use whilst at university and for 18 months after graduation.

Key Software

You will be able to download SPSS and NVivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research.

Key subscriptions

Subscriptions to key journals and websites are available through our library.

Media consumable items (optional)

This course requires the use of consumables.

Excess printing (optional)

Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet.

Books (optional)

All module key texts will be in the University library, but in limited numbers. You may choose to purchase a copy.

Placement expenses (optional)

If you choose to undertake a placement, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst living or working away from home.

Professional Placement option*

The Professional Placement option will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.

Personal statement

Students are required to submit a personal statement as part of their application for this course.

Your postgraduate personal statement is going to shine a light on your personal experience, academic success, personal skills and any other factors that will support your application for further study.

Here are the key areas you’ll need to address:

Your passion and motivations

Studying a postgraduate course usually means you want to specialise in something. So what’s driving you?

Why this course?

Show that you’ve researched the course offering. What is it about this particular course that appeals to you? Is it the lecturers? The modules? Etc.

What makes you a good postgraduate candidate?

Tutors want to know that you can handle postgraduate study, so show them how your undergraduate experiences or work life has equipped you for a more advanced level of study. Key areas to address are research and group work but this can vary depending on your chosen course.

Relevant academic or work experience

Add anything relevant that relates back to your chosen course and shows how your skills will contribute towards your learning. What extra-curricular activities have you taken part in? What awards have you won? What employment or voluntary experience do you have that has helped you develop transferable skills? How do these specifically relate to the course you are applying for?

You should also mention your future plans and how a postgraduate qualification fits in. Try to look beyond your postgraduate study – do you plan to jump straight into a specific career or follow your studies with a research degree? Lastly, use plain, professional English and, where possible, utilise the language of your chosen industry.

Get more information on writing personal statements.

Course in Depth

Module

Professional Placement (optional)

In order to qualify for the award of MSc User Experience Design with Professional Placement, a student must successfully complete all of the Level 7 modules listed above as well as the following Level 6 module:

Download course specification

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Course Strengths and Opportunities

The MSc User Experience Design course provides several unique strengths and benefits:

1. An inclusive approach to student recruitment presenting you with opportunities to work with peers from a variety of backgrounds (i.e. Computing/Engineering, Arts and Humanities, Business and Marketing, etc.)

2. The opportunity to work and contribute to cutting-edge research projects utilising innovative technologies (particularly in the areas of virtual/augmented reality, accessibility, and assistive technology)

3. Wide access to state-of-the-art technologies and well-equipped work spaces that can be utilised for project work

4. The chance to work on industry defined and mentored projects developed through the School’s existing links with leading external organisations

5. The adoption of a spiral curriculum promoting cross interaction between different modules, facilitating the development of substantial project work that can be incorporated into specialised individual portfolios

Course Details

The course will explore the key theoretical issues associated with Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and their application in creating and evaluating user experiences across a range of platforms. A practical learning and teaching approach will underpin each of the main modules on the course ensuring that you gain “hands-on” experience in developing the necessary skills utilised in industry environments.  

The learning and teaching in the first semester will focus on building broader fundamental knowledge in the field to ensure that all students have a common understanding of key topics. These areas include human-centred design, UX development (using Bootstrap, Angular, etc.), and visual interface design. You will choose a key application theme to work on across the whole semester which each module will inform from a different (but complimentary) perspective.

For instance, the Human-Centred Design module will focus on processes for understanding and identifying user requirements, interaction design, information architecture, low-fidelity prototyping, and the evaluation of early design concepts. Low-fidelity designs created as part of this module’s assessment will be taken forward and utilised in the Visual Interface Design module. This module will teach fundamentals around key graphical and visual concepts (e.g. typography, colour theory, visual design process, etc.) which will be used to inform the production of assessed high-fidelity designs based on the low-fidelity prototypes.

These high-fidelity designs will then be incorporated into the UX Development module assessment which will focus on the application of front-end development frameworks, libraries, and platforms. The skills developed during this module will therefore be used to implement the designs produced during the other two complementary modules. One of the key outputs of the first semester will therefore be a substantial project that has been explored and developed across each of the key modules.

The second semester will build on this foundation through developing research and user evaluation skills (including experimental design and statistical data analysis), exploring the importance of inclusive design (e.g. developing solutions that are accessible for people with a range of impairments), and investigating how to design user experiences across advanced and immersive technologies (such as virtual and augmented reality). This will make you aware of future innovations in the field and will ensure you are prepared for designing experiences using emerging hardware and interactive technologies.

You will also undertake a more substantial individual research project where you will have flexibility in choosing a specialist skill or area you would like to focus on. For instance, if you are more interested in graphics and visual design, you will be able to focus on innovative projects in those areas. Alternatively, if you are more interested in technical front-end development projects or statistical analysis, you will also have the opportunity to specialise in these areas. This flexibility will enable you to build your identity within the sector and to position yourself for the UX jobs market.

Assessments

Assessments will be comprised of a mix of individual and group work where you will be required to present coursework through a combination of oral presentations, formal reports, and demonstrations of products. This will enable you to develop broader professional skills required in industry and academic environments (i.e. working effectively in teams, clearly communicating complex concepts, time management in working towards multiple deadlines, etc.), as well as providing an opportunity to develop your design thinking and critical reflection skills.

Our strong collaborative links with industry and leading academics also support the practice-based philosophy of the course – in particular, the assessment strategy aligns with industry design briefs (set by industry partners and research groups) and will be focused on enabling you to develop a tangible prototype or artefact at the end of each module (that can be placed in a portfolio of work). This is an essential focus of the course as a professional online portfolio of work is crucial in the UX field for improving the likelihood of securing employment within the sector.

The production of a portfolio over the duration of the course will therefore be mandatory, although it will not be formally assessed. Support will be provided throughout the course (via workshops and one-to-one personal tutoring) to assist you in building a personalised online body of work that emphasises your strengths, interests, and preferred specialism within the field.

Industry Engagement

The teaching team has close links with large leading industry organisations (BBC, Jaguar Land Rover, GlaxoSmithKline, Imagination, Konica Minolta, IBM, Microsoft, Native Instruments, etc.), third sector partners (e.g. Sense), and SMEs (e.g. Holosphere, Ultrahaptics, etc.). The course will also offer industry engagement through the use of guest lectures from industry experts and masterclasses led by practitioners working in the field. Furthermore, there will be the opportunity for you to align your coursework with active research projects at the university, thus enabling you to work on cutting-edge research with academics who specialise in their field of study.

Employability

Enhancing your employability skills

The primary aim of the MSc User Experience Design course is to provide you with the skills and experience required to work professionally in the User Experience (UX) sector. This field has grown substantially over the past decade as organisations have increasingly recognised the necessity and importance of optimising digital user experiences to meet their target audiences’ key requirements.

This, in turn, has led to increasing demand for practitioners who are skilled in working collaboratively within multi-disciplinary teams to design, develop, and evaluate digital products and services (across a range of platforms and technologies). This demand for UX expertise is also strong within major global sectors and markets (media, finance, education, health, etc.), as well as across larger established organisations, start-ups, SMEs, and the third sector.

The MSc User Experience Design course has therefore been designed and tailored to support you in developing key skills that are highly-sought after in industry, thus enabling you to be competitive in the growing UX jobs market. In particular, through the course you will study modules (informed by industry experts) that will enable you to develop highly sought-after skills using industry standard platforms and technologies.

Moreover, we will support you throughout the course in developing a specialised and professional online portfolio of work which is essential for gaining employment within this sector. We will also prepare you for a career by equipping you with a range of transferable skills, such as complex problem-solving expertise, the ability to analyse in a careful and considered manner, and working as a team member.

Our excellent partnerships and working relationships with leading international organisations (e.g. BBC, Jaguar Land Rover, GlaxoSmithKline, Imagination, Konica Minolta, IBM, Microsoft, Native Instruments, etc.) will also present opportunities for working on industry defined and mentored projects. These opportunities will further help you in building an outstanding portfolio of work and to mark yourself out as a highly employable graduate.

International

Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.

The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.

Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:

Facilities & Staff

Computing facilities two
Computing facilities three
Computing facilities four

Our Facilities

As a student in the School of Computing and Digital Technology, you will have access to our labs, software, professional sound studios, computer games labs and industry-standard facilities to develop your practical skills in audio, video and multimedia application development, content creation and more.

We are currently undertaking a £340 million investment programme in our facilities, including a major expansion of our City Centre Campus. This includes our brand new £70 million development, STEAMhouse, which will be the new home to Computing and Digital Technology students. This state-of-the-art centre will give you access to outstanding facilities and equipment, as well as opportunities to collaborate with businesses across multiple sectors and work on real industry-based projects.

Our facilities in Millennium Point have undergone a £6.5million investment with a new maker area, engineering labs/equipment and IT equipment.

Thanks to our partnerships with Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, Juniper, SAS and LPI you will have access to the latest technology and facilities that reflect advanced professional practice. Our students also have access to software such as the Adobe Suite including Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Computing and Digital Technology facilities

Our staff

Professor Chris Creed

Professor in Human-Computer Interaction

Professor Creed specialises in the area of Human-Computer Interaction and has extensive experience in leading collaborative technical projects exploring the use of innovative technologies. His core research interest is around the design and development of assistive technology for disabled people across a range of impairments. He also leads the ...

More about Chris

Robert Sharl

Senior Lecturer

Robert Sharl is a Senior Lecturer in Visual Communications in the School of Visual Communications at Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Art, Media and Design. He is also Deputy Director for the MA in Visual Communication, and Course Coordinator for the University’s partner course in Visual Communications at the School for Higher and...

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Professor Ian Williams

Professor of Visual Computing and Head of the Digital Media Technology Lab (DMT Lab)

Dr Williams is Professor of Visual Computing and Head of the Digital Media Technology Lab (DMT Lab). He leads the research strategy and vision for the DMT Lab which encompasses the four core domains of: Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Graphics and Computer Vision, Sound and Music Analysis and Broadcast Systems.

More about Ian

Dr Maite Frutos-Pascual

Lecturer in Digital Media Technology

Dr Maite Frutos-Pascual specialises in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), usability, user analysis, interactive systems and sensor data analysis and integration.

More about Maite

Dr. Sayan Sarcar

Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction

Dr. Sayan Sarcar is a lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and a Digital Media Technology Lab member. His research interests include HCI, User Experience and Usability, Ageing and Accessibility, and Computational Interaction.

More about Sayan

Dr Wenge Xu

Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction

Dr Wenge Xu is a lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and an active researcher at the Digital Media Technology Lab. He specialises in HCI, Extended (Virtual, Augmented, Mixed) Reality (XR), User Experience, 3D User Interface and Serious Games.

More about Wenge