Navigation

MA User Experience Design

Falmouth University - Offered by CEG Digital, United Kingdom
MA User Experience Design
Next enrollment cycle May 2024 See all cycles
First Year Fee KES 1,166,236
Course Accredited By PC
2 Years On Campus Postgraduate Degree

Get practical skills in how to evaluate artifacts and development processes in an ongoing and iterative way. Use human-computer interaction (HCI) research methods to evaluate the user’s needs and improve the experiences you create for them. 

Learn how user-centered design can be applied in areas such as Internet of Things, creative apps, museum installations, educational technology, and immersive business. As remote working increases in global software engineering and other industries, gain valuable experience of working co-creative contexts remotely. You’ll learn to evaluate which tools and methods work best for effective team co-creation.

On Falmouth Flexible’s MA User Experience Design, you’ll also:

  • Design and implement interfaces for digital real-time interactive systems
  • Apply the principles of design and creativity to improve user experiences
  • Learn to use different platforms for experience design and adapt to their technical constraints
  • Learn to apply primary and secondary research methods drawn from human-computer interaction and the broader computing literature
  • Learn to use methods from experimental psychology and data science to better understand how people engage with digital products and services
  • Explore how to innovate as a user experience designer
  • Practice interaction design across a range of application domains, including cybersecurity
  • Keep and control the IP of any interfaces you produce

This course is for anyone who is excited by the opportunities presented by technology and who wants to carry out practice-based research to create thoughtful and engaging user experiences.

  • Career options following this MA could include:
  • UI/UX designer  
  • UX strategist  
  • Interaction designer  
  • Digital artist/designer  
  • Technologist  
  • Exhibition/installation designer  
  • Research developer  
  • Design researcher  
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher  
  • Product designer/entrepreneur  
  • Usability researcher  
  • Immersive artist  
  • Web designer/developer  
  • App developer  
  • Full-Stack web developer  
  • Game developer

With Falmouth Flexible, you access your course content, interactions with other students and tutors, and learning resources, through Canvas, an easy-to-use online platform. You can access the course wherever you are in the world, and you can stop, pause and rewind lectures whenever you want. 

Learning activities

Engaging learning activities will help you apply theory to practice. They could include: 

  • Concise online presentations to introduce key concepts 
  • Small group and class discussions and crits to facilitate interaction and dialogue 
  • Online critiques to test assumptions, ideas and to receive feedback from peers and tutors 
  • Individual and group tutorials throughout the course 
  • Independent study 
  • Self-evaluation and peer feedback

All modules are project-based with assessments which are designed to consolidate and test your ability to generate and appraise games.
Assessments are 100% coursework, submitted within the online virtual learning environment, and designed to reflect professional practice.
They could include:

  • Projects
  • Portfolios
  • Pitches
  • Papers

The assessment methods allow the course team to offer you tailored guidance alongside advice on how you can progress your knowledge and skills in key areas. They will identify your strengths and weaknesses as an individual and discuss them with you throughout your time on the course. Beyond just feedback, however, regular tutorials, peer and group critique, as well as engagement in a culture of mutual support, will help you develop on an ongoing basis.

Enrollment Cycles

  • May 2024
  • September 2024
  • January 2025

Entry Requirements

An honours degree or Level 6 equivalent qualification.
If your first language is not English, you'll need to take one of the following tests to verify your proficiency:

  • IELTS - minimum overall score of IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening
  • TOEFL iBT (online test) - minimum of 88 overall and at least 21 in all 4 components
  • LanguageCert (online test) - a High Pass from the ESOL B2 Communicator test in reading, writing, speaking and listening (2 parts)

We also accept a range of equivalent recognised English language qualifications. Candidates without a degree or formal qualification are still encouraged to apply.

You will need to complete four 30-credit modules and one 60-credit project (180 credits in total). All modules on the course are compulsory and must be passed in order to complete the award.

Module one Development Practice (30 credits)

By devising a series of small-scale creative artefacts, you will use your existing ideas about development practice and then experiment with new approaches to challenge these ideas. This will enable you to create a personal case study, from which you can define how to expand and enrich your practice. Beyond the personal case study, you will gain a broader sense of the contexts in which these practices are applied across disciplines.

Module two UX Design (30 credits)

You will learn the core principles, methods and techniques of user experience (UX) design. You will use concepts from a range of disciplines to develop a sequence of explorative designs and interactive prototypes. You will learn how to apply user-centered approaches to produce artefacts that meet the requirements of end users and adhere to best practice.

Module three Co-creative Design and Development Practice (30 credits)

You'll work in a team on a problem-led creative project. This will typically, but not necessarily, be a small game or creative app. You will work together to situate, design, implement and evaluate your creative artefact. With the support of a supervisor, you will strategically manage scope, workflow, communication roles and responsibilities. At the end, you will have produced an original artefact based on your own intellectual property which clearly illustrates how you can engage an audience.

Module four UX Research (30 credits)

You will learn the key techniques of human-computer interaction (HCI). This is a multidisciplinary field focusing on the interaction between humans and computers. You will refine your understanding of HCI through the specification, design, implementation and evaluation of an artifact. This is typically a small-scale experimental proof-of concept. Questions and challenges will be shaped by our partners from the digital creative industries and from fields relevant to creative technologies. This will enable you to work towards an industry-led brief.

Final major project (MA only) (60 credits)

You will work on a major research and development project, either independently or with others. This allows you to expand and consolidate your skills of devising, developing and executing an extended development project. You can build upon your projects from other modules or develop a new concept. You should finish the course with a polished project of a publishable quality. A supervisor will act as your mentor and adviser.

Interested in this course?

Our Admissions Counsellors would love to assist!