User Experience & Service Design

MA User Experience and Service Design responds to continuing changes in contemporary design practice and challenges the perceived boundaries between the many design disciplines by foregrounding human experience and social research approaches.

The curriculum interlinks the domains of User Experience Design, Service Design, and Design Thinking.​ Students first explore aspects of each before selecting a personal focus during Semester 2.

There is a strong emphasis on group work and collaboration throughout. By connecting to external organisations, companies and wider stakeholders, it is expected that students will aim to expand their horizons and push boundaries, exploring how design may contribute to real change in the areas of technology, leisure and daily life.

For further course details please see "Course Web Page" above.

Year one
Design Thinking
Development Specialist Group Studio
Exploration and Enquiry: Principles, Strategies and Tactics
Creative Entrepreneurship
Masters Project

Standard entry conditions
We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.

Applicants must hold a degree (with at least 2ii Honours standard) or equivalent or demonstrate their ability to undertake the course through the accreditation of prior learning.

The course interlinks the domains of User Experience Design, Service Design and Design Thinking. Students first explore aspects of each before selecting a personal focus during Semester 2.

The specific requirements for admission are detailed below:
i) Applicants should normally hold a good honours degree in design practice or cognate subject from a University of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, from the Council of National Academic Awards, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council or from an institution of another country which is recognised as being of an equivalent standard.

ii) Applications are welcomed from diverse backgrounds however, where there is a discipline shift the applicant must represent a coherent rationale for this shift and evidence prerequisite understanding and skills/experience (see below).

iii) Interview by portfolio and proposal. Portfolios must be digital but multiple file types are acceptable (e.g., .pdfs, .docx, .pptx, .jpegs, etc.). Portfolios may also take a variety of forms. For example, if applicants come from a non-design background (e.g., the social sciences), they may use the portfolio to demonstrate research competencies or outline a series of possible projects.

The programme is devised specifically to support continuing lifelong learning for professions in a rapidly changing field. Therefore APL (Accreditation for Prior Learning) will be considered as evidence of exceptional ability appropriate to recruitment to the programme. Applications from professionals with extensive professional, industrial and/or commercial experience but lacking recent or higher-level academic qualifications will be encouraged. APL (Advanced Prior Learning) will be considered as evidence of exceptional ability appropriate to the course.

Your Application
Application is through the University's online application system (see "Application Weblink").

Start Date: September 2024

Career options
Graduates have an increasingly wide array of career options available, including User Experience Designer, User Experience Researcher, Design Researcher, Service Designer, Digital Product Designer, Interaction Designer, and Strategic Designer. Our course includes industry collaborations allowing for regular access to local and international practitioners and design leaders.