悉尼科技大學

Interaction design is concerned with designing interactive digital products, digital environments, systems, and services that can satisfactorily meet the needs and desires of the intended users. The Master of Interaction Design prepares and equips students with up-to-date theoretical knowledge and requisite practical industry-standard skills in this rapidly advancing field.

While industry demand for skilled interaction designers and various other jobs such as user experience (UX) designers, service designers, etc., is increasing, there is a lack of formal education/training offered by universities in interaction design. This course is designed to provide students with the most current and requisite skills in this fast-evolving field. Graduates possess skills in industrially applicable and cost-effective information environments (i.e. multimedia, interactive systems design and associated information technology). The course provides industry with graduates who can combine these skills with those of their original discipline in professional applications-oriented settings.

The course is committed to producing graduates who have a deep understanding of human-centred approaches to designing digital technologies. This ensures that 'products' created are more likely to 'fit' meaningfully into users' lives, because the design process is informed by a deep understanding of people's practices, particular situations and values.

The Master of Interaction Design is attractive to different types of learners, namely:

• Those who are currently working in a job that is not related to interaction design
• Those working in jobs closely related to interaction design, and
• Those already working in interaction design-related jobs.

Course aims

In the core subjects students learn through the practice of an iterative human-centred design process to solve a real-world problem with actual users, developing skills to analyse, generate and transmit solutions to complex problems. They also gain advanced technical and theoretical knowledge in interaction design. Students also engage with interaction design for emerging computing contexts, gaining advanced knowledge and skills.

Students develop advanced design skills (including autonomy, expert judgement, adaptability and responsibility) by focusing on learning professional practices in user experience projects, and through the capstone subject where they co-implement a project commissioned with an industry client, focusing on graduate level outcomes.

Course structure

This course totals 72 credit points of study, including 48 credit points of interaction design core subjects and 24 credit points of interaction design modules (CBK91732) which consist of a choice between elective subjects, a graduate research project, data analytics, games design or interaction programming.

Careers

Graduates can gain employment in a range of technology design-related roles such as interaction designer, UX designer, UX researcher, service designer, or digital experience architect.

For those currently working in closely related jobs, such as web design, graphic design, interface design, etc., this course provides the necessary formal training in the discipline in order to make a more definitive move into jobs in interaction design. Similarly, many find themselves working within the field of interaction design without formal training, and this course provides a good foundation and opportunities to extend their interaction design skills more formally.

For those not working in a job related to interaction design, this course provides the opportunity to learn about the discipline and to transition into the various jobs under the interaction design umbrella.