The University of Washington design graduate concentration in Interaction Design is a two-year course of study that leads to an MFA degree. The concentration encourages personal investigation at an advanced level, with coursework in both theory and practice of design as it pertains to interaction and user experience. Seminars, studios and independent studies focus on problem identification, observation in field settings, experimentation with media, and the acquisition of technical skills, especially facility with the tools of contextual research, design ideation, and prototyping. Students may choose to work across several design areas (including classes in Human-Computer Interaction, Industral Design, and Visual Communication Design, as well as class electives in affiliated Departments within the larger University of Washington Campus) to create an interdisciplinary focus.

Download our Interaction Design MFA Concentration Handout pdf.

Graduate students who pursue the concentration in Interaction Design have opportunities to build expertise during research and teaching. They have access to the resources of UW’s strong HCI community — the DUB group is a coalition of HCI/design faculty and researchers from partnering departments — amongst them the Departments of Human Centered Design and Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, the Information School, and the Division of Design. The University of Washington’s HCI/design coalition is considered one of the Nation’s top programs. Among the Nation’s leading public research universities, the University of Washington offers a complete spectrum of majors on a thriving campus of 38,000 students. Located in Seattle, a Pacific Northwest center for high-tech development in medicine, aviation, and computer science, the University of Washington has strong ties with leading research centers and industries such as Microsoft, Intel, Google, Adobe, Boeing.

Graduate Student Profile
The ideal candidate for graduate study in Interaction Design is an individual with: 1) an undergraduate BA or BFA degree in Interaction Design, Industrial Design or Visual Communication Design, and 2) several years of experience in professional practice. We believe that graduate study is most beneficial for those who have had an opportunity to broadly experience both theory and practice in the field. Generally speaking, these are the candidates best prepared to identify specific areas of interest/focus during the short duration of a master’s program.

However, in certain instances the program will consider students directly from an undergraduate design program. These students must demonstrate substantial intellectual and form-giving capacity, as well as the ability to work and think beyond the basic tenets of an undergraduate/bachelor’s degree program. The Interaction Design faculty is also willing to consider candidates who have an undergraduate degree in a field allied with or related to Interaction Design — for example, Computer Science, Usability Engineering, Human Factors, among others. These candidates have typically experienced specific aspects of design in a professional setting, and wish to expand their knowledge of design while still leveraging a previous academic background. Such students are considered for a three-year program where they must complete a year of preliminary undergraduate studios (and pass a faculty review) before continuing to graduate-level coursework.

Prospective students interested in the MFA in Industrial or Visual Communication Design with a concentration in Interaction Design need to apply either for the MFA in Visual Communication Design or Industrial Design and Indicate their interest the in Interaction Design concentration in their cover letter. For questions about the program contact Prof. Axel Roesler.


Facilities
The Division of Design provides dedicated studios with individual desks for all design graduate students. The School of Art Computing Center has extensive resources for scanning, printing, video and audio editing, authoring, and 3-D modeling and animation. The Division of Design also provides model shop and rapid prototyping facilities. Extensive video and sound production facilities as well as photo, video and audio equipment is available through the School of Art Computing Center and several other media centers across campus.

The IxD Lab is a work space dedicated to Interaction Design projects, equipped with computer work stations and meeting space to facilitate prototyping and research team work sessions.


Teaching Assistantships / Scholarships
The Division of Design offers several teaching assistantships  for qualified graduate students. In this capacity, graduate students are awarded a tuition waiver and stipend for assisting a faculty member in large (60–150 seat) introductory (100 and 200 level) undergraduate courses. Graduate students often find teaching assistantships to be a valuable experience during their course of study. Teaching Assistantships are competitive and will be distributed among the best qualified graduate students across the three MFA concentrations, Interaction Design, Industrial Design, and Visual Communication Design.

The Interaction Design concentration offers a scholarship award, and a teaching associateship to qualified applicants. The concentration also provides support for travel to conferences and specific study abroad opportunities, such as the UW Rome program in Design. Additionally, when available, thesis projects may receive partial financial support from the program.

IxD projects and design process

IxD Gallery
UW IxD photo stream

pending FCAS and HCEB approval

Interaction Designers define the structure and behavior of interactive products and services. Interaction Designers create compelling relationships between people and the interactive systems they use, from computers to mobile devices to appliances; Interaction Designers lay the groundwork for intangible experiences.

Visit the Interaction Design Blog for news about the program, additional resources, and most recent interaction design work.

The need for interaction designers for the development of new interactive products, systems and services has increased exponentially in recent years in virtually all industries. Interactive systems are present in many areas in everyday life where people coordinate tasks and engage in activities in collaboration with others, facilitated through technology. Examples range from mobile phones to computer software, from GPS systems for cars or navigation in the open ocean, and information systems that support the work of expert practitioners in technology-driven domains such as aviation, medicine, and process control.

The design of interactive systems poses new types of challenges for designers. In the course of the interaction design sequence, students are introduced to the opportunities for designing interactions. They learn how to identify design problems in interactive devices, systems, and services. They learn how to respond to these design challenges by a) applying observation techniques to understand interactions in context, b) develop conceptual models and representations (stories, scenarios, mock-ups and prototypes) to assess the perspectives of prospective users (understand their understanding) in the course of a participatory design process to develop interactions that are useful, understandable, and useful.

Download the major requirements chart pdf.


Courses
Prospective majors should plan to take ART 166 in their freshmen year. During the sophomore year, all design majors (VCD, ID and IxD) enroll in a shared series of studio courses. Major selection occurs at the end of Sophomore Year, and is based upon performance in the Design Sophomore Studios.
Please note: With the exception of ART 166, ART 208, ART 383, ART 387, and ART 483 all Design courses are reserved for majors only during the regular school year. Non-majors and non-matriculated students are welcome during the summer quarter.


YEAR ONE


ART 166 Design Foundations
The rudiments of visual structure and problem solving in two and three-dimensional design. The course emphasizes design methodology and design processes with emphasis on the formal principles of composition and organization. These subjects are the foundation for all subsequent studio courses in the Division of Design. Required for application to all design majors (Visual Communication Design, Industrial Design, and Interaction Design).


YEAR TWO


ART 207 Design Drawing
In this course students engage in rigorous drawing activities to gain an understanding of the power and importance of drawing as a creative and communicative tool. Clear structuring of space as well as formal compositional elements and their intrinsic relationship to representational drawing are explored. At the end of the quarter, students are challenged to communicate design ideas through sketches from the ideation phase through to a final solution that fully describes the aesthetic, 3D spatial relationships, materiality, and emotive intents.


ART 208 Design History
This course provides a comprehensive survey of the ideas, events, and individuals that determined the design of information, objects, culture, and commerce across societies. Students examine the social, political and cultural contexts that shape graphic design and the ideologies and relationships of similar movement in art and architecture.


ART 209 Typography
In this course students focus on type as image and the relationship between visual and verbal language. Type terminology, typographic history, technical issues related to typography will be examined. Type hierarchy and scale are also studied.


ART 210 Color + Composition
This course will explore the fundamentals of color, form-making and composition within the field of design. Through a series of exercises, lectures, readings and applied projects, students will develop an understanding of how to use color and form to visualize ideas in a unique and compelling way.


ART 211 3-D Foundations
An introduction to the aesthetic fundamentals of 3-dimensional form. Lectures and studio exercises allow students to explore the articulation of form and space in both abstract and applied scenarios. Prepares design students for subsequent work in all division majors (Industrial Design, Interaction Design, and Visual Communication Design).


ART 212 Introduction To Interaction Design
Introduction to Human-computer Interaction, interface design, and interactive and time-based media for designers. Overview of foundational interaction design concepts such as human factors, perception, cognition, research techniques, and design methods for the design of interactions.


YEAR THREE


ART 381 Case Studies In Interaction Design
A survey of interactive products, systems, interfaces and technology (software and hardware), constraints and trajectories for future developments and how these frame Interaction Design and production. Workflow, planning and organization of prototyping in Interaction Design.


ART 383 Fundamentals Of Interaction Design
Key concepts of Interaction Design: Representation, explanations, expectations, conceptual models, feedback, and affordances. Investigates the relationship between representations, new visualization technologies, dynamic/animated content, and interaction patterns. Interaction Design process and methods.


ART 384 Information Visualization For Interaction Designers
Information visualization concepts and principles for interactive information systems, interactive instructions, and animated information graphics. Interaction concepts and patterns, representation, and interpretation strategies for sequential and time-based information.


ART 385 Design Innovation And Society
Impact of interaction design and interactive product/systems on everyday life, expert domains, and knowledge. Case study analyses of innovation and theoretical frameworks and critical discourse in the relationship between design, technology, and society.


ART 386 Visual Storytelling
Narrative, storyboarding, scenario development and visual, sequential, and interactive presentation of stories as vehicle for design communication and scenario development. Overview of workflow, organization, and production of visual storytelling. Narrative and character development, imaging, editing and design visualization for video prototyping of interaction design concepts.


ART 387 Physical Interaction Design
Quarter long intermediate IxD studio, project focus. Exploration of interactions mediated by interfaces, physical products, and environments. Design development of innovative interactions and novel interactive technologies and their integration into existing practices and future directions for interaction. Experimental focus.


YEAR FOUR


ART 481 Field Studies: Design Research Techniques
Contextual research, observation techniques, and evaluation of design. Overview of the human-centered, participatory and collaborative design process. Focus on connecting insight from research with design ideation. Emphasis on methods for identifying prospective user populations, studying actual use and associated expectations, explanations, and needs of users as basis for design. Field research, data collection, evaluation, and presentation of research process and findings.


ART 483 Advanced Projects In Interaction Design
Quarter long design project addressing a complex, openly defined Interaction Design challenge in an everyday setting/consumer project/system context. Design process entails formulation of design scope, contextual research, observations of use, conceptual models, scenario development, conceptual design, prototyping, and evaluation, and design documentation conducted in interdisciplinary design teams.


ART 485 Senior/Degree Project In Interaction Design
A quarter long individual (or small team), advanced Interaction Design project. Students identify and develop a design project of their choice to demonstrate command of a repertoire of interaction design skills and knowledge that meet the criteria expected for graduation.


ART 488 Professional Practice
Portfolio and Interview preparation workshop.

The Interaction Design concentration at the Division of Design, School of Art moves into its fifth year beginning this fall. Prof. Axel Roesler presented some of the projects that were developed in the Interaction Design sequence ART383, ART 483, and ART484, graduate work in Interaction Design, and research trajectories.
Launched in Winter Quarter 2006, IxD studios have provided a platform for the collaboration between students in Industrial Design and Visual Communication Design, Human Centered Design and Engineering, the iSchool, and Computer Science and Engineering, among other departments.
Watch a audio/slide capture of the talk to learn more about recent collaborative projects such as the recent Microsoft Design Expo 2009 and the commercial flight deck of the future with the Boeing Flight Deck Concept Center.
Find out about the DUB group at the University of Washington here.