Web design is more than just snazzy messaging and pretty pictures on a webpage. A site that works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Understanding strategic objectives and translating them into something that provides a quality user experience is essential. User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are integral to understanding information design. The UX/UI specialization will link the concepts learned in the core classes and connect them more concretely to the profession of UX/UI. This specialization will focus on ideas rather than tools, giving students the ability to understand the big picture, strategy and requirements, content, and visual design. Students will gain skills in design systems, atomic design models, responsive design, prototyping, and feedback loops.

Curriculum

Core Courses (9 units)

Specialization Courses (3 units)

About the Final Project

As their final course, students take either the individual research project in an independent study format (thesis research) or the final project class in which students integrate the knowledge they have gained in the core curriculum in a project presented by the instructor. In both cases, students are guided by faculty in exploring the body of knowledge on information design and strategy while contributing research of practical value to the field. The capstone independent thesis project and capstone class project count as one unit of credit.

Pre-requisite: Students may take one other course simultaneously with MS_IDS 498-DL Capstone Project. All other course requirements must have been completed before the commencement of this course.