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User Experience Design
User Experience (UX) Design is all about crafting seamless, intuitive, and engaging interactions between people and the products they use—whether digital or physical. As one of the most in-demand careers in the creative industry, UX design blends art and science to shape how users think, feel, and respond to technology and everyday systems.
You’ll master the skills to create designs that prioritize user needs, enhance functionality, and spark emotional connections. Whether you’re streamlining an app, improving a website, or reimagining a product interface, you’ll learn how to make experiences that feel effortless and meaningful. If you’re passionate about problem-solving, innovation, and human-centered design, UX is your path to making a real-world impact!
Experiential Learning
- Land an internship at an organization like NASA, State Farm, Caterpillar, Microsoft, Precision Planting, or OSF HealthCare.
- Design for innovative products such as wearables, AR/VR, mobile, websites and physical interactives.
- Research projects in traditional and nontraditional human-computer interaction design
Studio practice in visual design, interaction design, and user interfaces. - Off-campus study in Ireland, the Netherlands or Los Angeles.
Program Details
Required Courses – 53 hrs.
- IM 150 Fundamentals of Interactive Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 161 Intro to Web Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 226 Interactive Media Practicum I (4 hrs.)
- IM 426 Interactive Media Practicum II (4 hrs.)
- ART 205 Typographic Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 260 User Experience Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 261 User Research & Usability (3 hrs.)
- IM 360 Advanced Interaction Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 363 Topics in User Experience (3 hrs.)
- IM 361 Advanced User Experience Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 366 Advanced Web Design (3 hrs.)
- IM 460 User Experience Design Capstone 1 (3 hrs.)
- IM 461 User Experience Design Capstone 2 (6 hrs.)
- PSY 101 Principles of Psychology (3 hrs.)
Theory & History (6 hrs.) from two of the following:
- IM 191 Appreciating Comics (3 hrs.)
- IM 243 History of Animation (3 hrs.)
- IM 355 New Media Theory (3 hrs.)
- IM 380 Critical Game Studies (3 hrs.)
- IM 450 Critical Issues in Interactive Media (3 hrs.)
- CFA 250 Film History (3 hrs.)
- CFA 320 Film Theory & Criticism (3 hrs.)
- CIS 300 Computers & Society (3 hrs.)
- COM 101 Survey of Communications (3 hrs.)
- COM 300 Communication Theory (3 hrs.)
- COM 386 Media Race & Gender (3 hrs.)
- COM 393 Small Group Communication (3 hrs.)
- HIS 352 Introduction to Digital Humanities (3 hrs.)
Career Opportunities
UX design professionals are in high demand for their technical and creative skills. Using industry best practices, they create products that promote and inspire human activity as:
- Graphic Designers
- User Researchers
- Usability Analysts
- Information Architects
- Interaction Designers
Minor
The 18-hour user experience minor introduces you to the ways designers ensure digital systems meet users’ needs and goals. Courses touch on psychology and topics relevant to design research and thinking.