User Experience Design Curriculum

Strong English language skills are essential for success at CCS and in a future career as an international designer. In this course, students will develop and improve English communication skills. Using a wide range of tools and assignments, students will talk and write about design with focus on planning and organization, visual aids, audience, appropriate vocabulary, revising based on feedback, and presenting before a group. The skills acquired in this course will enable students to produce a presentation on design research conducted throughout the semester.

Credits: 1

Based on a foundation of web technologies, this class teaches students the concepts and use of programming languages in order to complement and extend their capabilities as designers. Students will learn how to think like a computer and to structure code (functions and algorithms, not markup) to perform data manipulation tasks, to enable user interaction that incorporates devise and services, and to gain facility across multiple programming languages. As a result, students will better understand the strengths and limitations of digital systems and therefore how programming may enhance (or limit) the goals of their interaction designs. The course will serve as a solid starting point for students looking to go into mobile app development, physical computing, and IoT, or web development.

Credits: 3

“This course will introduce the fundamental concepts, methods, and practices of interaction design. It will familiarize its students with the processes of interface development, the role of design leadership in that process, and the technical aspects of creating an effective interaction experience. Students will work both individually and in teams to explore the UI development process and communicate their ideas in through narrative media. Due to the complexity and length of the process, finished interfaces will not be produced. Instead, students will participate in focused exercises that will orient them to the process, and the resources they will need to further pursue UI design.
User Interface Design is offered in-studio format. Students will participate in group discussions, critiques, and presentations.”

Credits: 3

Designing excellent user experiences requires an understanding of the human factors that underlie a user’s comprehension of the world. This course looks at the science that formulates the way humans make sense of the world around them and how to leverage that innate human experience to design successful human-computer experiences. Particularly relevant to designers working on human-centered interactions with new technologies, this course helps students to craft experiences compatible with the strengths and weaknesses of the human’s embodied mind. Students will learn how to leverage human perception, ergonomics, and information systems to generate intuitive interactions with new technologies.

Credits: 3

Graduate Seminar aims to enable students to undertake rich and robust creative exploration that is informed by contextual and critical inquiry. The course brings together the full cohort of CCS graduate students to discuss and debate key contextual issues in art and design, and advance critical thinking skills.

Students will attend lectures (given and recorded for replay via Zoom, to be watched synchronously from the studio), we will break into seminar-style discussion groups immediately following morning lectures and undertake visits to key exhibitions, galleries and public talks. Graduate Seminar serves to advance both the critical inquiry and critical writing skills of students, and enable the cross-referencing of theory to practice.

Social, political, economic and environmental themes will be used to inform weekly classes. This course involves extensive reading, research, group presentations, short written assignments and one longer written assignment.

Credits: 3

Students will enroll in an elective course of their choosing, such as:

• Color lab
• Material lab
• Interior Experience
• Analytical Drawing and Rendering
• 2D Animation
• 3D Animation
• Experimental Animation
• 2D Design Principles
• 3D Design Form and Space
• 3D Modeling and Rendering
• 4D Design Studio
• Mobility Design Studio
• Computer Generated Environments
• Game Art
• Sound Design
• 3D Printing
• Branding Narrative
• Branding Strategy
• Business Model Generation

and many others

Credits: 3

To be ready for the “next great wave of technology”, the Internet of Things, interaction designers must have both a conceptual grasp and working knowledge of the elements and systems interactions of IoT. They must understand how sensors can be connected into complex networks that monitor and affect environments at scales of the body, room, building, neighborhood, and the planet. Furthermore, this understanding must encompass the power of coding and be grounded in design practice. In this immersive studio environment, students will engage in 3 overlapping modes of activity: prototyping (a.k.a. “making”), coding, and designing.

MFA studio courses incorporate a theme that enables students to understand “design for people” through needs-based projects that may involve social, economic, environmental, and/or infrastructural challenges, preferably both local to Detroit and a microcosm of national or global issues. Students gain tech skills while seeing beyond today’s technology to formulate and solve important design problems. They experience design as a unifying framework for understanding the creative processes and practical challenges of making a better world through design.

Credits: 3

Students will learn the principles of UX (user experience) design. Students will learn how to map user journeys and prototype meaningful scenarios informed by research and iterative modelling and testing. Students will, at times, utilize and apply user-centered research and co-design methods.

Credits: 3

As humankind shifts from the era of the Personal Computer (PC) to that of machine learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming ubiquitous, radically changing the relationship between humans and computing. In this class, students will be introduced to AI, and explore its power and its implications. Through practical exercises and projects, students will learn how to create next-generation human-AI interfaces to unlock new human capabilities.

Credits: 3

Students learn to use Design Thinking as a cross-disciplinary method for problem solving. Design thinking is characterized by a non-linear, creative, and collaborative approach for generating and testing ideas through rapid ideation and prototyping. Students learn to challenge assumptions, take risks, and adopt unconventional perspectives in the process of problem solving. The class teaches students to take a human-centered approach, led by user empathy to (re)define problems, generate ideas, prototype, model, and test concepts and ideas for new products, services, processes, and strategies.

Students do not need any formal design training to take this course but will be required to visualize, map, enact, and document thinking and ideas in collaborative spaces.

Credits: 3

This course is a self-directed project that forms the capstone of the MA degree. Students will critically situate the project in a specific context and it will be informed by robust contextualization. Students will develop a body of well-documented iterative ideation, leading to thematically relevant creative outcomes evidencing practical impact and/or a critical provocation.

Credits: 3

Strong English language skills are essential for success at CCS and in a future career as an international designer. In this course, students will develop and improve English communication skills. Using a wide range of tools and assignments, students will talk and write about design, with focus on planning and organization, visual aids, audience, appropriate vocabulary, revising based on feedback, and presenting before a group. The skills acquired in this course will enable students to produce a presentation on design research conducted throughout the semester.

Credits: 1

Based on a foundation of web technologies, this class teaches students the concepts and use of programming languages in order to complement and extend their capabilities as designers. Students will learn how to think like a computer and to structure code (functions and algorithms, not markup) to perform data manipulation tasks, to enable user interaction that incorporate devise and services, and to gain facility across multiple programming languages. As a result, students will better understand the strengths and limitations of digital systems and therefore how programming may enhance (or limit) the goals of their interaction designs. The course will serve as a solid starting point for students looking to go into mobile app development, physical computing and IoT, or web development.

Credits: 3

This course will introduce the fundamental concepts, methods, and practices of interaction design. It will familiarize its students with the processes of interface development, the role of design leadership in that process, and the technical aspects of creating an effective interaction experience. Students will work both individually and in teams to explore the UI development process, and communicate their ideas in through narrative media. Due to the complexity and length of the process, finished interfaces will not be produced. Instead, students will participate in focused exercises that will orient them to the process, and the resources they will need to further pursue UI design. User Interface Design is offered in studio format. Students will participate in group discussions, critiques, and presentations.

Credits: 3

Graduate Seminar aims to enable students to undertake rich and robust creative exploration that is informed by contextual and critical inquiry. The course brings together the full cohort of CCS graduate students to discuss and debate key contextual issues in art and design, and advance critical thinking skills.

Students will attend lectures (given and recorded for replay via Zoom, to be watched synchronously from the studio), we will break into seminar-style discussion groups immediately following morning lectures and undertake visits to key exhibitions, galleries and public talks. Graduate Seminar serves to advance both the critical inquiry and critical writing skills of students, and enable the cross-referencing of theory to practice.

Social, political, economic and environmental themes will be used to inform weekly classes. This course involves extensive reading, research, group presentations, short written assignments and one longer written assignment.

Credits: 3

Designing excellent user experiences requires an understanding of the human factors that underlie a user’s comprehension of the world. This course looks at the science that formulates the way humans make sense of the world around them and how to leverage that innate human experience to design successful human-computer experiences. Particularly relevant to designers working on human-centered interactions with new technologies, this course helps students to craft experiences compatible with the strengths and weaknesses of the human’s embodied mind. Students will learn how to leverage human perception, ergonomics, and information systems to generate intuitive interactions with new technologies.

Credits: 3

Students will enroll in an elective course of their choosing, such as:

• Color lab
• Material lab
• Interior Experience
• Analytical Drawing and Rendering
• 2D Animation
• 3D Animation
• Experimental Animation
• 2D Design Principles
• 3D Design Form and Space
• 3D Modeling and Rendering
• 4D Design Studio
• Mobility Design Studio
• Computer Generated Environments
• Game Art
• Sound Design
• 3D Printing
• Branding Narrative
• Branding Strategy
• Business Model Generation

and many others

Credits: 3

To be ready for the “next great wave of technology”, the Internet of Things, interaction designers must have both a conceptual grasp and working knowledge of the elements and systems interactions of IoT. They must understand how sensors can be connected into complex networks that monitor and affect environments at scales of the body, room, building, neighborhood, and planet. Furthermore, this understanding must encompass the power of coding and be grounded in design practice. In this immersive studio environment, students will engage in 3 overlapping modes of activity: prototyping (a.k.a. “making”), coding, and designing.

MFA studio courses incorporate a theme that enables students to understand “design for people” through needs-based projects that may involve social, economic, environmental, and/or infrastructural challenges, preferably both local to Detroit and a microcosm of national or global issues. Students gain tech skills while seeing beyond today’s technology to formulate and solve important design problems. They experience design as a unifying framework for understanding the creative processes and practical challenges of making a better world through design

Credits: 3

Students will learn the principles of UX (user experience) design. Students will learn how to map user journeys and prototype meaningful scenarios informed by research and iterative modelling and testing. Students will, at times, utilize and apply user-centered research and co-design methods.

Credits: 3

As humankind shifts from the era of the Personal Computer (PC) to that of machine learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming ubiquitous, radically changing the relationship between humans and computing. In this class, students will be introduced to AI, and explore its power and its implications. Through practical exercises and projects, students will learn how to create next-generation human-AI interfaces to unlock new human capabilities.

Credits: 3

The Graduate Research Methods course equips students with the knowledge and skills required to undertake a range of advanced research methodologies appropriate to contemporary creative practice and critical inquiry in art and design, from ethnography and interviews, to case studies, and reflective practice.

Using a wide range of primary and secondary sources students will learn to critically explore and evaluate art and design research practices. The knowledge acquired throughout the course will support students in the formulation of a sophisticated, reflective and fully referenced proposal for research-led creative practice, and a rigorously informed critical discourse.

Credits: 3

Students learn to use Design Thinking as a cross-disciplinary method for problem solving. Design thinking is characterized by a non-linear, creative, and collaborative approach for generating and testing ideas through rapid ideation and prototyping. Students learn to challenge assumptions, take risks, and adopt unconventional perspectives in the process of problem solving. The class teaches students to take a human-centered approach, led by user empathy to (re)define problems, generate ideas, prototype, model, and test concepts and ideas for new products, services, processes, and strategies.

Students do not need any formal design training to take this course, but will be required to visualize, map, enact, and document thinking and ideas in collaborative spaces.

Credits: 3

This course is designed to help students articulate and execute a body of work that is the culmination of his/her graduate study experience. Students should be able to synthesize external factors – such as technological, global, and environmental issues and trends, including social change – translate them into a form that is meaningful in a business setting, and create relevant design solutions. “Relevant” in this context requires that students’ design solutions resonate with an identified market segment, from all design and functional standpoints.

Credits: 6

The Graduate Studio I, II, III and IV courses are designed to address projects of increasing complexity and progressively strengthen your problem-solving skills in Interaction Design. Students will solve a particular design problem that is rooted in a business context, requiring a substantive research phase, a concept development phase followed by refinement and execution phases.

Research methodologies and business objectives students learned in the Business Practices and Contextual Design Research courses will be applied to develop and evaluate your solutions. These courses are structured to simulate the professional studio environment with formally scheduled milestones and defined deliverables and will be reviewed by both faculty and industry professionals through formal presentations.

Credits: 3

In this course, students will study the conceptual and related UX design approaches to metaverse creation. Metaverse is a broader term encompassing technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual 3D environments where interaction will take place. Students will explore various platforms, technical aspects, and design approaches applicable in such a none physical environment. The virtual worlds today are more than just technology. They have become humans’ alternative habitat to the physical one. Such tendencies require full attention from the new generation of UX designers and a profound understanding of the media phenomena from different perspectives. It is a hands-on type of course where priority is given to engagement on real-industry projects and searches for design solutions that include the use of metaverse and 3D virtual environments for video games, virtual classrooms, augmented chat platforms, artificial intelligence-generated content, and many other emerging applications.

Credits: 3

The Written Thesis is a self-directed, academically rigorous and fully referenced 8000- 10,000 words document providing a critical appraisal of primary and secondary research sources, and theoretical discussion and debate on the over-arching context of the Final Project. It runs concurrently with the Final Project I course in semester 3.

Credits: 3

This course is designed to help students articulate and execute a body of work that is the culmination of his/her graduate study experience. Students should be able to synthesize external factors – such as technology, global, environmental issues and trends, including social change – translate them into a form that is meaningful in a business setting, and create relevant design solutions.

“Relevant” in this context requires that students’ design solutions resonate with an identified market segment, from all design and functional standpoints.

Credits: 6

Independent Study is available to graduate students who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above. The student may receive approval to work in an area or on a project that is not otherwise offered or addressed in the regular curriculum. Students may receive credit toward graduation for no more than 6 credit hours.

The student must submit to the chairperson of the department in which they wish to study, an Independent Study Proposal of 150 words (no less) of the student’s plan for study and her/his reason for choosing to study independently. Once the department chairperson provides approval and the instructor for the Independent Study is determined, the faculty member must write an Independent Study Syllabus with education goals, learning outcomes, meeting dates, course expectations, timelines, and due dates.

Credits: 3

Students will enroll in an elective course of their choosing, such as:

• Color lab
• Material lab
• Interior Experience
• Analytical Drawing and Rendering
• 2D Animation
• 3D Animation
• Experimental Animation
• 2D Design Principles
• 3D Design Form and Space
• 3D Modeling and Rendering
• 4D Design Studio
• Mobility Design Studio
• Computer Generated Environments
• Game Art
• Sound Design
• 3D Printing
• Branding Narrative
• Branding Strategy
• Business Model Generation

and many others

Credits: 3

The Graduate Studio I, II, III and IV courses are designed to address projects of increasing complexity and progressively strengthen your problem-solving skills in Interaction Design. Students will solve a particular design problem that is rooted in a business context, requiring a substantive research phase, a concept development phase followed by refinement and execution phases. Research methodologies and business objectives students learned in the Business Practices and Contextual Design Research. Courses will be applied to develop and evaluate your solutions. These courses are structured to simulate the professional studio environment with formally scheduled milestones and defined deliverables and will be reviewed by both faculty and industry professionals through formal presentations.

Credits: 3

In this course, students will acquire a working knowledge of the main 3D printing methods using a range of basic equipment and PLA filament. Turning ideas into objects and swatches, students will become familiar with the software and related tools that are used for prototyping with 3D printers. Students will explore producing their own 3D filament, with a focus on creating sustainable and environmentally friendly material options.

Credits: 4

“This course will introduce the fundamental concepts, methods, and practices of interaction design. It will familiarize its students with the processes of interface development, the role of design leadership in that process, and the technical aspects of creating an effective interaction experience. Students will work both individually and in teams to explore the UI development process and communicate their ideas in through narrative media. Due to the complexity and length of the process, finished interfaces will not be produced. Instead, students will participate in focused exercises that will orient them to the process, and the resources they will need to further pursue UI design.

User Interface Design is offered in-studio format. Students will participate in group discussions, critiques, and presentations.”

Credits: 4

Credits: 4

Credits: 4

Credits: 4

Credits: 4

Credits: 3

Credits: 3