MA Interaction Design

The MA Interaction Design brings together candidates from a range of fields including design, art, computer science, psychology, sociology and business, and prepares graduates to play a leading role in the development of emerging technology in society.

What to Expect

The MA in Interaction Design is a one-year full-time master's delivered in NCAD. The course teaches fundamental approaches, methods and tools related to the design of digital products, experiences, systems and services, focusing on users and the context of use. The MA is studio-based with students engaging in lectures, seminars, workshops, fieldwork and independent and group projects. The studio environment is an essential component, fostering collaborative and peer-to-peer learning. The program focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of Interaction Design, covering topics ranging from human-computer interaction and psychology to product design and experience prototyping.

The course is underpinned by a deeply human-centred design approach. Through a range of studio projects, students learn to conduct designerly research, extract meaningful insights, create and visualise concepts, and develop and evaluate prototypes in context. Covering the theoretical and practical aspects of the discipline, the course encourages students to design from both a pragmatic and speculative perspective, to imagine things as they might be and not necessarily as they are. During the first and second-semester students develop knowledge and skills in areas including user experience (UX), user interface design, design ethnography, service design, coding, physical computing, augmented and virtual reality, systems thinking, data visualisation, prototyping and digital fabrication. Each year the students collaborate with the MSc Medical Device Design students on intensive real-world briefs. Over the summer students complete a self-directed major project and dissertation.