User Experience and Service Design

Program Overview

User Experience and Service Design - MDes

Overview

Master the art of user experience and service design to create solutions that shape the future of user-centric experiences.

Summary

Imagine a world where every interaction with a digital product or service is seamless, intuitive, and delightful. The MDes User Experience and Service Design course is your gateway to mastering the art of creating exceptional user experiences across various digital platforms and services.

About this course

Unlock the power of user-centric design and transform the way you approach problem-solving. The User Experience and Service Design MA at Ulster University equips you with the skills to create exceptional digital experiences that captivate audiences and drive business success.

Modules

• Exploration and Enquiry (40 credits)
  • This module provides students with the necessary critical, practical, and intellectual frameworks to initiate, evaluate, negotiate, and develop a sustainable creative practice within their respective field.
• Design Thinking (20 credits)
  • This module enables students to develop an understanding of user needs and challenge existing approaches through independent, innovative, and disruptive thinking.
• Specialist Skills Development (40 credits)
  • This module expands students' knowledge of user experience, design thinking, and service design, providing creative direction and support for their emerging practice.
• Design Futures (20 credits) (optional)
  • This module aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of design in the 21st century.
• Creative Entrepreneurship (20 credits) (optional)
  • This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the role business plays within the creative industries.
• Master's Project (60 credits)
  • This module provides a period of sustained self-motivated and practice-led creative engagement.

Attendance and Independent Study

• Attendance and Independent Study
  • As part of your course induction, you will be provided with details of the organisation and management of the course, including attendance and assessment requirements.
• Class contact times vary by course and type of module.
• Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module.

Start dates

• September 2025

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

• The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff.
• Courses are taught by staff who are Professors, Readers, Senior Lecturers, or Lecturers.
• We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education.

Academic profile

• The University website will be updated to reflect the changed course information as soon as reasonably practicable.
• If, after due consideration, you decide that you no longer want to study your course or to study at the University because of the changes, you may withdraw your application or terminate your contract with the University.

Standard entry conditions

• Applicants must hold a degree (with at least 2ii Honours standard) or equivalent or demonstrate their ability to undertake the course through the accreditation of prior learning.
• The specific requirements for admission are detailed below:
  • i) Applicants should normally hold a good honours degree in design practice or cognate subject from a University of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland.
  • ii) Applications are welcomed from diverse backgrounds however, where there is a discipline shift the applicant must represent a coherent rationale for this shift and evidence prerequisite understanding and skills/experience.
  • iii) Interview by portfolio and proposal.

English Language Requirements

• The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5.
• Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.

Exemptions and transferability

• Exemptions will be considered on an individual basis.

Careers & opportunities

• Graduates have an increasingly wide array of career options available, including User Experience Designer, User Experience Researcher, User Experience Design Researcher, Service Designer, Design Researcher, Digital Product Designer, Interaction Designer, and Strategic Designer.

Fees and funding

• The price of your overall programme will be determined by the number of credit points that you initiate in the relevant academic year.
• Fees illustrated are based on academic year 25/26 entry and are subject to an annual increase.

Additional mandatory costs

• Students purchase materials for their own coursework.
• Field trips may incur additional costs.

Sustainability at Ulster

• Ulster continues to develop and support sustainability initiatives with our staff, students, and external partners across various aspects of teaching, research, professional services operations, and governance.