Program Overview

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Program Overview

The Master of Information program offers a concentration in User Experience Design (UXD), which provides students with the necessary core knowledge and skills to become marketable UX designers. The program recognizes the demand for professionals who can envision, design, and evaluate outstanding user experiences for digital products.

Program Description

The UXD concentration is concerned with a user's total experience when interacting with digital systems, applying several traditional facets of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and more recent developments such as experiential and affective design. To create successful and positive user experiences, UX designers must consider ways in which humans interact with technology by studying typical users, contexts of use, interaction techniques, and resulting emotions, and UX assessment metrics.

Program Requirements

MI Students Enrolled in 2025 and Later

• Coursework-Only Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • 3.0 required FCEs:
    • INF1610H User Experience (UX) Foundations
    • INF1611H User Experience (UX) Design Studio
    • INF2169H Exploratory User Research
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H UX Capstone
  • 5.0 elective FCEs
  • The UX Portfolio (0.0 FCE) asynchronous course with portfolio milestone submissions
• Thesis Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • Thesis (2.0 FCEs)
  • 3.0 required FCEs:
    • INF1610H User Experience (UX) Foundations
    • INF1611H User Experience (UX) Design Studio
    • INF2169H Exploratory User Research
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H UX Capstone
  • Research Methods course (0.5 FCE)
  • Reading course (0.5 FCE)
  • 2.0 elective FCEs
  • The UX Portfolio (0.0 FCE) asynchronous course with portfolio milestone submissions
• Co-op Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • Co-op (1.0 FCE), plus the Co-op Independent Modules (0.0 FCE)
  • 3.0 required FCEs:
    • INF1610H User Experience (UX) Foundations
    • INF1611H User Experience (UX) Design Studio
    • INF2169H Exploratory User Research
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H UX Capstone
  • 4.0 elective FCEs
  • The UX Portfolio (0.0 FCE) asynchronous course with portfolio milestone submissions

MI Students Enrolled in 2024

• Coursework-Only Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • 2.5 required FCEs:
    • INF1602H Fundamentals of User Experience
    • INF2169H User-Centred Information Systems Development
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H Representing UX
  • 5.5 elective FCEs
• Thesis Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • Thesis (2.0 FCEs)
  • 2.5 required FCEs:
    • INF1602H Fundamentals of User Experience
    • INF2169H User-Centred Information Systems Development
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H Representing UX
  • Research Methods course (0.5 FCE)
  • Reading course (0.5 FCE)
  • 2.5 elective FCEs
• Co-op Option: Students must successfully complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
  • Co-op (1.0 FCE), plus the Co-op Independent Modules (0.0 FCE)
  • 2.5 required FCEs:
    • INF1602H Fundamentals of User Experience
    • INF2169H User-Centred Information Systems Development
    • INF2170H Information Architecture
    • INF2191H User Interface Design
    • INF2192H Representing UX
  • 4.5 elective FCEs

Suggested Course Sequence

• Year 1 Required Courses: INF1610H User Experience (UX) Foundations, INF1611H User Experience (UX) Design Studio, INF2169H Exploratory User Research, INF2170H Information Architecture, INF2191H User Interface Design
• Year 2 Required Courses: INF2192H UX Capstone

Recommended Electives

• General UXD Electives: INF2165H Accessibility and Inclusive Design, INF2171H Usability Assessment: Concepts, Methods and Tools, INF2200H UX Leadership and Influence
• UX Domain Electives: INF2164H UX Research and Design for Video Games, INF2201H Information and Communication Technologies, Design, and Marginality, INF2208H User-Centred Systems for Communication, INF2260H Speculative Design
• Broad Electives: INF1344H Introduction to Statistics for Data Science, INF2040H Project Management, INF2224H Service Design, INF2241H Critical Making: Information Studies, Social Values, and Physical Computing, INF2314H Program Evaluation

Work Integrated Learning

The Faculty of Information offers a variety of work-integrated learning, including the MI Co-op option and practicum courses. The Careers Services team helps students find suitable placements.

Professional Networks

Many students, alumni, and faculty are members of key UXD professional associations, keeping the Faculty of Information abreast of the latest UXD trends. In addition, many instructors are active UXD professionals. UXD professional associations include:

Career Opportunities

The 2022 LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise list included User Experience Researcher as number 13 among the 20 fastest-growing job titles over the past five years. Given the newness of the field, job titles vary from one organization to the next and include UX analyst, UX manager, and UX specialist. Other roles filled by UXD graduates include UX designer, digital project manager, human-centered design manager, product manager, information architect (IA), interaction designer, Solutions Developer, and more. Faculty of Information alumni work in a wide range of organizations and industries, including marketing and communications, digital media, advertising, financial services, technology, government, non-profit, and more.