C06123v1 Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design
Award(s): Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design (GradDipIDes)CRICOS code: 096326F
Commonwealth supported place?: No
Load credit points: 48
Course EFTSL: 1
Location: City campus
Notes
This is an exit-only course. There is no direct admission to it. Current UTS students may be able to submit an Internal Course Transfer (Graduating) application to exit with this course. Check with your faculty's student centre.
Overview
Course aims
Career options
Course intended learning outcomes
Course duration and attendance
Course structure
Course completion requirements
Course program
Exit award
Other information
Overview
Interaction design is concerned with designing interactive digital products, digital environments, systems, and services that can satisfactorily meet the needs and desires of the intended users. The Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design prepares and equips students with up-to-date theoretical knowledge and requisite practical industry-standard skills in this rapidly advancing field.
While industry demand for skilled interaction designers and various other jobs, such as user experience (UX) designers, service designers etc., is increasing, there is a lack of formal education/training offered by universities in interaction design. This course is designed to provide students with the most current and requisite skills in this fast-evolving field. Graduates possess skills in industrially applicable and cost-effective information environments (i.e. multimedia, interactive systems design and associated information technology). The course provides industry with graduates who can combine these skills with those of their original discipline in professional applications-oriented settings.
The course is committed to producing graduates who have a deep understanding of human-centred approaches to designing digital technologies. This ensures that 'products' created are more likely to 'fit' meaningfully into users' lives, because the design process is informed by a deep understanding of people's practices, particular situations and values.
This course is attractive to different types of learners, namely:
- those who are currently working in a job that is not related to interaction design
- those working in jobs closely related to interaction design, and
- those already working in interaction design-related jobs.
Course aims
In the core subjects students learn through the practice of an iterative human-centred design process to solve a real-world problem with actual users, developing skills to analyse, generate and transmit solutions to complex problems. They gain advanced technical and theoretical knowledge in interaction design. They also engage with interaction design for emerging computing contexts, gaining advanced knowledge and skills.
Students develop advanced design skills (including autonomy, expert judgement, adaptability and responsibility) by focusing on learning professional practices in user experience projects, and through the capstone subject where they co-implement a project commissioned with an industry client, focusing on graduate-level outcomes. Skills to demonstrate knowledge adaptability and responsibility as a practitioner/learner are acquired through all the studio subjects where students have to adapt to the unpredictable processes of working with users, conducting fieldwork in the wild, iterating designs and testing with users, and the open-ended nature of an iterative design process. The studio subjects also allow students to demonstrate their responsibility as practitioners through developing project management and teamwork skills.
Career options
Graduates can gain employment in a range of technology design-related roles, such as interaction designer, UX designer, UX researcher, service designer, or digital experience architect.
For those currently working in closely related jobs, such as web design, graphic design, interface design etc., this course provides the necessary formal training in the discipline in order to make a more definitive move into jobs in interaction design. Similarly, many find themselves working within the field of interaction design without formal training, and this course provides a good foundation and opportunities to extend their interaction design skills more formally.
For those not working in a job related to interaction design, this course provides the opportunity to learn about the discipline and to transition into the various jobs under the interaction design umbrella.
Course intended learning outcomes
| A.1 | Historically and Culturally Informed about Indigenous Knowledge Systems: FEIT graduates are culturally and historically well informed, able to work as respectful professionals with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. |
| B.1 | Socially Responsible: Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design graduates explore and understand users' needs and problems. |
| C.1 | Design Oriented: Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design graduates understand how different human-centred design methodologies can be used to propose designs for particular situations, and are able to respond to user needs in sensitive and culturally appropriate ways. |
| D.1 | Technically Proficient: Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design graduates understand materials, technologies, and methods used in implementation of interaction designs, and engage critically with the development of interactive artefacts. |
| E.1 | Collaborative and Communicative: Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design graduates demonstrate proficient communication skills in diverse, cross-cultural teams. |
| F.1 | Reflective: Graduate Diploma in Interaction Design graduates are reflective practitioners who can manage and improve their own performance. |
Course duration and attendance
The course duration is one year of full-time or two years of part-time study.
Course structure
This course totals 48 credit points, comprising eight core subjects.
Course completion requirements
| STM91221 Core subjects A (Interaction Design) | 24cp | |
| STM91222 Core subjects B (Interaction Design) | 24cp | |
| Total | 48cp |
Course program
The program of study for this course follows the Master of Interaction Design (C04222) study pattern.
Exit award
This exit-only course enables students enrolled in the master's course to finish after completing 48 credit points of study and gain a graduate diploma qualification.
Other information
Further information is available from:
UTS Student Centre
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887) or +61 2 9514 1222
Ask UTS