User Experience Design
Study today to shape the future!
Imagine your alarm clock greeting you in the morning with the gentle chirping of birds and a warm light that slowly spreads through the room. In the kitchen, your coffee machine is already waiting for you with a warm, chocolatey coffee. Your calendar gives you a friendly reminder of a friend’s birthday, and your key rack jingles briefly to draw your attention to a key you’d almost forgotten. On your way to work, the traffic lights switch straight to green because they’ve seen you coming and there are no other cars on the road at the moment. That’s a lovely start to the day.
That’s a well-designed experience – and that’s exactly what user experience design is all about: designing experiences that feel really good, that inspire, evoke memories, make everyday life easier or bring people together.
User experience design is when someone thinks about how things can be made easier, more natural, perhaps even more exciting or playful for you – so that they truly meet your needs.
How do I design experiences that really help people?
In short: as a UX designer, you’re the unsung hero working behind the scenes, because you try to keep an eye not only on users’ needs but also on the impact on their wider environment – whether they’re shopping, cooking, travelling or at work. This is how you create positive experiences for the future that do more than just make your target audience happy.
On the UXD study programme, you’ll become a creative thinker who identifies problems, develops solutions and designs experiences that positively change lives. Here, we develop products and services that not only feel right, but are also suited to the world of tomorrow.
User Experience Design (formerly Interactive Media Design) combines practice and theory in a seven-semester Bachelor's study programme.
In user experience design, you look at how we go about our lives. You don’t think in terms of products, but in terms of processes and systems. You ask yourself questions such as:
- What steps are needed to make a cup of coffee?
- What’s it like to cycle through the city?
- What’s fun about it – and what’s really annoying?
A well-designed process is pleasant, brings joy or feels so natural that you don’t even give it a second thought. UXD ensures that everything fits together – from the first impression to the final click, from the feeling to the overall experience.
People are always at the heart of user experience design:
- What do they really need?
- How do they think and feel?
- How can I best help them?
Here, you’ll learn to put yourself in other people’s shoes, understand their needs and challenges, and develop solutions tailored to users – whilst also taking others into account, so that no one is disadvantaged or left behind.
The UXD study programme focuses on the design of interactions. By this we mean the interrelated behaviour of people, animals, machines or entire communities. The aim is to create a way of living together that is worth living, one that not only works well but also creates genuine added value.
In doing so, you’ll ask yourself questions such as:
- Who are the participants in the interaction, what exactly do they do, and why?
- Are there any problems or obstacles in the interaction?
- Is there perhaps a lack of opportunity for interaction, and if so, where and how would it be most natural?
- How can we improve our coexistence in general?
UXD is more than just ‘making something look nice’. It involves thinking through complex interrelationships and combining them with creativity, technology and empathy. Here, you’ll be faced with questions such as:
- How do we want to live in the future – how do we want to shape our everyday lives, work, learn and communicate with one another?
- What role do people, technology and the environment play in this?
UXD means questioning the status quo, thinking ahead to the future and bringing about change. Design is often invisible – it blends into processes, contexts and systems. It’s less about ‘the finished product’ and more about how everything interacts and becomes part of a bigger picture.
Studying UX design – what can I expect?
Transdisciplinarity: Working together and across boundaries
Imagine you’re building a house with others. If all of them just do what they’re best at, without listening to the others or talking to one another, in the best-case scenario the cooker will end up in the bathroom and, in the worst-case scenario, the whole house will collapse.
We do things differently. Transdisciplinarity in UXD means exactly the opposite: it’s not about thinking within a single discipline, but about linking knowledge from different fields and thinking beyond them to solve complex problems.
We take an expanded approach to design, one that takes into account all aspects of a challenge – from cultural and social perspectives, through technological possibilities, to economic considerations.
How exactly do we go about this?
Let’s take on a challenge – let’s shape the way we want to learn in the future! I’m sure you still remember lessons at school: a room with desks, chairs and a blackboard. Let’s be honest, often the most exciting thing in those rooms was looking out of the window or waiting for the bell to ring for break. But does it have to be that way?
To create a learning environment that really works, various aspects need to be taken into account. This requires a holistic approach – and that’s exactly what we learn on the User Experience Design study programme.
Stages in the design process
To enable us to create a forward-looking learning environment, we first ask ourselves a lot of questions. These questions focus on ‘Who does what, with whom, and why?’. They help us gain a deep understanding of what this is really about and which needs and framework conditions must be taken into account before a solution is developed.
- Who are the learners and teaching staff, and what are their needs?
- What are the learning objectives? Is it about knowledge, creativity, social skills or other abilities?
- Who do learners interact with during the process (teaching staff, fellow pupils, family)?
- Why does learning take place in the way it currently does? What traditions, rules or structures play a role in this?
- …
To answer these questions, we conduct interviews with learners, teaching staff and education experts. We analyse social science studies to understand the social and cultural dynamics that shape learning. Psychological insights provide us with an understanding of how people process information, how motivation arises and which environments promote learning. Design plays a central role in this process – not merely as a creative tool, but as an approach to understanding and facilitating.
Now that we have gained a deep understanding of the needs, context and challenges, the next step is to translate this knowledge into tangible approaches. Here, we ask ourselves: How can we use our insights to develop a concept? In this phase, we focus on setting clear objectives and defining the direction of the project.
- How can we specifically integrate the needs of learners and teaching staff into a concept?
- How can we design a learning environment that can respond flexibly to different requirements?
- How can technology be used effectively to enhance the learning process without causing distraction?
- …
During the definition phase, we develop a plan for turning a wide range of requirements into a tangible solution – a concept that is functional, feasible and future-proof. This concept serves as the basis for further implementation and forms the guiding principle for the entire design process.
Initial prototypes are developed based on the concept defined earlier. A prototype is not a finished product – rather, it is a simplified yet targeted representation of the key functions or ideas that we wish to demonstrate and test. The aim is to bring the vision to life and to check whether it truly meets the requirements and needs.
- What is the core function or central idea of our concept that we wish to represent in the prototype?
- Which aspects of the concept must be tested in order to gather feedback for further development?
- What materials, tools or technologies are we using to create the prototype?
- …
We give shape to our concept and test it in practice. This is less about creating a perfect product and more about learning through experience. We gather feedback, identify weaknesses and gain new insights. In this way, we ensure that the end result is not only well thought out, but also genuinely feasible and effective.
Our example project demonstrates how understanding, defining and experiencing are seamlessly intertwined. It also illustrates that UXD is not a rigid mix of disciplines, but a way of thinking. We combine knowledge from a wide variety of fields to develop solutions that are relevant not only for today, but also for tomorrow. The learning never stops – and that is precisely what makes it so appealing.
That’s why you should choose UXD
Our aim is to empower you, as a designer, to help shape desirable futures. We provide you with the ‘Future Skills’ you need – the skills required not only to keep up with a constantly changing world, but also to play an active part in shaping it. As a designer, ‘future skills’ mean making your own decisions and taking responsibility for them. It means broadening your horizons independently and engaging in self-reflection. Over the course of your study programme, you’ll develop your own perspective, which you’ll also be able to articulate. You’ll discover which methods work best for you in achieving your goals and communicating those goals convincingly.
I’m sure you’ve already given some thought to how AI might affect your dream discipline: design. AI has the potential to become a great tool to help you with tedious, repetitive tasks. Want to quickly try out a design in a different grid? Test alternative colour schemes and typefaces? Visualise scenarios? AI already handles all of this really well. The UXD study programme develops the skills that AI cannot master – your capacity for empathy, your ethical compass, your critical thinking, your ability to conceive sensitive designs and devise unconventional strategies. Artificial intelligence may speed up processes, but as a designer, you’re the one who ensures humanity.
At UXD, there are no hours-long lectures where you end up dozing off in an anonymous crowd because of the sheer monotony. You learn through your own projects, with support from the lecturers. You’ll be taught all the essential basics: theoretical knowledge, creative inspiration and practical tips to help you learn independently and broaden your horizons. To this end, various study rooms are available to you, equipped with comfortable chairs, digital whiteboards, projectors and craft supplies.
Forget overcrowded lecture halls where you can barely breathe amongst 200 students – with us, you’re not just a number. Instead, at UXD you’ll find yourself in a small group where you’ll be heard and seen. The benefits? Direct support, more in-depth discussions and a much more personalised learning environment! Here, everyone knows each other by name – at least, if you’re good at remembering names!
Are you stuck on a project or have you not quite understood something? No problem – asking questions is all part of the process here! Our lecturers will make time for you, whether you just have a quick query or need in-depth coaching.
Do you find it difficult to give presentations in front of others? Or do you struggle to structure your project work? Whatever challenge you’re currently facing – personal coaching will help you overcome it. Here, you can identify your own weaknesses and turn them into strengths. With personal coaching, you’ll get exactly the support you need. Because at UXD, it’s not just about learning, but also about personal growth.
What career options are open to me?
You can inspire people and change the reality of their lives – sometimes in very practical ways, sometimes more subtly. Sometimes quietly and unseen, sometimes loudly and disruptively.
You can improve existing processes or design new ones. Develop products that tomorrow’s world needs.
You can design future scenarios that inspire hope. You can conduct research, programme, visualise and facilitate. You can lead a team, set up your own business, work for NGOs or in start-ups.
You can move between disciplines – between technology, psychology, economics, philosophy, politics and many more.
You’ll find your place as a UX designer, UX researcher, service designer, interaction designer, design lead, creative technologist, innovation consultant, strategic designer, accessibility specialist or in usability engineering – in agencies, start-ups, companies across a wide range of sectors, public institutions, in research or in private practice.
How practical is the UXD study programme?
The degree programme consists of compulsory semester projects and compulsory-elective modules that complement the study programme.
Semester projects
The transdisciplinary semester projects are mandatory modules and form the core of the study programme. They always focus on a topical issue. They often have a direct link to the market or are carried out in collaboration with a company. Project partners include, for example, Honda, Deutsche Bahn, the Städel Museum and Merck. The methods taught correspond to those used in standard media practice. This enables students to learn how the industry works during their study programme.
Elective courses
To complement the projects, students can choose to specialise in individual disciplines or explore cutting-edge topics and technologies within the compulsory elective module.
The catalogue offers, for example, usability testing, Arduino programming, app development, futurology, sound for interactive media and much more from the diverse field of media.
