Interaction Design

User experience. Interaction. Interfaces.

You shape the way people and media technologies interact. The focus is on user experience – in the design of analogue and digital interfaces, products, services and systems.

Digital products & services. Web/app/mobile.

You will learn to design digital products and artefacts for a wide range of applications. This includes strategies and methods such as user research and gamification for the design of complex information systems and services. You will take into account not only functional and aesthetic aspects, but also ethical and social considerations.

Responsive Environments. VR/AR/XR.

You will develop interactive media architectures, multimedia environments and immersive narrative forms. The focus is on the design of virtual and digital worlds, information and interaction concepts, and forward-looking interfaces.

Interdisciplinary projects. Design research.

A central component of the programme is practical projects in which design solutions are realised from conception to prototypical application. You will also deepen your knowledge by working on individual design research questions and your Master’s thesis.

Interdisciplinary. Individual. International.

The Interaction Design study track offers you the opportunity to deepen your design expertise and collaborate on interdisciplinary projects with students from Communication and Exhibition Design as well as Interaction, Media and Sound Design. This results in creative and research-oriented projects that combine visual communication, spatial design and digital media in innovative ways.
In the 4th semester, you will complete your Master’s thesis, including your own design piece – flexibly, independently of location and with a practical focus. This allows you to develop an individual portfolio project that showcases your personal design signature and strengthens your career opportunities.

Graduates work in a broad design environment with great economic significance. They work on topics such as user experience, human computer interaction, interactive storytelling, mobile and immersive media, user research and service design. They work in digital design studios, UX consultancies, advertising agencies, web, app and e-commerce companies, industry usability departments, R&D facilities, game studios or as freelance designers.

The Master’s course in Interaction Design is organised to fit in with part-time work commitments with lessons taking place between Tuesday and Friday. The average required attendance during the first three semesters is 19 hours per week. It is therefore possible to combine your studies with a part-time job. The fourth semester is dedicated to writing the Master’s thesis.

During the semester, classes take place from 9:00 to 18:30 from Tuesday to Friday. E-learning sessions are not available.

Self-study

The workload is based on the following ECTS credits: each semester, students are credited with 30 ECTS points for a workload of approx. 750 hours. Around 20 units of attendance are deducted from this during the first three semesters and the supervision of the Master’s thesis in the fourth semester. This results in a workload of approx. 520 hours during the first three semesters, or 34 hours per week. The Master’s thesis should correspond to a workload of 750 to 800 hours.

Attendance

There is compulsory attendance in all courses of FH JOANNEUM. You may be excused if you present a doctor’s certificate to show that you were ill. Students require a minimum 80 % attendance level. If you miss more than 20%, you will fail the course and won’t be able to sit the first examination. The head of degree programme has the final decision about the consequences of absence as well as exceptions to compulsory attendance.

We try to accommodate any extra-curricular design-related activities our students may wish to pursue.