ux design master thesis

UX: Designing the User Experience

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SŁOMSKA-PRZECH, Katarzyna, 2021, Wpływ medium publikacji na użyteczność map [ENG: The impact of publication medium on maps’ usability] , PhD Thesis, University of Warsaw.

MARKOWSKA, Anna, 2018, Użyteczność kartograficznych anamorfoz powierzchniowych [ENG: Usability of area cartograms], PhD Thesis, University of Warsaw.

HALL, Andreas, 2016, Reasoning in Spatio-Temporal Analysis – Theory, Provenance, and Applications , PhD Thesis, Aalto University.

YOCHEVA, Zornitza, 2015, User-Centred Design of Smartphone Augmented Reality in Urban Tourism Context , PhD Thesis, Bournemouth University.

DEEB, Rasha, 2015,  Assessing visual variables of cartographic text design , PhD Thesis, Ghent University

KVELADZE, Irma, 2015, Space – time cube design and usability . University of Twente, ITC Dissertation 268, ISBN: 978-90-365-3859-6.

LAAKSO, Mari, 2014,  Improving Accessibility for Pedestrians with Geographic Information , PhD thesis Aalto University.

PUCHER, Alexander, 2013,  Optimierung von Internet-basierten kartographischen Informationssystemen durch Erkenntnisgewinn aus nutzerzentrierter Entwicklung.  Dissertation, University of Vienna.

OOMS, Kristien, 2012, Maps, how do users’ see them . PhD thesis Ghent University.

SCHOBESBERGER, David, 2012, Towards a Framework for Improving the Usability of Web-mapping Products . Dissertation, University of Vienna.

BLEISCH, Susanne, 2011, Evaluating the appropriateness of visually combining abstract quantitative data representations with 3D desktop virtual environments using mixed methods . PhD Thesis. London: City University London. http://phd.sbleis.ch/

DELIKOSTIDIS, Ioannis, 2011, Improving the usability of pedestrian navigation systems . PhD thesis University of Twente. ITC Dissertation 181, ISBN: 978-90-6164-303-6.

ROTH, Robert, 2011, Interacting with Maps: The science and practice of cartographic interaction. PhD dissertation Pennsylvania State University.

NIVALA, Annu-Maaria, 2007, Usability Perspectives for the Design of Interactive Maps , Publications of the Finnish Geodetic Institute, PhD thesis.

SYDNEY TERRIS

Master's of UX Design Thesis Project

Designing a social (re)connection app: ux case study.

After a year and a half of studying UX Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art, I designed Date Night , an app for social (re)connection through shared interests and activities from singing your heart out in the car to getting takeout and curling up under a blanket for a movie.

Date Night  design showcase

From Personal Frustrations to Design Pillars

In the wake of a sweeping global pandemic, the world's doors closed and silence fell on once-busy streets while we found new ways to define social connection. With the horizons of adventure shrinking and the depths of isolation growing, I found myself constantly looking for socially-distanced, digital activities to share with my partner and my closest friends. From Netflix Watch Party to Discord streaming, we fumbled through questions like "Which one of us has the Hulu subscription?!" and "How do we find something we all like watching?". When Friday nights rolled around, comparing, contrasting, and untangling schedules, time zones, watch lists, subscriptions, and streaming services created a headache that left us feeling like Charlie Day in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia instead of Dina in Girls Trip. 

Even as technology brings us limitless content, exposes us to new activities, and finds new ways to delight our taste buds, friends and couples are still left with an important question:

How do we find exciting new ways to connect with each other without falling into the same old habits, or neglecting quality time altogether?

Put another way: beyond the thrill of a new match on a dating app or a new suggestion on Netflix, how do we use technology to nurture fulfilling, long-lasting friendships and relationships?

This is where  Date Night  begins.

The Date Night App

Sing your heart out in the car while you jam to a playlist made for you and your partner in crime, or curl up under a blanket together to watch movies hand-picked for your shared passions! 

QUALITY TIME JAMMING

OUT OR DINING IN

Date Night is an activity matchmaking app for friends and couples that compares and contrasts each person's interests to determine exciting and engaging shared experiences for date night activities.

How does it work?  

Imagine Sydney wants to spend some quality time with her friends and nurture her social connections, but often feels frustrated sorting through tangled schedules, movie interests, and subscriptions. This weekend, Sydney wants to set up a watch party with her friend, Amber . She opens Date Night and looks through her list of movie night "matches" with Amber . Sydney picks out a movie they both have been wanting to watch and sends a date night plan over to Amber for Saturday night. Amber , while swiping left and right through potential playlist tracks, receives a date night proposal from Sydney . The movie and the date both fit Amber's schedule and interests, so she confirms the plan and eagerly awaits Saturday night! 

Date Night  creating a date night plan flow

Design Deep-Dive

Supporting friends and partners in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and activities from singing in the car to getting takeout and watching a movie.

Date Night  onboarding flow

At it's core, Date Night provides an activity matchmaking service for friends and couples by comparing and contrasting each person's interests and desired date night activities. In turn, this augments user engagement with streaming services, food service apps, and related subscription boxes by providing a clear, direct pipeline to each activity. Therefore, the Date Night app supports partners in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and experiences while creating an intuitive pathway linking users to the applications that address their date night needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix. This eliminates decision-making and schedule coordination stress.

Concept Deep-Dive

The Date Night app has 5 core features:

1. The Stack: The homepage hub - a stack of cards - that users swipe right or left on to express like and dislike

2. Connections: Adding, managing, and talking with friends and partners

3. Plan a Date: A pathway for users to plan out and send proposals for date nights that is rooted in existing mental models 

4. Responding to a Proposal: A flexible, built-in reply feature that allows users to go beyond "yes" or "no" by supporting a response system that encourages users to reply with iterations on the initial proposal

5. Curated Spotify Playlist: A playlist automatically created for each connection or group chat that compares, contrasts, and reflects back shared music tastes in a unique playlist

Date Night  UI showcase

The homepage card stack is the central hub for user activity. This space prioritizes exploration and leans into delightful interactions that provide exciting and engaging content. The user focuses on high-level content groupings including Movies, Music, and Food. Each card within the card stack features cover art and identifying details for the featured content. A user can either swipe right to "like" content, or swipe "left" to dislike content. Content that is "liked" by a user is saved for comparison with the corresponding interests of that user's connections. From this comparison, suggestions for date night plans are made that are directly based on content the users have "matched" on. 

Date Night  homepage featuring card stacks for users to swipe through

The card stack is populated by pulling movies, music, and dining options from the user's linked subscription services. For example, users that have linked their Netflix account and their Hulu account will see a movie options that are a combination of titles offered from both streaming services. A user also has the option to automatically import their existing "Watch Later" lists to ensure these are added to the user's 'Liked" content. 

Continuing, the connections page allows a user to review their conversations and group chats with friends, partners, and loved ones. From here a user is able to start new conversations or kick off a new date night plan. 

Date Night 's My Connections page

When a user chooses to propose a new date night plan, they are able to sort through the content that individuals have "matched" on to find the movies, music, or food that both individuals are excited to engage with. After selecting an activity, the user picks a date and time to propose. For dine-in restaurants, this includes table reservations powered by OpenTable. Similarly, take-out options are supported by services including DoorDash and UberEats. Having chosen a restaurant to dine in, a user is also able to add a movie on to their date night plan before sending the proposal to their connection(s). 

Summary view of composing a date night plan to send to a connection

When a user receives a date night proposal, they have several options for a response. They may accept the proposal as is and have it automatically added to their calendar. On the other hand, a user may also decline a proposal. Third, and most importantly, a user is able to iterate on a proposal by responding with substitutions or alterations to the plan. These changes can include adjustments to the date and/or time as well as substitutions for the proposed activity, such as swapping out one movie selection for another. 

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The final primary feature of Date Night is the uniquely generated music playlist that is powered by Spotify. This playlist is generated in two steps. First, Date Night imports a user's existing Spotify preferences and combines this with any additional data the user provides by swiping through the music card stack. Second, for each connection, Date Night automatically compares and contrasts both individuals' music preferences and generates a unique Spotify playlist based on overlapping music tastes. This playlist includes songs and artists that both users have expressed interest in as well as new songs and artists from similar music genres.

Date Night's  uniquely generated music playlists powered by Spotify

Target Audience

In order to determine the target audience for the Date Night app, research was conducted into the user audiences for dating apps like Tinder as well as the user audiences for service providers such as DoorDash, OpenTable, Netflix, and Spotify. As a result, the target audience was determined to be individuals who are confident using smartphones consistently and who are looking for new ways to connect with each other during a socially-distanced, pandemic era. More specifically, the target audience for Date Night includes couples and friends, both newly formed and long-term, between the ages of 18 and 55 years old. These individuals are streaming service subscribers, and likely frequent smartphone and mobile app users. Generally, these individuals visit local restaurants several times per month and enjoy trying out something new every now and again. The target audience also enjoys a stay-at-home date night with takeout and a movie. These users generally make use of restaurant reservation and food delivery apps, including but not limited to OpenTable, DoorDash, and UberEats. 

Project Timeline

The Date Night project serves as my Master's thesis and is the culmination of a year and a half of studying design, user experience, and human-computer interaction at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Altogether, the project timeline extended over a period of 10 weeks and included the following development beats:

Formal Project Proposal: Project Timeline

Understanding The User Friction & Business Value 

What is the user friction date night tackles.

This project kicked off with an exploration into the behavioral habits of couples in long-term relationships in order to map out the sociological paradigms structuring interpersonal social connections in the midst of a global pandemic. This yielded the following, surface-level user friction: 

Individuals seeking to (re)connect with each other through shared experiences need to select a movie - or other activity - for a "date night" but feel frustration when facing difficulty identifying a movie - or other activity - that both individuals are interested in.

Knowing this, what is the core problem the solution seeks to address?

Individuals seeking to (re)connect with each other through shared experiences need to establish, communicate, and compare interests to determine date night activities, but feel frustration when facing difficulty sifting through and identifying activities that both individuals are interested in. These users require support through an activity "matchmaking" service that compares and contrasts each partner's interests and desired date night activities while creating an intuitive pathway linking couples to the services that address their needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix. 

What business value might the solution bring?

After distilling the core user friction, the following questions were asked to determine the business value of the solution:

1. Does the market exist? What business value might the solution bring?

2. What is the market demand and size? How broad is the audience?

3. What is the competitive landscape? Are there similar products in the market and how are they positioned? Who is most successful in this space?

4. What is the value proposition? Who are the target users? How does the app achieve financial viability?

5. What are the key performance indicators for success? What are the qualitative and quantitative markers of a healthy product in this space?

Insight: There is an unmet market, and the market demand is high

Conversational user interviews and market research surveys were leveraged to reveal that 82.61% of participants report that they "often have trouble finding activities that both individuals are interested in". Continuing, 70.83% of users indicate "finding a time and date that suit everyone's schedules" is a primary stressor during activity planning. 

So, how big is the current market? 

Research into the current state of the market underscores the rapidly expanding nature of both the online dating and video streaming industries. With regard to the online dating industry, over 32 million Americans are currently participating in online dating. This forms a global industry that is expected to grow from $2.23 billion in 2019 to $3.592 billion by the end of 2025. In parallel, the global video streaming industry was valued at $38.56 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to $149.34 billion by 2026. 

Formal Project Proposal: Market Research

Further, a competitive analysis of the most successful products growing the social connection industry revealed that comparing and contrasting the activity interests of multiple individuals remains an unmet need in the market. Most digital products in the matchmaking space, such as Tinder or Bumble, focus on pre-relationship services for romantic couples, neglecting the needs of friendships and long-term romantic relationships. Moreover, subscription service products, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, focus on the vertical slice of a single individual's needs, rather than providing robust featuresets designed around social connection. 

Altogether, existing products in this market space are limited to:

Socially isolating product models that fail to support person-to-person connection

Pre-relationship services that do not build sustainable, long-term user engagement cycles

In contrast, Date Night supports partners and friends in finding ways to (re)connect with each other through shared interests and activities while creating an intuitive pathway linking individuals to the applications that address their date night needs, such as OpenTable or Netflix.

Insight: Exploring existing user behaviors uncovers a user friction potentially hindering the success of Date Night

A key problem emerging from user research involved addressing and supporting the ever-evolving individuality of users as each person's interests, passions, and life circumstances change over time. On one hand, as friendships and relationships change, Date Night must support the user through both happy and sad evolutions by avoiding potentially painful or traumatic reminders of emotional wounds. On the other hand, Date Night must also be sensitive to and cognizant of how an individual's tastes and interests evolve over time. The app necessitates a level of "revisiting" past content and prioritizing new activities that the users have not participated in. Providing this fine-tuned experience in a simplistic approach involves thorough and complex information architecture planning. 

How to design a system that reflects back the ever-evolving individuality of it's users?

A thorough competitive analysis was conducted to seek inspiration and key insights from apps with similar needs including Netflix's "Top Picks for You" approach, Pinterest's suggestion architecture, and Tinder's connection archival process.  

What was learned?

1. Designing for evolving individuality involves a balance between exploring new content and revisiting old content

" There’s no point in trying to eat something that has lost its flavor. I’d rather have many consuming if finite passions than wonder what it’s like to have even one."

- Katherine Ramsland Ph.D., 2014

An effective design focuses on surfacing new and exciting content, but takes time to revisit previous content to give space and allowance for a user's passions to evolve over time.

2. Create belonging, not shame

An effective design allows a user to quietly and seamlessly pause, archive, or renew connections with their social spheres. To be successful, the design must limit the negative influence of social pressures around popularity and self-valuation. 

3. Design for exploration

An effective design encourages users to experiment and explore their existing passions as well as delve into uncharted territory. User engagement should be playful and fun, pushing on the horizons of existing identified interests. 

Solution Ideation

Design pillars: from insights to design decisions.

Leveraging the key insights arising from research analysis and behavioral psychology for products in this space, the following design pillars were established:

Date Night  design pillars

With these design pillars in mind, the following methods of design ideation were utilized to reach the final product: 

1. User Sit-Ins to evaluate social coordination mental models

2. Freeform Sketching for train-of-thought iteration

3. Pen & Paper Sketches anchored around usability questions

4. Digital Wireframing at a low and mid-fidelity level

5. High-Fidelity Design and iteration

6. Prototyping and interaction design iteration

Process: User Sit-Ins

In order to effectively evaluate the social coordination and mental models involved in planning quality time between individuals, user "sit-ins" were conducted. These involved sitting in on conversations between groups of people and listening while event coordination was conducted in order to better understand what information is being consistently communicated. While noting key phrases, questions, information tidbits, and general behavioral habits, several patterns of communication emerged that directly informed the featureset for Date Night . As the following graphic shows, these patterns centered on 6 key data points: 

1. Schedule

2. Activity Category

3. Genre or Subcategory

4. Reputation

5. Accessibility

6. Substitutions & Negotiation

User sit-in key patterns summary

Process: Freeform Sketching

After evaluating the primary modes of communication through user sit-ins, a train-of-thought style sketching process began. This involved rapid iteration on very low-fidelity screens using digital pen and paper. By iterating rapidly on general screen layouts and flows, various concepts were put to paper and quickly ruled in or out. Through this rapid iteration, several home screen layouts were proposed and evaluated for usability. By anchoring Date Night around the Design for Exploration pillar, I was able to ascertain a design direction that involved leveraging the home screen as a place for users to explore new content and expand their library of activities. This naturally moved the product away from leveraging the home screen as a broad information overview - similar to what Fitbit provides - and into a more playful, engaging approach inspired by apps such as Tinder and Pinterest. Additionally, these train-of-thought sketches allowed me to explore multiple information architectures for the content. Initially, I delved into requiring the user to pick a content category as their first action. However, through rapid iteration I found that the design felt unapproachable and resembled apps where users take care of "chores". In order to reach a more user-centric, entertaining design I explored varying ways to surface content immediately without overwhelming the user and without surfacing content that felt unrelated or uninteresting.

Train-of-thought style sketches to quickly iterate on concepts

Process: Pen & Paper Sketches

Next, with a somewhat narrowed sense of the design direction, I began developing higher fidelity sketches for each screen that focused on the application's utility and purpose at each screen. In essence, each screen was posed with one question, "What do I do here?". In turn, each sketch answered this simple question by building interaction and information architectures anchored around prioritizing the answer to that question. In this manner, secondary and tertiary actions were  appropriately de-emphasized in order to make space for the primary user goal. Most importantly, working through the Date Night app design with digital pen and paper surfaced key outstanding questions and feature opportunities. In addition, I was able to show these pen and paper sketches to 4 users to better understand the expectations users would potentially have at every screen, including opportunities for growth. Most notably, although Date Night was originally inspired by romantic relationships, these user interviews revealed that the functionality initially planned for could be extended to friend groups! As a result, the pen and paper sketches were revisited to rapidly iterate on an expanded featureset that caters to friends and friend groups seeking ways to spend quality time together. This involved adding plans for group chats, large databases of "connections", and a stronger information architecture surrounding the diverse interests, subscriptions, and schedules of multi-party date nights. 

Digital pen & paper sketch of the  Date Night  home screen including outstanding questions

Digital pen & paper sketch of the  Date Night  My Connections screen including outstanding questions

Process: Digital Wireframing

Leveraging Adobe XD, I transitioned my digital pen and paper sketches to low-fidelity and mid-fidelity wireframes that pushed the design and functionality of Date Night even further. Seeing the product begin to take shape, I found that some of the information architecture and design elements that made sense on paper did not translate well to their wireframe counterparts. Most notably, the paper sketches imply that the cover art for the media in focus is separated by some negative space from the information panel that provides name, genre, year, and description details. Once put in wireframe form, this design felt like it was disconnecting the cover artwork from the information panel, and the two felt like unrelated elements. As a result, these elements were redesigned in a combined format that helped reinforce their interdependent nature. Additional on-screen elements were played around with to better balance negative space with interactable, engaging elements.

Initial round of low and mid-fidelity wireframes with stub images and text. 

This phase of development also allowed for the refinement of the product's accessibility. In order to maintain readability, all primary body text is delivered at 20pt in the Bio Sans, a simple sans serif, highly-readable font. Secondary text is a minimum of 16pt, also in Bio Sans. While developing the wireframes and initial product personality, all screens and features were evaluated in grayscale to ensure that color was not leveraged as a primary line of communication for users. Relying instead on contrast and font weight, the product is fully usable without color cues. 

Wireframes represented in black and white color filtering to address contrast levels

Process: High-Fidelity Design

To solidify, refine, and polish, the Date Night app, the final weeks of the thesis project were a sprint dedicated to developing a high-fidelity design and a functional prototype. To bring Date Night to life, a visual direction and personality for the application were iterated on. In conjunction with this visual polish, the a detailed pass was taken at fleshing out each screen in the core user flow to adequately illustrate 5 primary features:

1. Onboarding: Walking users through the primary app features

2. The Stack: The homepage hub - a stack of cards - that users swipe right or left on to express like and dislike

Date Night  UI Showcase

While working through the polishing sprints of Date Night , I was able to sit down with a handful of potential users to walk through the varying screens and better understand what user expectations exist at each level of interaction. Through these conversational user interviews, I was able to determine shortcomings and areas of opportunity for the design. These included refining the calls to action, the focus elements, the onboarding flow, and the calendar section. Most notably, the calendar was initially designed as an iOS-style vertical scroll. However, several user interviewees noted that this presentation of the calendar was overwhelming while also providing little useful information on what activities a user has upcoming. As a result, the calendar was modified to show only one month at a time with a horizontal scroll. This freed up the vertical scroll space for highly-specific and applicable reminders of upcoming social events that a user can quickly review. Consequently, the calendar screen holds much more digestible and usable information without overwhelming users. 

Date Night's My  Calendar page before and after iteration resulting from usability testing

Even further, the user interviews conducted during the design polish sprint revealed areas of the app that brought users delight. To this point, leaning into the playfulness and engaging nature of the homepage's card stack allowed the app to parallel the delight and light-hearted exploration users enjoy within apps like Tinder and Pinterest. 

"Oh! It's like Tinder, but for people who are already in relationships!"

- Usability Test Participant #4, 2020

Assortment of  Date Night  card stacks

A final accessibility pass for contrast and readability in grayscale was applied to safeguard the design. As the details and visual personality of the app became refined and polished, this grayscale assessment ensured that this augmented visual noise did not hinder or disrupt usability for hard of vision users. 

Summary view of the final UI within a grayscale filter to address contrast

Process: Prototyping

To complete the final design sprint for Date Night , Adobe XD was leveraged to create a working prototype for the primary featureset, including general interaction design and iteration. The prototype begins with a short onboarding flow that highlights the primary interactions and solution goals. Most importantly, the Date Night prototype highlights the intended functionality for the homepage card stack as well as the user flow for individuals looking to either set up or respond to a date night proposal. Even further, the prototype includes a user flow for accessing each connection's unique playlist. Altogether, the prototyping sprint illustrates how a user is able to move through and within the Date Night app for a variety of user stories. It conveys the personality, functionality, and business model for Date Night and lays a foundation for engineering implementation. 

Date Night  prototype walkthrough. Please contact me   for access to the full prototype!

Closing Thoughts

In the course of developing the Date Night app design and prototype, there were 3 primary challenges to overcome. 

1. How to turn the mundane into delightful

One of the first challenges encountered with the Date Night app was determining how to turn what is normally a stressful chore into a delightful user experience. More specifically, the comparing, contrasting, and untangling schedules, time zones, watch lists, subscriptions, and streaming services creates a headache that users shy away from. Exploring and playing around with how to turn this user experience into something fun and engaging was a difficult and rewarding challenge. To tackle it, I dove into apps that delight users with visual content like Pinterest and Tinder, and leveraged the playful and simple interactions as inspiration for Date Night . Making the sorting through media content a fun experience, and then handling the comparing and contrasting of interests behind the scenes turned an arduous process into a gamified user flow. Imbuing this concept with opportunities to explore, learn more about one's connections, and generally feel a sense of social connection during a socially distanced world pandemic created the fun, playful, and delightful user experience I aimed for with Date Night . 

2. How to reveal and conceal information architecture complexity

Another challenge for the Date Night project involved the complex information architecture and how it is both revealed and concealed from the user. On one hand, the application demands that users are at least aware of the complex data the app can handle and organize on behalf of users. On the other hand, the minutia and details of that data and information architecture are not nearly as useful to a user as the results of the analysis are. Finding a balance between revealing the complex power of the application and concealing the overwhelming details was an important and nuanced design challenge. Tackling this involved approaching the concept with robust user interview analysis and behavioral psychology insights. Leveraging existing user mental models and sitting in on conversations between potential users as they coordinate date night plans illuminated a natural and intuitive information architecture that is infused into the Date Night app concept. 

One of the biggest constraints to this project was maintaining rapid iteration and agility under a 10 week time constraint. To manage this challenge, I began the project with a timeline in mind to provide structure to the process. In addition, my access to thorough user interviews was limited by both the time constraint and the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, I transitioned away from the traditional design process model wherein a segment of time is dedicated at regular intervals to user interviews and usability testing. Rather than have these two phases segmented out, I infused these into the process and continued conversations with my user interview pool throughout development. This allowed my project to be agile and adaptive to feedback throughout it's development. In addition, this allowed for the resultant feedback to be as iterative as the design was, which ultimately safeguarded against large reworks. 

At the core, this project helped me learn and practice taking a concept from user frustration to elegant product solution. Turning feature gaps into design pillars and leveraging a humanized approach to developing a technological solution, I learned how to effectively ideate, iterate, illustrate, and present the full life-cycle of a user experience design. 

Moreover, I learned to not only act on, but actively encourage critique of my process and my design, and to adapt to a rapidly changing cultural context during a world pandemic. 

Most importantly, I learned how to take the experience of frustration and leverage it to identify market gaps for which I can design highly creative and user-centric solutions. From this project, I take with me a passion for developing vivid and vibrant user experiences that balance immersive depth with purposeful design.   

Thank you for following along with my journey through the process of creating Date Night!  Please feel encouraged to reach out on LinkedIn - I would absolutely love to hear your insights, feedback, and ideas!

Investigating User Experience and User Engagement for Design

• Jennefer Hart
• Alliance Manchester Business School

Student thesis : Phd

• User Experience
• Interactivity
• Human Computer Interaction

File : application/pdf, -1 bytes

Type : Thesis

UX/UI Design and Development, M.A.

Program snapshot, program resources.

• Semester Map

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Related Links

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Learn to create compelling, effective, and people-centered digital experiences in New York Institute of Technology’s Master of Arts (M.A.) in UX/UI Design and Development program.

Why Earn a UX/UI Design and Development, M.A. at New York Tech?

As more and more of our experiences are digital, there’s an increasing need for professionals with the skills to create interfaces and technologies that meet users’ expectations and achieve creators’ goals. The entertainment, digital arts, business, medicine, and engineering industries, among others, look for UX/UI professionals to shape their virtual presence, connect with audiences, and launch more interactive and accessible products. 

In New York Tech’s M.A. in UX/UI Design and Development program, you’ll learn how to incorporate empathy, journey, mental models, information architecture, rapid prototyping, and testing into designs for the web, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) environments, and other platforms. Our practical curriculum supported by plenty of project-based work utilizing advanced tools like motion capture, 3-D printers, and VR headsets teaches you visual design strategies, digital development skills, and current industry standards and technologies. Both artists and non-artists interested in pursuing careers in UX/UI design can complete the program and dramatically upgrade their abilities in as little as nine months.

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What You’ll Learn

You’ll progress through a carefully selected, research-emphasizing set of courses aligned with the needs of today’s designers, covering the foundations of UX/UI design, human-centered design principles, prototyping and testing, building experiences, and information architecture and content strategy. In a master’s project, you’ll solve a real-world design challenge, creating a compelling digital experience while testing and refining your skills.

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Apply your design and development skills to tackle a problem and present a solution that improves how humans interact with the modern world. 

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In a world fueled by digital interactions, opportunities abound for those able to design and develop them effectively. These skills equip you to enter or move up in the fields of web and mobile design, VR and AR, and content creation, among many others.

Many UX/UI professionals work in the broad area of web development and digital design—a field projected to add more than 34,000 jobs by 2032, growing 16 percent in the process (BLS).

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The curriculum provides students with necessary design and hands-on development skills, including AR and VR. These are essential for a successful career in industries such as entertainment, gaming, engineering, science, medicine, and the military. Dominica Jamir (M.A. ‘21) Co-Founder, Creative Director, AR-VR & UX-UI Enterprises Learn More About Dominica

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Master of Design in Design for Interactions

Our mdes program supports those with design backgrounds who seek to transform their practice..

The School of Design welcomes students who hold undergraduate degrees in a design-based field and have at least one year of professional experience to apply to our MDes program. If you’re looking to build on a strong foundation in design by studying the “big picture” aspect of designing for interactions, which involves communities, organizations, cultures, contexts, and systems, our MDes program can help you. Throughout the program, you’ll work with some of the brightest thinkers and most talented practitioners in the field, gaining exposure to approaches, ideas, and methods at the forefront of design. Studies rooted in communication, systems thinking, futuring, speculative design, design technology, ethics, and design research form the basis of the MDes. You’ll learn how to apply rigorous processes for documenting, analyzing, and understanding the past and present to propose more desirable systems and interactions for the future.

The diversity of our MDes cohort creates an incredible group of people with whom to learn.

In addition to bringing rich cultural experiences from around the world, our MDes students hold a wide range of professional and academic expertise, including undergraduate degrees in design-based disciplines such as communication design, product design, user experience design, architecture, and service design. This diversity enriches everyone’s learning experience. Our requirement for MDes students to possess at least one year of professional experience also elevates learning in the form of effective collaboration.

Our rigorous curriculum balances structure and autonomy.

Spanning four semesters over the course of two years, the MDes program will challenge how you perceive the roles design can and should play in aiding various forms of interactions throughout society. Each semester you will encounter thoughtfully aligned seminars, studios, and labs that equip you with important knowledge and skills to aid your development as a design leader. Through individual and team-based projects that focus on the design of services or social innovation concepts, you’ll explore design principles, approaches, theories, and tools that are essential for designing for interactions. You may also take advantage of CMU’s stature as a renowned liberal arts research university to pursue research opportunities with faculty and take courses across campus to broaden and deepen your education. Even though designers typically work in service of others and respond to specific prompts, we recognize the importance of your unique interests. Our MDes courses provide you with the autonomy to direct your individual work and offer support as you chart your personal path and discover your design “voice”. 

The MDes thesis provides an opportunity for you to conduct rigorous design research.

A unique feature of the MDes program is the design thesis—an independent research and design project that you will conduct under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. The thesis is complemented by a required second-year seminar, elective coursework in the School of Design, and other departments across the Carnegie Mellon campus. In the first year, you'll identify possible thesis topics relative to School of Design faculty expertise, investigate ways of conducting a thesis, construct a researchable question that will frame your project, secure a thesis advisor, and write a proposal for your second year of study. In the second year, you'll conduct intensive research that aligns with an appropriate design process and culminates in a design project that addresses your research question. You will also write a document that describes your steps and discoveries. Throughout the process you’ll participate in public sharing sessions of thesis work and give and receive feedback to further your inquiry and understanding. You can peruse master’s theses from students in the School of Design online at KiltHub .

• Beyond Big Beef: Transitions to Food Citizenship Through Community, Ema Karavdic
• Affordances for Multi-device Gestural Interactions in Augmented Reality, Shengzhi Wi
• Amplifying ASL: Designing with Futuring and Inclusion, Mackenzie Cherban
• tac.tic: Tactile design language for indoor-outdoor pedestrian navigation, Chirag Murthy
• Designing for Trust, Meric Dagli
• Building Long-Term Relationships between People and Products through Customization, Ashlesha Dhotey
• Designing for Learning Growth: Encouraging Metacognitive Practice to Support Growth Mindsets in Students, Chen Ni
• Project Care: Empowering Elderly Chronic Disease Patients to Better Understand and Manage Their Treatment Plans Through Enhanced Patient-Centric Services and Systems, Suzanne Choi & Laura Rodriguez-eng

Our MDes equips you with important design skills and knowledge that enable you to realize a lifelong career in design.

The MDes is considered to be a terminal degree in design, and graduates are poised to take on leading roles in professional practice worldwide. Alumni are also well-positioned to acquire entry-level teaching and research positions at universities. As a graduate, you may choose to deepen your studies through a design-focused PhD program, like that offered by the CMU School of Design, or continue your education in areas such as business, human-computer interaction, or public policy. Whatever direction you choose to pursue, our MDes will provide you with a strong design education that builds on your background and strengthens the positive trajectory for achieving your professional goals.

Master of Design in Design for Interactions (MDes) Curriculum

Fall semester, year 1.

Explore design for interactions, design for services, and design for social innovation and study their potential impact in business and policy. Expand your skills in communication and interaction design.

Investigate the history, current state, and future of interaction design practice and research.

Envision and prototype preferred futures by giving form to the behaviors and interactions of products, services, and systems.

Use design strategies to decode complex information and communicate messages clearly.

Learn to use design tools for physical and digital environments to support your studio projects.

Investigate your personal interests, probe existing theses, and study various ways of conducting a thesis.

Learn about faculty research.

Spring Semester, Year 1

Investigate business and policy opportunities in design for services and social innovation through research-based team project work in your studio course. Work with advisors to prepare your thesis proposal.

Choose to study either Transition Design, Social Innovation or Design for Service.

Tackle a client-sponsored team project using an integrated research and design process.

Learn and apply a range of participatory methods for exploratory, generative, and evaluative research and design.

Construct a researchable question to frame your project, secure an advisor, and plan and propose the research and design approach you'll conduct in your second year of study.

Take a design elective or a course outside of design to complement your skills and knowledge. We recommend courses in policy, business, service or social innovation, interaction or communication design, or professional writing.

Fall Semester, Year 2

Through thesis project work and your choice of electives, craft a generalist degree in design for interaction, or develop a concentration in design for services or social innovation.

Build on the foundation of coursework and studios through thesis research with your advisor. Conduct research and develop creative concepts to investigate a significant challenge, engage with stakeholders in the real world to inspire and evaluate your ideas, and review your progress and evolving body of work with peers and your advisor to inform your subsequent steps.

Survey new models and approaches to interaction design and design for service in professional practice.

Learn research strategies and tools to assist you in your literature and artifact reviews, investigate making as a means of exploring and understanding your topic, and explore ways of visualizing your discoveries to aid your learning and share your findings with others.

Spring Semester, Year 2

Bring your thesis project to fruition by synthesizing your discoveries and disseminating valuable insights that have the potential to benefit others. Take advantage of electives to cultivate your expertise in design for interaction, and design for services or social innovation.

Model, test, and refine, your design concepts that have emerged from your year of deep research and design exploration to deepen your understanding of your topic, synthesize your findings and apply what you learned to your project, document, present, and publicly defend your thesis, and showcase your project as a unique feature of your design portfolio to demonstrate your ability to take on a significant research and design project.

Explore ways of encapsulating your study, synthesizing and structuring your discoveries, and writing and designing your thesis for dissemination.

We invite you to connect with us and learn more about the School of Design and our MDes program.

Check out examples of students’ work . Join us for an online visitors session . Review other areas of our site such as Frequently Asked Questions and Application Process . Plan a visit to Carnegie Mellon and coordinate a tour of the School of Design while you’re here. Contact us to schedule a call with our academic advisor to discuss any outstanding questions that arise. We look forward to meeting you!

• Bibliography
• More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
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Final Year Thesis Topics

Wir bieten jederzeit eine Auswahl an studentischen Abschlussarbeiten rund um die Themen Interface Design, Interaction Design und User Experience Research an. Um einen ersten Eindruck von unseren Themen und aktuellen Forschungsarbeiten zu bekommen, informieren Sie sich gerne vorab mit einem Blick in unsere wissenschaftlichen Publikationen und entsprechenden Beiträgen der Konferenzen: CHI, DIS, MAB, TEI, UIST, MUM, MuC, IIS.

Bei Interesse und eigenen Ideen für Themen, sprechen Sie uns gerne an.

Open Topics - Bachelor

Exploring fieldbus networks for prototyping public interfaces.

Prototyping public urban interfaces is a challenge for interface designers. Eight challenges in the realm of media façades are addressed by Dalsgaard et al. in [1]. This thesis topic addresses callenge number 3. Increased demands for robustness and stability, by looking into existing solutions of so called Fieldbus Networks (e.g. CAN-Bus, ...) and applying those to media architectural interfaces. Furthermore, the distributed approach bears the potential of easing challenges of prototyping by product designers. By transferring concepts and technologies from automotive industry to urban interaction design (UIxD), we expect to overcome recurrent challenges in this discipline.

References [1] Dalsgaard, Peter & Halskov, Kim. (2010). Designing urban media façades: Cases and challenges. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 4. 2277-2286.

Video Analysis Tool - Comprende Mapper

Understanding and analyzing real world situations is a difficult task. Often direct observation methods are the most fruitful qualitative research methods, but may miss out certain aspects, due to the limitations of the perceptual abilities of the researcher when “in the field”.

Video can support findings and provide a good data basis. However, in Urban HCI when analyzing Interactive Installations environmental lighting is often very low and conventional video tracking algorithms do not work. Hence, we have developed a half-automated tracking software that is used to analyze video material. The software under development is called “Comprende Mapper” and is a 60% finished program written in JAVA that has to be turned into a production software. A number of custom fuctions for video Analysis have been integrated, of which some need refactoring. Other need better visualization techniques which yet have to be invented.

References [1] Greenhalgh, Chris & French, Andy & Tennent, Paul & Humble, Jan & Crabtree, Andy. (2008). From ReplayTool to Digital Replay System. [2] Brundell, Patrick & Tennent, Paul & Greenhalgh, Chris & Knight, Dawn & Crabtree, Andy & O'Malley, Claire & Ainsworth, Shaaron & Clarke, David & Carter, Ronald & Adolphs, Svenja. (2008). Digital Replay System (DRS)-a tool for interaction analysis. Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Learning Sciences (Workshop on Interaction Analysis).

Architectural styled Interfaces for Human-Building Interaction

Public interfaces in HCI research are rarely speaking the language of architecture and thus lack the materiality and form of what our city is made of. This thesis topic aims at creating a physical interface for a public display situated at Bamberg's central bus station. In collaboration with the smart city initiative, a novel way of interaction shall be invented based on an early conceptual design.

References [1] Linda Hirsch. 2019. Designing interactive interfaces by keeping the natural beauty of public places. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (UbiComp/ISWC '19 Adjunct). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 969–972. [2] Hirsch, Linda & Butz, Andreas & Mall, Christian. (2021). Do Touch This: Turning a Plaster Bust Into a Tangible Interface. [3] Hamed S. Alavi, Elizabeth F. Churchill, Mikael Wiberg, Denis Lalanne, Peter Dalsgaard, Ava Fatah gen Schieck, and Yvonne Rogers. 2019. Introduction to Human-Building Interaction (HBI): Interfacing HCI with Architecture and Urban Design. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 26, 2, Article 6 (April 2019), 10 pages.

Open Topics - Master

Kreative wege der bedürfnisermittlung mit generativer ki im bürgerbeteiligungsprozess.

Generative künstliche Intelligenz ermöglicht uns eigene Vorstellungen über einen Sachverhalt oder Wunsch schnell zu visualisieren. Diese neue Möglichkeit birgt das Potential Kommunikationsprozesse im Entwurf, der Problemfindung oder der Bedarfsermittlung zu verbessern in dem Missverständnisse reduziert werden. Namhafte Designagenturen nutzen Illustratoren in Erstgesprächen um in Wort und Bild gleichzeitig Anforderungen zu ermitteln und schneller zu einem gemeinsamen Verständnis für einen Entwurf zu gelangen. Ein Bürgerbeteiligungsprozess kann von einer solchen Strategie, der erhöhten Kommunikationsbasis, besonders profitieren, da die Diversität an Denkmustern und die dadurch resultierenden Missverständnisse besonders hoch sind. Dieses Projekt beschäftigt sich mit neuen Wegen der Bedarfsermittlung in öffentlichen Bürgerbeteiligungsprozessen unter zuhilfenahme generativer künstlicher Intelligenz, sowie gruppenzentrierter Interaktionstechniken.  

Making Facades permeable with public displays

The sociologist Richard Sennett introduced the concept of the "permeable membrane" in the context of urban studies and social interaction. Sennett's idea revolves around the notion of boundaries in urban environments and how they influence human interactions. Facades constitute the boundary of public an private and shall remain for most cases with this function. However, there are cases in which Facades are required to become inviting for the public. This project wants to investigate interaction techniques of doublesided public displays in shop windows, promoting the idea of the permeable membrane: Flexible Boundaries, Urban Design, Social Integration, Balancing in- and out-flow.

Topics in Progress

- currently none -

Presence in Social Cross-Reality Situations

Cross-Reality Systeme stellen Nutzer:innen unterschiedlicher Realitäten vor neue Herausforderung der Interaktion: Nicht-HMD-Nutzer und HMD-Nutzer müssen über die Grenzen ihrer jeweiligen Realitäten interagieren. Wie können solche Interaktionstechniken gestaltet werden? Wir kann eine soziale Präsenz über Raum- und Modalitätsgrenzen gewahrt werden?

References [1] Auda, J., Gruenefeld, U., Faltaous, S., Mayer, S., & Schneegass, S. (2024). A Scoping Survey on Cross-reality Systems. ACM Computing Surveys, 56 (4), 1–38 [2] Gugenheimer, J., Stemasov, E., Frommel, J., & Rukzio, E. (2017). ShareVR: Enabling co- located experiences for virtual reality between HMD and non-HMD users. Procee- dings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 4021– 4033. [3] Lee, J., Kim, M., & Kim, J. (2020). RoleVR: Multi-experience in immersive virtual reality between co-located HMD and non-HMD users. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 79 (1), 979–1005

Potentials of integrating generative AI into the UX design process: A qualitative interview study

This qualitative interview study investigates how AI changes existing UX design processes in the creative industy.

References [1] Meron, Yaron. (2022). Graphic design and artificial intelligence: Interdisciplinary challenges for designers in the search for research collaboration. 10.21606/drs.2022.157. [2] Oh, Changhoon, et al. "I lead, you help but only with enough details: Understanding user experience of co-creation with artificial intelligence." Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems . 2018. [3] Yannakakis, Georgios N., Antonios Liapis and Constantine Alexopoulos. “Mixed-initiative co-creativity.” International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games (2014).

Finished Topics

Überarbeitung eines weiterbildungskataloges: verbesserung der gebrauchstauglichkeit.

In der heutigen Wissensgesellschaft ist die kontinuierliche Weiterbildung von Mitarbeitenden essenziell für den Erfolg jedes Unternehmens. Viele Führungskräfte legen desshalb großen Wert auf die Förderung der Mitarbeiterentwicklung und bietet ihren Beschäftigten ein breites Spektrum an Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten an. Oft aber machen komplexe Strukturen und unklare Benutzerführung es schwer, relevante Weiterbildungsangebote zu finden und mindern so die Motivation der Mitarbeiter*Innen, sich weiterzubilden. Ziel dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit ist die Neugestaltung einer KMU Mitarbeiterweiterbildungsapplikation unter Berücksichtigung aktueller Erkenntnisse aus den Bereichen User Interface (UI) und User Experience (UX). Im Fokus steht die Verbesserung der Gebrauchstauglichkeit und die Auffindbarkeit von relevanten Informationen, um die Zugänglichkeit, Attraktivität der Weiterbildungsangebote zu erhöhen und die Motivation der Mitarbeitenden zu steigern Weiterbildungsangebote wahrzunehmen.

References [1] Thomas Geis, Guido Tesch. Basiswissen Usability und User Experience. Systematisch und strukturiert vom Nutzungskontext zum gebrauchstauglichen Produkt. dpunkt.verlag.2019. [2] Bill Albert, Tom Tullis. Measuring the User Experience. Collecting, Analyzing, and PResenting UX Metrics. Morgan Kaufman. 2023.

Academic Catalog

2024-2025 Edition

Information Design Strategy, MS UX/UI Specialization

Web design is more than just snazzy messaging and pretty pictures on a webpage. A site that works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Understanding strategic objectives and translating them into something that provides a quality user experience is essential. User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are integral to understanding information design. The UX/UI specialization will link the concepts learned in the core classes and connect them more concretely to the profession of UX/UI. This specialization will focus on ideas rather than tools, giving students the ability to understand the big picture, strategy and requirements, content, and visual design. Students will gain skills in design systems, atomic design models, responsive design, prototyping, and feedback loops.

Core Courses (9 units)

Specialization Courses (3 units)

About the Final Project

As their final course, students take either the individual research project in an independent study format (thesis research) or the final project class in which students integrate the knowledge they have gained in the core curriculum in a project presented by the instructor. In both cases, students are guided by faculty in exploring the body of knowledge on information design and strategy while contributing research of practical value to the field. The capstone independent thesis project and capstone class project count as one unit of credit.

Pre-requisite: Students may take one other course simultaneously with MS_IDS 498-DL Capstone Project . All other course requirements must have been completed before the commencement of this course.

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Online Master of Science in User Experience

Arizona State University’s Master of Science in user experience (UX) program is a collaboration between three programs: human systems engineering (human-centered research), graphic information technology (user-centered design) and technical writing and communication (audience-centered information delivery). This program’s holistic approach provides you with a unique, interdisciplinary education experience.

Quick facts

Next start date: 01/13/2025

Total classes: 10

Weeks per class: 7.5

Total credit hours: 30

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Have questions about the User Experience (MS) ? Fill out this form and we’ll get in touch!

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What makes ASU Online’s master’s in UX stand out?

What will i learn in an online master’s in ux program.

• Aviation and ground transportation.
• Food packaging.
• Infographics.
• Medical technology.
• Mobile and web applications.

Do you need a master’s degree to work in UX design?

Will my diploma say 'online'.

No, Arizona State University’s diplomas don’t specify whether you earn your degree online or in person. All diplomas and transcripts simply say “Arizona State University.”

User experience master’s degree courses

The core curriculum for this online master’s in UX program focuses on systems engineering, technical communication, design, principles of user experience and more. You’ll also choose two elective courses that best fit your career aspirations and specialized interests. Upon graduation, you’ll know how to research user needs, identify criteria for successful products and refine services through usability testing and evaluation methods. Courses may include:

What jobs can I get with a user experience master’s degree?

User experience skills are increasingly valued by employers. Due to the combination of user-centered research, design and communication, this online master’s in UX prepares you to lead and contribute to teams that are constantly improving products and the lives of their users. Upon graduation, you’ll be prepared for jobs in a variety of areas, including user experience, design research, human-computer interaction, interface design, interaction design, digital visualization design and usability testing. Potential career paths include, but aren’t limited to:

Study with award winning faculty members

Of the 350+ faculty members in Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the majority have been honored with the highest awards in their fields. Faculty milestones include:

• National Academy of Engineering members.
• National Academy of Sciences member.
• National Academy of Inventors members.
• National Academy of Construction members.

How to apply

Applicants to the Master of Science in user experience online program must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Application Requirements

Applicants must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA in the last 60 hours of their bachelor's program. Alternatively, applicants must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative GPA in an applicable master's program.

All applicants must submit:

• Graduate admission application and application fee.
• Official transcripts.
• Sample of work (This is optional but encouraged if you have related background/experience. Samples of work may include a portfolio, writing sample, prototype, research report, etc.).
• Statement of purpose.
• Statement of area of UX interest (This is optional but encouraged. Explain your specific area of interest, such as UX research, content design, strategy, etc.).
• Two letters of recommendation.
• Up-to-date curriculum vitae or resume.

Additional admission information

An applicant whose native language is not English (regardless of current residency) must provide proof of English proficiency.

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The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is dedicated to providing a dynamic learning environment and supporting all students on the paths to their degrees. We’ve received numerous peer-reviewed programmatic honors from U.S. News & World Report.

best online master’s in electrical engineering programs.

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Tuition calculator

Use our calculator to estimate your full-time or part-time tuition fees for this program prior to any financial aid. Keep in mind that most of our students receive financial aid, which can reduce out-of-pocket costs. Learn more.

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Interaction & UI/UX Design (IxD): Master's Thesis Projects

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Master of Science in Human-Centered Design

Crafting Human-Centered User Experience

Develop your technical expertise in the University of Michigan-Flint’s (UM-Flint) Master of Science (MS) in Human-Centered Design (HCD). Our graduate program emphasizes experiential learning to strengthen your in-demand skills and support your professional growth and post-graduate success.

Through the HCD master’s program, you develop a deep understanding of users’ needs and behaviors, the principles of user experience design, and their relevance to current tech advancements. Then, you expand your expertise by choosing from three concentration options—Human-Centered AI, Augmented and Virtual Reality, and Game Development . 

No matter your familiarity with computer science, our master’s program offers several fast-track options to get you up to speed and on your way to becoming a tech expert. Additionally, with the convenience of 100% online or in-person formats , you can earn your UM master’s degree and level up your career from anywhere in the world.

On This Page

• Program Highlights
• Human-Centered Design Curriculum 
• Career Outlook
• Admission Process and Cost

Application Deadlines

What is human-centered design.

Human-centered design (HCD) is an innovative approach that prioritizes people’s needs, behaviors, and experiences in the technology design process. Its purpose is to ensure that tech designs are intuitive, useful, and meaningful to users, leading to impactful and user-friendly products or services.

Why Choose UM-Flint’s Human-Centered Design Master’s Degree Program?

Study ux design 100% online or on-campus.

Wherever you are, your UM graduate degree is always within reach. With our 

cutting-edge cyber classrooms, you can work toward your MS in Human-Centered Design from anywhere. We offer a 100% convenient online format, in-person learning, or a combination of both. 

UM-Flint’s cyber classrooms use various technologies, including an advanced robotic audio-video recording system, digital whiteboards, and document cameras with an intelligent autonomous recording system to capture instruction and course material clearly. Furthermore, even when learning online you can cultivate meaningful relationships with faculty through Canvas, allowing you to ask questions and receive constructive feedback. 

Acquire Real-World Experience to Grow Your Skills

In the MS in Human-Centered Design program, you are not confined to traditional classroom learning. Instead, our program empowers you to put theoretical knowledge into practice by participating in real-world technology projects. Through this skill-based learning, you partner with your classmates to craft innovative solutions to industry problems and drive imagination. Not only does this enhance your marketability, but you also develop essential interpersonal skills, making you a more effective team member and leader.

Collaborate with UM Faculty in Cutting-Edge Research Projects

As a graduate student in the human-centered design program, you play an active role in the ongoing research of our world-renowned faculty. Through your collaboration with professors and lecturers, you receive personalized mentorship from experts, gain insight into trends in UX design, and start making an impact on the future of tech, which can profoundly impact your academic success and professional trajectory.  Meet our computer science faculty and explore their current research interests .

CIT Non-Resident Graduate Tuition Scholarship

Covers up to 100% of the difference between the residential and non-residential graduate tuition rates.

MS in Human-Centered User Experience Design Curriculum

In UM-Flint’s MS in Human-Centered Design program, you can tailor your master’s degree to align with your professional aspirations. To complete our HCD master’s program, you must earn a minimum of 32 credit hours, which consist of the following:

• 12 credits of core courses
• 12 credits of concentration of choice
• 8 credits of electives or thesis

Your core graduate classes focus on user experience research and design. Through a blend of theory and application, you learn how to collect user data through interviewing focus groups and creating surveys. You also gain experience in analyzing research findings and developing action-based insights that can inform tech design. Then, you learn how to translate user data into interaction and technology prototyping, ensuring you meet users’ needs and expectations, alleviate pain points, and create an intuitive user experience.

Beyond the fundamentals of human-centered design, you finetune your expertise by selecting one of three contraction options, all of which provide you with highly focused training and in-demand technical competencies. Whichever concentration track you choose, you become skilled in problem-solving, providing technical support and training, and managing software and hardware.

Review the MS in Human-Centered Design curriculum

Concentration Options

• Human-Centered AI: This concentration track empowers you with deep knowledge about designing AI systems that interact with humans (AI-Robot interactions), Human interaction (UX design), ethics, bias in AI design, and beyond.
• Augmented and Virtual Reality: This concentration equips you with the skills required to design and develop games and AR/VR systems, as well as different applications in manufacturing and automotive.
• Game Development: In this concentration track, you explore how to use game engines to build games and elements within them by writing code based on designers’ concepts.

Thesis or Non-thesis Track

Whichever concentration you select, you also must choose between the thesis track or non-thesis track to complete the degree requirements.

In the thesis track , you enroll in eight credits of thesis research courses. Additionally, you must select a faculty member who serves as your advisor, compose a research paper, and conduct an oral defense of your thesis before a faculty panel.

In the non-thesis track , you must complete eight additional credits in graduate-level human-centered design electives. 

4+1 Degree Pathway

If you are a current UM-Flint student interested in pursuing graduate studies, we encourage you to explore the Joint BS/MS in Human-Centered Design , which allows you to simultaneously earn undergraduate and graduate credits to earn your bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Academic Advising

At the University of Michigan-Flint, we provide a dedicated academic advising expert to help guide your educational journey toward the MS in Human-Centered Design.  For any questions about earning your master’s in human-centered design, contact Aubree Kraut at [email protected] or 810-766-3121. Or, book an appointment today .

Career Outlook for Human-Centered Design Graduates

As a fast-growing field, the tech industry consistently needs skilled professionals who are well-versed in creating a seamless user experience and improving product designs and functionality. With your master’s degree in Human-Centered Design from UM-Flint, you are equipped with advanced technical and creative thinking skills, allowing you to pursue leadership positions.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in digital design is projected to grow 16% over the next decade, exceeding the average growth rate in the United States. For web developers, the median annual wage for the related occupations is $84,960. Meanwhile, the median annual wage for web and digital interface designers is $98,540.

With the technical skills you develop, you excel in career roles such as:

• AR/VR designer
• Product designer
• Product manager
• UX designer 
• Web designer

Admission Requirements (No GRE Required)

When applying to the Master of Science in Human-Centered Design program, you must meet the following requirements:

• Preference is given to students with a background in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM). Applicants who lack eligibility requirements in coursework (Algorithms, Programming, and Data Structure) will be required to complete courses from the prerequisite list by taking the online non-credit certificates option or the Fast-Track option.
• Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale. Applicants who do not meet the minimum GPA requirements may be offered admission. In such cases, admission depends heavily on other indices of the student’s ability to handle graduate-level work. These might include a strong performance GPA in the major and/or other experiences that are clearly indicative of academic ability.

• Applicants with a three-year bachelor’s degree from an institution outside of the US may be eligible for admission at the University of Michigan-Flint if it is determined through the credential review process that the three-year degree completed is equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree.
• The University of Michigan will consider a three-year degree from India equivalent to a US bachelor’s degree if the degrees have been earned with a minimum of 60% marks and the awarding institutions have been accredited by India’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a grade of “A” or better.

State Authorization for Online Students

In recent years, the federal government has emphasized the need for universities and colleges to comply with the distance education laws of each state. If you are an out-of-state student intending to enroll in this program, please visit the State Authorization page to verify the status of UM-Flint with your state.

How to Apply to the MS in Human-Centered Design Program

At UM-Flint, we aim to keep our application process streamlined but comprehensive, ensuring you can excel in the program. When applying, please submit the materials listed below:

• Online application for graduate admission .
• $55 application fee (non-refundable).
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. Please read our full transcript policy for more information .
• Two letters of recommendation from individuals who can evaluate your scholarly and/or professional ability (At least one recommendation must be from an academic reference). This requirement is waived for all University of Michigan Alumni.
• Statement of Purpose describing your objectives for graduate study and reasons for selecting this program
• For any degree completed at a non-US institution, transcripts must be submitted for an internal credential review. Read the following for instructions on how to submit your transcripts for review .
• If English is not your native language, and you are not from an exempt country , you must demonstrate English proficiency .

Please email all additional application materials to [email protected] or deliver them to the Office of Graduate Programs at 251 Thompson Library.

This program can be completed 100% online or on-campus with in-person courses. Students living abroad may also complete this program online in their home country. Other nonimmigrant visa holders currently in the United States please contact the Center for Global Engagement at [email protected] . 

As a new academic degree, this program is not currently accepting applications from international students seeking an F-1 visa. This program will accept applications from international students who are required to have an I-20 as soon as authorization from the Department of Homeland Security is received.

When applying to the human-centered design graduate program, please submit all application materials to the Office of Graduate Programs by 5 p.m. on the day of the application deadline. 

This program offers rolling admission during the fall, winter, and summer semesters. To be considered for admission, all application materials must be submitted on or before:

• Fall – May 1 (guaranteed consideration*)
• Fall – August 1 (if space permits)
• Winter – December 1
• Summer – April 1 

*You must have a complete application by the early deadline to guarantee application eligibility for scholarships, grants, and research assistantships .

Estimated Tuition and Cost

No matter what your academic or career goals may be, UM-Flint and our Office of Financial Aid work hard to make your graduate education possible. As a UM student, you benefit from competitive tuition rates and valuable financial aid resources that can help you reach your potential.

Learn more about UM-Flint’s tuition and financial aid

Shape the Future of Digital Experience by Earning Your Master’s in Human-Centered Design

With your Master of Science in Human-Centered Design from the University of Michigan-Flint, you play an integral role in crafting user-focused solutions to the tech industry’s present-day challenges. Through our skill-based curriculum and an emphasis on real-world experience, you graduate with strong critical thinking and analytical skills and the expertise needed to elevate your career. Ready to become a leader in the tech industry? Begin your UM-Flint application today! Or, if you have questions about our graduate programs, we encourage you to request more information .

UM-FLINT BLOGS  | Graduate Programs

The Best Masters in UX Design Programs: 2024 Guide

Time, money, and a whole lot of hard work. Enrolling in a UX design program is a huge commitment — so you want to make sure you make the most informed choice. 

In this article, we’ll explore our 10 best masters in UX design programs. 

We’ll then answer the question of whether you should do a masters in UX design or whether an online UX certification or other bootcamp may be a better option for you.

To skip ahead to a section, simply use this clickable menu:

• Carnegie Mellon University
• Stanford University
• Georgia Tech
• New York University
• University of Washington
• UC Berkeley
• California College of the Arts
• Parsons School of Design
• DePaul University
• Rochester Institute of Technology

Should you do a masters in UX design?

Top 10 masters in ux design programs.

Masters in UX design often have very different official course titles, despite covering the same material. For the purpose of assessing a wide range of masters programs in this article, we have included those with titles other than UX design.

Let’s explore some of the best masters programs out there!

1. Carnegie Mellon University:

Master of human-computer interaction.

Length: 1 year Total tuition: $77,784 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Class size: 60 students/year Attendance: Full-time preferred; part-time possible Format : Campus Founded: 1997 Application fee: $100

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

GPA: No min SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 3 letters TOEFL: 100 (25 per subsection) IELTS: Not required GRE: Required Portfolio: Optional

The Master of Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI) at Carnegie Mellon University is one of the best UX design masters.

Self-described as “the first program in the world dedicated to preparing professionals for careers related to human-computer interaction, user experience design, and user-centered research,” the program draws students from a huge range of backgrounds.

Students with varying degrees of industry experience—and backgrounds in design, social science, business and computer science, and more—attend the (generally full-time) one-year program on campus in Pittsburgh, PA.

One factor behind its strong reputation is that Carnegie Mellon University is known for its tough admission criteria. Graduates are respected not only in the design space but also in the broader world of tech.

Their comprehensive Post-Graduation Outcomes Dashboard highlighted the number of their graduates who find employment with the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple:

Source: Carnegie Mellon University

2. Stanford University: M.S. in Design Impact 

Length: 2 years Total tuition: $75,240 Location: Stanford, CA Class size: 13 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus Founded: 2018 Application fee: $125

GPA: No minimum SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 3 letters TOEFL: 100 IELTS: Not required GRE: Not required Portfolio: Required

Regularly ranked in the top two or three US colleges, and in the top three or four worldwide, Stanford University is a globally acclaimed institution.

Its M.S. in Design Impact (DI), a full-time, two-year program established in 2018, shares that reputation. 

Founded on the idea that design is broader than products, experiences, and systems, the program explores “the technologies and data that power the above” as well as “the implications and consequences of all of our work in the world in the short and long term.”

With the objective of grounding students in the full problem space of this interconnected landscape, the M.S. in Design Impact has three focus areas:

Design Core: I ncluding Project-Based Design Work, Human Factors, Design Ethics, Leadership, and Visualization

Methods: A choice of three focus areas that enable students to effectively implement their design abilities with methods such as analysis, describing phenomena, and design problem application.

Domain: A domain focus area from appropriate courses to gain added knowledge in a field of interest to them.

3. Georgia Tech:

Master of human computer interaction.

Length: 2 years Total tuition: $70,816/2 years (out-of-state); $32,128/2 years (in-state) Location: Atlanta, GA Class size: 52 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus Founded: 1998 Application fee: $85

GPA: 3.0 SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: Asked letters TOEFL: 100 IELTS: Not required GRE: Required Portfolio: Optional

Established in 1998, Georgia Tech’s Master of Human Computer Interaction (MS-HCI) is something of a veteran among the programs we look at. It has both a very strong US reputation and a growing global one.

Like many of the masters in UX design and HCI, Georgia tech’s program is an interdisciplinary offering. Four schools offer the program collaboratively:

• Industrial Design
• Interactive Computing
• Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC)

Its aim is to equip students with the practical skills and theoretical understandings they need to develop into “leaders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the next generation of human-computer interfaces”.

4. New York University: Integrated Design & Media, M.S.

Length: 2 years Total tuition: $115,680 Location: New York, NY Class size: 110 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus or online Founded: 1979 Application fee: $65

GPA: No minimum SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 2 letters TOEFL: Not required IELTS: Not required GRE: Required Portfolio: Required

New York University’s MS in Integrated Digital Media has built its reputation as one of the best UX masters programs because of its emphasis on art and aesthetics. It combines art and technology in a unique, challenging, and fluid way.

Only the second program on our list to offer students the chance to learn online or with a blended mix of campus and online, the Integrated Design & Media, M.S. is set up to cater to all career levels.

And—whatever career stage you’re at— you’ll get to experience new ways of understanding culture, technology, and society and how these inform technological design.

If “The Big Apple” holds the same mystique for you as it does for most of us, you can tap into an unparalleled cultural and technological experience right at its core.

5. University of Washington:

Master of human-computer interaction and design.

Length: 1 year Attendance: Full-time Total tuition: $$55,430 (2023-24) Location: Seattle, WA Class size: 30 students/year Format : Campus Founded: 2013 Application fee: $85

GPA: 3.2 SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 3 letters TOEFL: 106 (26 speaking) IELTS: Not required GRE: Not required Portfolio: Optional

Taught on campus in Seattle, the University of Washington’s Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design (MHCID) is undoubtedly one of the finest masters in UX design out there.

It’s a multidisciplinary program, with course content provided collaboratively by four departments:

• Computer Science & Engineering
• Human-Centered Design & Engineering
• The Information School
• Division of Design in the School of Art + Art History + Design

The program’s unique, cross-disciplinary approach is designed to cultivate “a new generation of designers, engineers, and researchers” with an education that enables them to “successfully combine the creative aspects of design and the study of human behavior with the analytical techniques of engineering”. 

And—judging by their strong graduate outcomes—they’re doing something right.

95% of the program graduates are employed within six months (70% within three months and the majority join large enterprises (5,000+ employees) in tech. This infographic from the course website shows where their graduates land:

Source: University of Washington

6. UC Berkeley: Master of Design  

Length: 1.5 years Total tuition: $73,130 Location: Berkeley, CA Class size: 23 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus or online Founded: 2020 Application fee: $140

GPA: 3 SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 3 letters TOEFL: 90 IELTS: 7 GRE: Not required Portfolio: Required

UC Berkeley’s reputation is global, and it won’t surprise many to see its Master of Design (MDes) feature in our list. 

Based on three pillars—technical rigor, design theory, and social practice—the program is aimed at early to mid-career professionals who want to pursue work “at the intersection of design and technology”.

With this in mind, UC Berkeley students are offered the chance to work in fields such as artistic production, technological innovations, product design, and design interventions in cities.

Students are also pushed to develop intelligent new approaches and design toolkits to respond to the changing dynamics of technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, sensing, and the internet of things. 

At the same time, they’re encouraged to take a wider perspective and understand the underlying ethical concerns and questions about their possible, often unforeseen, impacts. 

7. California College of the Arts:

Mdes in interaction design.

Length: 1 year Total tuition: $63,900 Location: San Francisco, CA Class size: 45-60 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus or online Founded: 2016 Application fee: $70

GPA: No minimum SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 2 letters TOEFL (or IELTS): 100 IELTS (or TOEFL): 7.5 GRE: Not required Portfolio: Required

Staying on the west coast—the heart of Silicon Valley to be precise—the MDes in Interaction Design at California College of the Arts is the next masters on our list.

Promising aspiring designers the chance to “build the most in-demand design toolkit in the world today” this is a program focused on cultivating systems thinking, design leadership development, and iteration and collaboration skills.

Priding itself on creating skills that can have “measurable social impact”, this MDes is centered on designing for the environment, public health, transportation, education, and other major industries. 

8. Parsons School of Design:

M.f.a. in design and technology .

Length: 2 years Total tuition: $103,500 Location: New York, NY Class size: 80 students/year Attendance: Full-time Format : Campus or online Founded: 1997 Application fee: $50

GPA: No minimum SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 2 letters TOEFL (or IELTS): 92 IELTS (or TOEFL): 7 GRE: Not required Portfolio: Required

Another New York-based option, Parsons School of Design offers an M.F.A. in Design and Technology (DT) which takes a broad and critical approach to tech. Students at Parsons will enter a dynamic, challenging, idea-driven environment that pushes them to think about the “ever-present impact that computational technologies have on our lives”. 

With a wider scope than some other masters programs in the field, students at Parsons can focus on areas of practice including wearable technology, game design, new media art, digital fabrication, physical computing, interaction design, data visualization, and critical design.

9. DePaul University:

M.s. in human-computer interaction.

Length: 2.5 years Total tuition: $44,980 (2022-23) Location: Chicago, IL Class size: 100 students/year Attendance: Full-time, part-time Format : Campus and online Founded: Unknown Application fee: $25

GPA: 2.5 SOP: Not required Resume: Required Recommendation: Optional letters TOEFL (or IELTS): 80 (17 each subsection) IELTS (or TOEFL): 6.5 GRE: Not required Portfolio: Not required

Part of DePaul University’s Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, the Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) program teaches students how to “ideate, design, implement, and evaluate computer-based technologies so they are useful and usable for end users.”

An interdisciplinary degree, the program draws on concepts and methods from computer science, graphic design, and the social sciences to offer a well-rounded education.

Students are encouraged to pursue user-centered and participatory design approaches in creating dynamic websites, mobile apps, desktop applications, and more.

DePaul’s program has a good reputation with employers and graduates have found well-remunerated employment with a range of major corporations, as this graphic from the course website illustrates:

Source: DePaul

10. Rochester Institute of Technology:

Length: 2 years Total tuition: $100,272 Location: Rochester, NY Class size: 25 students/year Attendance: Full-time, part-time Format : Campus or online Founded: 2004 Application fee: $65

GPA: 3 SOP: Required Resume: Required Recommendation: 2 letters TOEFL (or IELTS): 88 IELTS (or TOEFL): 6.5 GRE: Required Portfolio: Not required

Based in Rochester, NY, a small city (by US standards) on the shore of Lake Ontario, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) boasts an acclaimed M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) .

Students explore “the design methods, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use” to build the skills needed for a career in UX design or research. They focus on creating professionals who understand the shift away from the desktop user and know how evolving tech can be designed to be intuitive, effective, and even compelling.

Perhaps unsurprisingly—with program hiring partners including the likes of Cisco, HubSpot, HP, Bose Corporation, and many more—graduates from RIT tend to fare well in their careers. Graduates report job titles such as UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Usability Specialist, Product Designer, and User Experience Researcher.

Now that we’ve looked at ten of the best masters in UX design out there, let’s quickly wrap up with some final thoughts.

There is no easy answer to this, other than: “it depends”.

There are many factors that you’ll need to weigh up before deciding whether to do a UX design master.

Ultimately, it will hinge on your unique personal situation, so think about things like: 

• How much time you can invest (and whether you can study full-time or part-time)
• How much money you can invest
• Whether you can relocate for campus study if required or would rather go online 
• Whether you need an accredited program (if you’re an expat or soon-to-be expat for example)
• How much the prestige (or otherwise) of the institution matters to you
• Your learning style
• Your career goals

We realize this is a lot to think about. So—to help you get started with your decision—here are three win pros and cons of UX design masters, as opposed to UX design certifications.

Pros of masters in UX design

• Prestige: Some masters in UX Design (or HCI) carry more prestige than other types of certification. This will vary from employer to employer though, and UX teams at the best employers are often made up of designers with masters degrees, online certifications, and even self-taught skills.
• Career prospects: Related to the prestige factor, some employers will look more favorably on candidates with a UX design masters over a certification. Bear in mind that this generally applies less and less the further along in your career you get, as your experience and portfolio—and ability to explain them both—become key drivers of your career path.
• Formal and structured: Masters in UX design are typically more formal than other UX certifications and often require in-person attendance at lectures or seminars. 

Cons of masters in UX design

• Long: Doing a masters in UX design will take you a minimum of one year of full-time study, often going to two years or even longer. Meanwhile, online UX certifications can be completed much more quickly ( CareerFoundry: 5-10 months, UX Design Institute UX Design Diploma : 6 months or less, General Assembly UX Design Immersive : 12 weeks full-time)
• Expensive: Unless you can secure a scholarship or other subsidies, a masters in UX design can be incredibly expensive. The masters we look at in this article range from $44,980 to $115,680, and that’s for the tuition fees alone, without factoring in your living expenses and so on.
• Geographical limitations: Some masters require, or strongly prefer campus study. This can be limiting for those not able or willing to relocate to study. Online UX certifications, on the other hand, are available to you regardless of geography.

If you’d like to explore online certifications more, we recommend checking out Emily Steven’s The Best UX Design Certification Programs: A Complete Guide .

Alternatively, if you’d like to read more on the pros and cons of accredited courses (masters degrees) and non-accredited (most online certifications), our article on The 7 Best UX Design Schools will be right up your alley.

Before you apply for any UX design course, be it a masters or an online certification, do your research and figure out if the course is suited to your unique personal situation, learning preferences, and career goals.

Whether or not you apply to do a masters will ultimately depend on whether you can make and justify the time, logistical, and financial commitments required.

And remember: in the medium to long term, when you’re three or four years into your career, where you studied will be far less important to prospective employers than your work experience and portfolio. 

How persuasively and logically you can explain your design decisions, and how well you can collaborate and engage stakeholders or clients will count for a lot more than whether you studied at Stanford or completed an online certification.

If you’re interested in reading more about UX design, try the following articles:

• The Ultimate Guide to UX Research Bootcamps
• Can You Teach Yourself UX Design?
• A Day in the Life of a UX Designer

Professorship for Open-Source Software

Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg

Final Thesis: A Theory of Best Practices of User Experience Design in Software Product Lines

Abstract: This paper presents the theory of User Experience (UX) best practices in software product lines. The methodology used to derive the best practices is case study research, which has been applied to two independent software product lines within Siemens AG, the German engineering company. The resulting theory is based on Qualitative Data Analysis and other methods employed within case study research. The proposed theory is presented in the form of best practice patterns regarding the following three categories: UX creation, UX implementation and UX management in software product lines. The resulting patterns are designed to be used as a best practice handbook that can be applied by software product lines dealing with UX-related challenges.

Keywords: User Experience (UX), usability, human-computer interaction (HCI), software product lines, case study, best practice

PDFs: Master Thesis , Work Description

Reference: Nikolay Harutyunyan Theory of User Experience Best Practices in Software Product Lines Master Thesis, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg: 2016.

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UX/UI Design & Development, M.A. Blog

Find out about our student and faculty highlights, and get the latest updates about the most current news and events in the UX/UI Design & Development Department at New York Tech.

May 21, 2020

On Friday, May 15th, the Master Thesis 2020 that the UX/UI Design & Development M.A. students are showing at the end of the semester. The projects will be presented virtually using the Zoom video conferencing platform. We recommend joining the meeting using a computer as we will be sharing a presentation.

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Donetsk and Luhansk: What you should know about the ‘republics’

Who has followed Russia in recognising the controversial, Moscow-backed statelets in Ukraine? And what is life like there?

Kyiv, Ukraine – Moscow-backed separatists have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as Donbas, for almost eight years.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised them only on Monday, paving the way for the official presence of Russian troops in the rebel-controlled areas that occupy about a third of Donetsk and Luhansk.

So far, only Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Syria have joined Putin in recognising Donetsk and Luhansk – along with breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. They all did so also on Monday.

The central question is whether Russia would recognise them in their current borders. Should it decide to help the rebels “restore” their statelets to the original borders, it may spell a large-scale war between Moscow and Kyiv.

At the moment, Russia will recognise “the borders, where the leadership of the DNR and the LNR are executing their authority,” Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the Interfax News Agency on Tuesday.

But the foreign ministry also said on Tuesday that the issue of the borders is yet to be resolved.

While Ukraine and the West try to avoid war, other questions loom.

What are the roots of the region’s separatism? What has kept these areas alive since 2014? And what is their future?

Neo-Stalinism

A 13.5 metre-tall statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin still dominates the main square in Donetsk, the capital of the eponymous breakaway region in southeastern Ukraine.

And the constitution adopted by Lenin’s successor, Josef Stalin, has been restored by the Moscow-backed separatist leaders of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk after they broke away from the central government in 2014.

This constitution prescribes the death penalty for a number of crimes, making the separatist “People’s Republics” – and authoritarian Belarus nearby – Europe’s only homes to capital punishment.

After almost eight years of existence, the “republics” are understood to have evolved into totalitarian, North Korea-like statelets.

It is near impossible for foreigners to enter the areas. Ukrainians can only visit if they have relatives in Donetsk and Luhansk, and would have to cross into Russia first, which takes about 30 hours and costs $100 – a journey that also involves bribing officials at times. Residents need a Soviet-era residency registration.

In the statelets, secret police and “loyal” residents monitor every word, phone call and text message.

Dissidents or businessmen who refuse to “donate” their assets to the “needs of the People’s Republic” have been thrown in “cellars”, or dozens of makeshift concentration camps, without trial.

“It looks like the 1930s in the Soviet Union, a classic gulag,” Stanislav Aseyev, a publicist who was kidnapped in 2017 in Donetsk and was sentenced by a separatist “court” to 15 years in jail for “espionage”, told Al Jazeera.

For almost two years, he was incarcerated and tortured in these “cellars” until separatists swapped him and dozens of other prisoners in 2017.

Thousands of others were tortured and abused in the “cellars”, according to rights groups and witnesses. The grave human rights abuses make Donetsk and Luhansk far worse than today’s Russia, an international human rights advocate said.

“The cellars where prisoners are held in Donetsk, and the widespread use of torture, are among the most obvious human rights issues,” said Ivar Dale, a senior policy adviser with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog group.

But there are much wider problems such as civil and political rights, he said.

“You could say that the political repression in Russia is doubly felt in Donetsk and Luhansk and other areas effectively under control of the Putin regime,” Dale told Al Jazeera.

Rust-belt ruins

These tendencies have gone hand in hand with economic degradation.

The living standards are “many times, if not dozens of times worse than in pre-war 2013”, said Aseyev, 32, who now lives in Kyiv and has published a novel about the events in Donetsk.

This regress looks even more staggering considering Donetsk’s and Luhansk’s not-so-ancient history. The cities were founded by two Brits.

Englishman Charles Gascoigne built a metal factory in what is now Luhansk in 1795, shortly after czarist Russia annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine from the Crimean Khanate, a mostly-Muslim vassal of Ottoman Turkey.

Decades later, in 1869, Welshman John Hughes started a steel plant and a coal mine in what is now Donetsk, and the city was named after him – Hughesovka or Yuzovka – until the Soviet era.

The birth and rapid growth of both cities followed the czarist government’s drive to develop the immense coal and iron ore deposits of what is now eastern Ukraine.

Communist Moscow further spurred the region’s development, and tens of thousands of ethnic Russians settled there, making urban areas almost exclusively Russian-speaking.

Coal and mines grew deeper next to hillocks made of spent ore, and foundries, chemical and power plants dotted the region.

The political heyday of Donetsk began in 2010, when its native Viktor Yanukovych became Ukraine’s president – and brought cohorts of his cronies to Kyiv.

They tried to wrestle control of Ukraine’s politics and economy – but triggered months-long protests that began in November 2013 and ended in February 2014, when the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office.

The protests are known in Ukraine as the Revolution of Dignity – but Russian President Vladimir Putin still calls them a “coup”.

‘Russian spring’

In the czarist era, the region was known as Novorossiya – or New Russia – and the Kremlin would use the name in 2014 as it proclaimed the “Russian Spring” or “liberation” of Russian-speaking regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

But pro-Russian rallies and uprisings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and Odesa, its largest seaport on the Black Sea, failed.

However, thousands of Russian volunteers flocked to Donetsk and Luhansk to aid separatist militias – while many locals were ecstatic about the “Russian Spring”.

“Putin will come and restore order here,” one of their supporters, a rotund minibus driver named Valerii, told this reporter in April 2014 in Donetsk.

But four months later, after the separatists tried to confiscate his minibus, he locked his apartment, loaded the bus with his most valuable belongings, and left for Kyiv.

‘Price tag’

Even though Ukraine barred any economic ties to the separatist regions, they still exist – and even involve top politicians.

Pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power after the Revolution of Dignity, admitted that he channeled government funds worth tens of millions of dollars in exchange for Donetsk coal in the winter of 2014-2015 because otherwise “half of Ukraine could have frozen”.

But Russia still had to bankroll the separatist provinces spending billions of dollars a year.

So, what are Moscow’s economic goals in Donbas?

“Very simple – to lower the price tag of maintaining the occupied territories,” Aleksey Kusch, a Kyiv-based analyst, told Al Jazeera.

To achieve that, Russia may want to remove the middlemen who pocketed the lion’s share of profits from the export of coal and steel and the delivery of humanitarian aid that was immediately resold on the black market.

“They kept up to 70 percent of the profits,” Kushch said.

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