Master of Science in
Digital Design and Interactive Technologies

ITU / Programmes / MSc Programmes / Digital Design and Interactive Technologies

The programme

The 2-year master programme in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies provides you an in-depth knowledge about how to design digital and interactive technologies within a user-driven perspective. You develop a theoretical foundation and specific design skills by participating in different kinds of design processes. You will work both qualitatively and data-driven with design and concept development that is based on the users’ needs, technological opportunities and business values.

The master programme provides you with a broad understanding of digital design processes, from initial studies of the design domain to testing and implementation. You gain deep knowledge of data visualisation, context and user analysis as well as basic understanding of the role digital designs and services play in our society and culture today and in the future.

You will learn to build functional prototypes of your concept ideas, and you will work with various design-oriented programming tools within, among other things, mobile interaction and 'pervasive computing'. At the same time, you will learn to present and pitch the value of your ideas for future users, businesses, organisations and other stakeholders.

The labor market seeks employees who possess skills to design digital solutions for different target groups and platforms. At Digital Design and Interactive Technologies, you will get the tools to work with design of digital products, systems and services both independently, in interdisciplinary teams and under changing organisational conditions.

The programme is primarely taught in Danish.

Who studies Digital Design and Interactive Technologies?

As a student of Digital Design and Interactive Technologies, you want to work innovatively with the design of digital and interactive technologies. You are not afraid of being challenged when learning the specific tools and practices within design processes and production of physical prototypes. You are curious about digital design and interactive technologies and you are ready to be challenged on your perception of what to do with it.

There is a great deal of group work and project work on this programme, so you should be motivated to collaborate with other students – especially across disciplines, as all of you enter the programme with diverse academic backgrounds.

Programme structure

The MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies is flexible study programme. You will get solid competencies within the fields covered by the programme, and you will get the opportunity to specialise within areas, that you define. This means that you throughout the programme is free to form your own unique profile.

	Course of study for MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies:
1^st semester	Users in Context 7.5 ECTS	Introduction to Programming OR Programming Mobile Applications* 7.5 ECTS	Advanced Design Processes 15 ECTS
2^nd semester	Data Design 7.5 ECTS	Experimental Design in Practice 7.5 ECTS	Design-driven Innovation 7.5 ECTS	Specialisation 7.5 ECTS
3^rd semester	Cross -Disciplinary Team Work 7.5 ECTS	Elective 7.5 ECTS	Specialisation 15 ECTS
4^th semester	Master Thesis 30 ECTS

*If you have passed a course with significant overlap with the course Introduction to Programming prior to enrollment, you will instead take the course Programming Mobile Applications.

Mandatory courses

The mandatory content is distributed on the following courses:

Users in Context (7.5 ECTS) provides you with theoretical and analytical tools to understand how individuals and groups use digital designs and services in individual, organisational and social contexts. Furthermore, you will learn practical methods for studying users in different contexts.
Introduction to Programming (7.5 ECTS)The course provides students with a basic and hands-on understanding of computational thinking and programming both for their own future use [on the KDDIT programme] and for their ability to collaborate with experienced programmers and software developers after graduation.
Programing Mobile Applications (7.5 ECTS) The course provides a hands-on introduction to crossplatform smartphone app programming. Students will use the expo toolchain to implement JavaScript based React-Native apps.
Advanced Design Processes (15 ECTS) provides you with a research-based and design-theoretical foundation for planning and implementing design processes within interaction design, user experiences and co-design in a user-centered perspective. There will be focus on developing your design skills on a high level.
Data Design (7.5 ECTS). In this course you will learn to visualize and present various data as well as understand data visualizations and data design as a socio-technical process with social, ethical and cultural consequences.
Experimental Design in Practice (7.5 ECTS) provides you with practical and theoretical understanding of and ability to develop experimental design projects.
Design-driven Innovation (7.5 ECTS) introduces you to various theories and methods to work with design-driven innovation and design of products, services and systems that create value for a company or an organisation.
Cross-Disciplinary Team Work (7.5 ECTS). On this course you will work on an interdisciplinary project with students from the other master programmes at the IT University, MSc in Computer Science, Games, and Digital Innovation & Management.

Specialisations and Master Thesis

On your second semester, you start your specialisation, where you can choose a topic to specialise further in. You can read more about the different specialisations below.

Both the specialisation and the master thesis gives you the opportunity to shape your own profile. You can also choose other courses offered at the IT University at master level or take courses at another Danish or foreign university. The master thesis can be completed in groups or individually.

See all courses offered at the IT University.

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Specialisations

During your studies for the MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies you will the get the chance to specialise in a topic that you would like to explore in depth.

On your second semester, you start your specialisation, where you can choose a topic to specialise further in. A specialisation is a 22.5 ECTS package of courses that allows you to explore an area in depth. The courses are selected carefully, so you experience a progression within the specialisation.

You can choose one of the following specialisations:

SPECIALISATION: DESIGNING INTERACTIONS

The specialisation in Designing Interactions embraces elements from computer science and design. This specialisation is relevant to many different industries because interaction design plays an important role in designing the technological foundation or in creating value and differentiation for interactive products. For interaction designers, it is a key concept to understand and investigate contexts where the specific product is to be used, and this is what forms the basis of the design activity.

This specialisation focuses on theories, exercises and methods that you can use to improve your ability to critically analyse, understand and develop interactive technologies through hands-on experiments.

You can carry out your experiments in some of the IT University's various labs (e.g. IxD Lab or Design Lab). Here you will learn to demonstrate accurate and robust digital and physical interactive prototypes that work and you will develop your technical skills within programming. You will learn to innovate existing interactive products, define features for different products as well as develop strategies for product development.

SPECIALISATION: SERVICE DESIGN

As an interdisciplinary field, service design deals with design of systems and processes in order to provide solid user experiences of services. It is about defining the interfaces between the user and the service provider, as well as creating an overall service strategy for an organisation. Opposite products, services are created in the moment they are used, and therefore it is difficult for a designer to get the full picture of the interaction between the user and the service provider before it is actually used.

The specialisation in Service Design focuses on theoretical, methodical and practical aspects of design of services with digital components, such as web, mobile, IoT and cloud-based platforms. This specialisation takes a macro perspective and a holistic approach to design in order to unite business needs, users and technology in creating innovative services. During the specialisation, you will develop the skills that is needed for digitizing and servicing organisations and communities. Skills within Service Design are necessary in order to manage changes in service structures, which is part of the process of introducing digital infrastructures.

SPECIALISATION: USER CULTURES

On the specialisation in User Cultures, you learn to analyse and evaluate the daily use of digital products and services. You will focus on how to improve the user experience of a product, how to discover new patterns of usage and how to get new users by e.g. redesigning a platform. In addition, you will learn to reflect critically on the organisational, societal and cultural use of network services, and you will learn to influence how digital services are used in the network communities and how to (re)design them.

During the specialisation, you will learn to identify, analyse, manage and strengthen user groups and user cultures across platforms, and you will learn to design and develop relevant interaction environments focusing on user participation in specific contexts.

SPECIALISATION: UX DESIGN

On the specialisation in UX Design (User Experience Design) you will get theoretical frameworks, tools and techniques for designing innovative user experiences. Based on standard UX techniques, such as fast prototyping, wireframing and iterative design processes, and through playfull designs, story-based approaches and cultural studies, you will learn methods to develop prototypes for new user experiences.

During the specialisation, you will develop skills that combine understanding of new design areas within interactive products with knowledge of business models for e.g. new interactive media and creative and cultural industries. The teaching and the courses on specialisation are project oriented.

Student exchange

You have the opportunity to study a part of your education at a university abroad. Especially the 3rd semester is well suited for an exchange stay. This is a chance for you to further specialise your education and have the experience of working in a new environment in a new country. The IT University has exchange agreements around the world, for example:

Thesis example

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Many patients actually prefer receiving treatment at home. But in order to fully exploit the potential of telemedicine, patients must be able to take control of their own disease and know more about their illness.
Cecilie Jo Nielsen, MSc in Digital Design and Communication (renamed Digital Design and Interactive Technologies)
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Thesis example

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The idea was to let the audience ‘date’ the artworks, so we designed a prototype for a Tinder-like app for art museums, where artworks nearby pop up on the screen.
Marie Bryndum og Maria Muhandes, MSc in Digital Design and Communication (renamed Digital Design and Interactive Technologies)
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Teaching

The teaching includes lectures, group projects and exercises. Students on the MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies come with different academic backgrounds. Some have backgrounds within music, art and design, others within science and social science, such as sociology and political science. This diversity creates a creative academic environment where projects are viewed and handled from many different perspectives.

Part of the teaching takes place in the IT University's labs, where you can produce prototypes of your concept and product ideas.

The IT University cooperates with the business community and you have the opportunity to collaborate with companies and organisations from both the private and public sector. This means that you will work with real-world challenges and you will be able to create a network outside university during your studies.

Career

With and MSc in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies you will have a combination of theoretical insight and practical skills and you will especially be qualified to work as e.g.:

Interaction Designer
User Experience Designer
Customer Experience Designer
Interface Designer
Design Researcher
Service Designer

You can also work with digital concept development and you have the opportunity to work more widely within fields like e.g. digital project management or different kinds of jobs that are involved in digitisation and digitisation strategies in general.

If you are interested in applying for a PhD at the IT University, please see here.