User Experience
Kent State University’s User Experience program offers a comprehensive online curriculum for those interested in designing user-centered digital experiences. Covering research, usability testing, and interaction design, this program prepares students to create intuitive and effective digital products. Graduates emerge ready to excel in roles such as UX design, product development, and digital strategy across industries.
Program Overview
The Master of Science degree in User Experience prepares students for careers in discovery research, information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, usability testing and user experience strategy and assessment. As essential members of multidisciplinary design teams, user experience professionals engage in a variety of activities to produce usable products that delight users and help organizations meet the needs of their clients, patrons, users and stakeholders. User experience analysis addresses the structural, informational, psychological and emotional dimensions that make interactive communication and information technologies useful and successful.
Kent State’s program provides a broad introduction to all phases of the multidisciplinary design process, with the opportunity to build deeper knowledge and skills in a focus area. The program includes electives from aligned master’s programs in the College of Communication and Information and related disciplines.
The online Kent State UX master’s degree has been crafted to enhance your skills and increase your market value. Core courses give you a solid conceptual grounding for your design team.
From there, make the UX master’s degree your own through your choice of electives and a capstone course. Our accomplished and professionally connected faculty can help you tailor your elective coursework for your desired specialization or target industry.
You’ll start building your portfolio in the second half of your first semester. By the end of the program, you will have a body of work illustrating your mastery of the field to accompany your degree.
Kent State has been helping students realize their dreams since 1910, and we launched our first online course almost 20 years ago. We’re committed to helping you reach your goals, and that shows in our accreditation and ranking. We’re proud to be recognized with the Military Friendly® gold designation. The UX program’s accreditation from NASAD, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, reflects the rigor of the program and expertise of our faculty.
- Designed for busy working professionals, the asynchronous online course delivery of our UX master’s program offers you the flexibility to study around your work and life commitments.
- Small class cohorts encourage you to collaborate and build connections with your classmates and the faculty. Our program can help you build your professional network as you build your credentials.
- Faculty for our online master’s in UX are active in professional organizations and have a well-rounded mix of practical experience and scholarly credentials.
Our faculty’s experience spans diverse industries ranging from media, digital services and e-commerce to transportation, logistics and power management.
The faculty here are amazing, simply amazing. Any interaction that I’ve had with a professional in user experience, they always talked about how Kent State’s program is amazing because of the faculty.
Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the program will be able to:
- Articulate the values of a user experience professional in the context of agile, multidisciplinary design teams.
- Design and conduct research to understand user needs.
- Apply interaction design fundamentals to address user needs.
- Create and evaluate information structures to support usability and content strategy.
- Test and assess design ideas, prototypes and existing systems by employing data collection and analysis methods.
- Communicate research findings and contribute design solutions to designers, developers and stakeholders.
- Demonstrate professional competencies aligned with career goals.
As the importance of user experience became apparent in online applications, more and more industries have recognized the power of good design in creating desirable outcomes across business scenarios. That means UX is a good career choice now and for the future.
Kent State’s UX master’s program will help you develop the technical knowledge, research skills and leadership qualities to solve business problems while creating satisfying user experiences.
Your education can open career doors and help you thrive in a variety of roles, including:
- User experience designer
- User experience researcher
- User interface designer
- Information architect
- UX/UI manager
- Product manager
- Human factors engineer
Read about one Kent State alumna’s path to becoming a user experience researcher.
Enjoy the challenges of using your integrated skill set to improve customer experiences and create business value. As a UX professional, your value to the organization is reflected in both your pay and your influence. This case study is a good illustration of the positive impact you can have. Some of the roles offering job satisfaction, good pay and ample job opportunities that our program equips you for include:
Every UX designer needs a robust digital portfolio. In Kent State University’s online masters in UX, you’ll add to your portfolio with each course while you master the process, methodology and reasoning behind UX tools and techniques.
When you complete the program, a final polish of your portfolio and resume will help you take the next exciting step in your career.
Through my various portfolio pieces, I was able to show that I’ve been involved in every step of the UX process. Kendra J., MS ‘19
The UX master’s degree consists of 36 credits. Each course is seven weeks long and you can take two courses sequentially each semester, allowing you to complete the program in as little as two years. Twelve three-credit courses are divided as follows:
- Seven core courses
- Four electives
- A capstone requirement
We are pleased to offer the convenience of:
- Three program enrollment options per year
- A holistic admission process with no GRE requirement
The total tuition cost of your online master’s in UX from Kent State is a fraction of what you can earn in a year with the skills learned in the program. The convenience of online course delivery means that you can continue to work full-time if you wish.
The payoff for earning your master’s degree makes the challenges of studying while working very worthwhile. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that nationally, professionals with a master’s degree earn almost 18% more than those with a bachelor’s degree and enjoy greater job security as well.3
An additional distance learning fee for all students enrolled in a distance learning course is $15 per credit hour. Program tuition and costs are estimated and subject to change. For a complete listing of tuition rates for approved online programs, please contact Kent State’s Financial, Billing & Enrollment Center at 330-672-6000 or via our website Contact Us link.
| Ohio Residents | Out of State | |
| Per Credit Hour | $829 | $839 |
| Approximate Program Cost | $24,900 | $25,200 |
We recognize that pursuing a graduate degree is a significant investment. Your Admissions Outreach Advisor can answer your questions on program costs, discuss how a Kent State degree compares to others and connect you with financial aid representatives when you are ready to discuss your financial options.
Please contact an Admissions Outreach Advisor for more information on tuition and fees by email at online@kent.edu.
Program Courses
Programs Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Major Requirements | ||
| UX 60501 | INTRODUCTION TO USER EXPERIENCE | 3 |
| UX 60502 | USER EXPERIENCE PROCESSES AND PRACTICE | 3 |
| UX 60503 | FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERACTION DESIGN | 3 |
| UX 60504 | ACCESSIBILITY AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN | 3 |
| Fundamentals Elective, choose from the following: | 3 | |
| UX 60511 | INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FUNDAMENTALS | |
| UX 60521 | DATA-DRIVEN INTERACTION FUNDAMENTALS | |
| UX 60531 | DISCOVERY RESEARCH FUNDAMENTALS | |
| UX 60541 | USER EXPERIENCE EVALUATION FUNDAMENTALS | |
| Major Electives, choose from the following: | 15 | |
| EMAT 51510 | PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND TEAM DYNAMICS | |
| EMAT 60999 | PROJECTS IN EMERGING MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY | |
| ETEC 57403 | INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN | |
| ETEC 67410 | SIMULATIONS AND GAMES IN EDUCATION | |
| ETEC 67411 | DESIGNING VISUALS FOR EDUCATION | |
| ETEC 67432 | DESIGNING MULTIMEDIA FOR EDUCATION | |
| ETEC 67434 | EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR EDUCATION | |
| ETEC 67435 | VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY | |
| ETEC 67442 | DESIGNING ONLINE AND BLENDED COURSES | |
| ETEC 67444 | TEACHING ONLINE AND BLENDED COURSES | |
| ETEC 67445 | DESIGNING INSTRUCTIONAL AND PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS | |
| ETEC 67449 | RESEARCH IN ONLINE AND BLENDED LEARNING | |
| HI 60414 | HUMAN FACTORS AND USABILITY IN HEALTH INFORMATICS | |
| LIS 60636 | KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS AND SERVICES | |
| UX 60117 | USER EXPERIENCE LEADERSHIP | |
| UX 60511 | INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FUNDAMENTALS 1 | |
| UX 60521 | DATA-DRIVEN INTERACTION FUNDAMENTALS 1 | |
| UX 60531 | DISCOVERY RESEARCH FUNDAMENTALS 1 | |
| UX 60541 | USER EXPERIENCE EVALUATION FUNDAMENTALS 1 | |
| UX 60691 | SEMINAR IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 60693 | VARIABLE TITLE WORKSHOP IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 60792 | ELECTIVE INTERNSHIP IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 61095 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 61096 | INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 66092 | MASTER’S INTERNSHIP IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 66099 | MASTERS PROJECT IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 66198 | MASTER’S RESEARCH PAPER IN USER EXPERIENCE 2 | |
| UX 66199 | THESIS I 2 | |
| VCD 60012 | CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION | |
| Any graduate course approved by faculty advisor | ||
| Minimum Total Credit Hours: | 30 | |
1Students may apply the course as a major elective if the course is not already fulfilling the fundamentals elective.
2Maximum 6 credit hours, combined, may count toward the degree: UX 60691, UX 60693, UX 60792, UX 61095, UX 61096, UX 66092, UX 66099, UX 66198 and UX 66199.
Graduation Requirements
| Minimum Major GPA | Minimum Overall GPA |
|---|---|
| - | 3.000 |
- Evidence of preparation for professional advancement as approved by faculty advisor.
- No more than one-half of a graduate student’s coursework may be taken in 50000-level courses.
- Grades below C are not counted toward completion of requirements for the degree.
HI 60414 HUMAN FACTORS AND USABILITY IN HEALTH INFORMATICS (3 CREDITS)
Provides students with the foundational principles of usability and human factors as applied to safety and quality in health informatics technology. Course readings and materials review the concepts of human factors, usability and the cognitive consequences of health information technology on clinical performance and decision making. Attention is given to the role of mobile computing in health care, as well as information visualization.
LIS 60636 KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS AND SERVICES (3 CREDITS)
Introduction to various types of knowledge organization systems, services and structures (KOS) used in the networked environment. Understanding of the functional philosophical, logical and linguistic fundamentals of KOS. Explanation of design options, features of KOS, and procedures to be used in thesaurus, taxonomy and ontology construction.
UXD 60106 CONTENT STRATEGY I (3 Credit Hours)
Introduces the field of content strategy and its relationship to user experience design. Includes history and practices of content strategy, how to analyze user needs for content, the production of written materials related to content strategy and content audits and governance models. This course is the conceptual basis behind content strategy.
Prerequisite: UXD 60001 and UXD 60002; and graduate standing.
UXD 60111 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE II (3 CREDITS)
This course will cover current topics in architecting for a changing web environment. Conceptual and technical aspects of Web 2.0 and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) have created the need for different types of design deliverables and usability considerations. In order to understand how to architect for Web 2.0, we must come to an understanding of what it is and how it works at least at a basic level. In addition, design tools to aid information architects are becoming more advanced and can aid IAs, making them more effective and efficient. These tools will be covered in depth.
UXD 60112 INTERACTION IN PRACTICE
This course provides students with experience planning, designing and prototyping interactions. Students will learn common interaction design (IxD) methodologies, what is expected of interaction designers, and what deliverables a designer typically provides. Students will practice interaction design by specifying content organization, hierarchy and user journeys for a mobile application in wireframe form. Students will create a functional prototype, building in the basic functionality needed for navigation and process funnels. Finally, students will test their prototypes formally. (3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisite: UXD 60001 and UXD 60002; and graduate standing.
Pre/corequisite: UXD 60102
UXD 60113 RESEARCHING USER EXPERIENCE II (3 CREDITS)
In order to design and develop effective user interfaces, task analysis process and theory are explored and applied via principles drawn from anthropology, ethnography, cognitive psychology, document and instruction systems design and marketing research. Practical techniques and methodologies are presented to improve interface design through all phases of the design process.
UXD 60114 USABILITY II (3 CREDITS)
Provides students with an understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriate for conducting advanced studies of human interaction with computers. In addition, students learn how to evaluate, purchase, implement and operate equipment for usability labs in a manner consistent with research methods.
UXD 60117 UXD LEADERSHIP
The importance of user-centered design to organizational success is increasing, and user experience professionals are moving into higher level roles within their organizations. This course will teach UX professionals about leadership, followership, the ethics of design, and how to become an effective leader within an organization.
UXD 60691 SEMINAR IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (1-3 CREDITS; REPEATABLE FOR CREDIT)
Advanced research by students who are qualified to examine problems of certain special areas related to concentrations of study in user experience design.
UXD 60792 ELECTIVE INTERNSHIP IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (2-3 CREDITS)
Supervised work experience in user experience design of a professional nature of not less than 100 clock hours (for 2 credit hours) or 150 clock hours (for 3 credit hours) with directed readings and preparation of a paper.
UXD 61095 SPECIAL TOPICS IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Offered irregularly as resources and/or opportunities permit. Topics could include current or emerging issues in user experience design.
UXD 66080 PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT (3 CREDITS)
Students complete the assembly and evaluation of their work throughout the User Experience Design program in the form of a professional portfolio that will be used in efforts to gain employment or freelance work. Evaluation is done through critique by User Experience Design faculty and by peers.
UXD 66092 MASTER’S INTERNSHIP IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (3 CREDITS)
Supervised work experience of an advanced professional nature that concentrates on developing skills in areas of user experience design and integrates their knowledge from all UXD courses and experiences. Students must have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours towards the user experience design major prior to registration.
UXD 66099 MASTERS PROJECT IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (3 CREDITS)
Provides a means for the application of the knowledge, research and competencies learned through study in user experience design to the development of an information system, product, setting or service. Cumulative GPA of 3.000 is required prior to enrolling in the course. Students must have completed 30 credit hours towards the MS-UXDE program prior to registration.
UXD 66198 MASTER’S RESEARCH PAPER IN USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (3 CREDITS)
Under the advisement of a faculty member, students will complete a research paper that serves as a culminating experience for the M.S.-UXD degree. Students must have completed 30 credit hours towards the MS-UXDE program prior to registration.
UXD 66199 THESIS I (2-6 CREDITS)
Thesis students must register for a total of 6 hours, 2 to 6 hours in a single semester distributed over several semesters if desired. Students must have completed 30 credit hours towards the MS-UXDE program prior to registration.
For more information about graduate admissions, visit the graduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit the international admission website.
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
- Minimum 2.750 undergraduate GPA on a 4.000-point scale1
- Official transcript(s)
- Résumé
- Goal statement
- Three letters of recommendation
- English language proficiency - all international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions to waive) by earning one of the following:2
- Minimum 94 TOEFL iBT score
- Minimum 7.0 IELTS score
- Minimum 65 PTE score
- Minimum 120 DET score
1Applicants who do not meet the minimum 2.750 GPA requirement must submit a statement that addresses the circumstances that contributed to the GPA and preparation for success in graduate study. Applicants should include recent professional achievements that indicate an ability to perform at a higher academic level to be considered for conditional admission to the program.
2International applicants who do not meet the above test scores will not be considered for admission.
Our Admissions Outreach Advisors are available to answer your questions regarding admissions requirements for the program. If you have questions, please email us at online@kent.edu or call us at +1 330-672-8671.
Application FAQs
I am a U.S. citizen. Where should I send my application materials?
If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident, all required application materials should be sent to the Division of Graduate Studies at gradapps@kent.edu or by mail to:
Division of Graduate Studies
Kent State University
Cartwright Hall
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242
Please be sure to include your full name and Kent State ID (9-digit number starting with 8) on all submitted documents. For questions, contact Graduate Admissions at +1 330-672-2661 or gradapps@kent.edu.
I am not a U.S. citizen. Where should I send my application materials?
If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident, all required documents should be submitted to the Office of Global Education at intladm@kent.edu or by mail to:
Office of Global Education
Kent State University
106 Van Campen Hall
625 Loop Rd.
Kent, OH 44242
USA
For questions, contact International Admissions at +1 330-672-7970 or intladm@kent.edu.
Courses are delivered through our course management system, Canvas. Course content consists of text, narrated PowerPoint presentations, video and audio, live chats, discussion groups and other learning enhancements.
To participate in this online program, you will need a computer and broadband Internet connection. Your program may have further requirements that include the ability to record video and audio. If you have questions regarding technology requirements for the program, please contact your Admissions Outreach Advisor at online@kent.edu or call us at +1 330-672-8671.
Careers
- 8.0% much faster than the average
- 174,300 number of jobs
- $77,200 potential earnings
Notice: Career Information Source
* Source of occupation titles and labor data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook. Data comprises projected percent change in employment over the next 10 years; nation-wide employment numbers; and the yearly median wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.
Sources
1. Retrieved on June 22, 2022, from glassdoor.com/List/Best-Jobs-in-America-LST_KQ0,20.htm
2. Retrieved on June 22, 2022, from glassdoor.com/Career/user-experience-researcher-career_KO0,26.htm
3. Retrieved on May 5, 2023, from www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2022/data-on-display/education-pays.htm