Master’s Program

Experience Design

Please note that we will no longer be accepting applications to the Experience Design concentration. The core principles and curricular components of the Experience Design concentration will be integrated into our four other concentrations (Art Direction, Copywriting, Strategy, and Creative Brand Management).

Experience Designers use the principles of human-centered design to develop digital products and physical experiences where brands and people interact.

Thriving in the unique space where design, human behavior, and technology meet, they study the user’s experience to ensure it’s optimized at every touchpoint and represents the brand in the best possible way. They make everything from websites to apps to exhibits to in-store experiences and more.

Peyton Spangler (Experience Design, 2023) / XD Independent Study, Live-Client Project
  • The Background: Comfort Zone Camp (CZC) is a local nonprofit that hosts weekend grief camps throughout the country for children who have lost a parent, primary caregiver, or sibling.
  • The Opportunity: Help CZC reach more kids by expanding into the virtual realm
  • The Solution: The Bubble—a multi-player grief game hosted on the Roblox platform. Many of the elements of the game mirror the in-person experiences kids would have at a CZC weekend camp, and the name of the game is derived from a term used often at CZC. Kids are invited to enter into “the bubble” of camp—a place of safety and community set apart from the stressors of the outside world. The Roblox game is intended to be a similar haven, but one that can be accessed anytime anywhere.

Experience Design Encompasses:

  • Concepting, designing, prototyping, and building brand experiences that serve people and push the envelope of what is technologically possible
  • Going beyond just visuals—blending form, function, and materials to imagine experiences that look, feel, and function beautifully
  • Exploring possibilities of media and technology to create new experiences that are enabled by the rise of the digital, mobile, social, AR/VR, mixed reality (MR), web3, Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc. 
  • Envisioning new platforms, products, and services that entertain, provide utility and resources, and connect people to each other and the ideas of the brand
  • Embracing human agency, interactivity, and information in your designs to move from one-size-fits-all brand experiences to highly interactive and personalized experiences
A photo of a mockup of a laptop with an image of the project in the screen
Alexis Caravas (Experience Design, 2023) / XD Independent Study, Live-Client Project
  • The Problem: Parents spend much of the teenage years anticipating whether and when their child will leave home and become independent. For parents of students with autism, there is often dread regarding the transition from high school into adulthood, which is sometimes described as falling off a cliff.
  • The Solution: Ascend, powered by Autism Speaks, is an interactive, online learning and resource-accessible platform that more effectively guides users in planning, managing, and tracking progress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. With the help of Autism Speaks existing resources, Ascend is paving the way for transition planning and the future for young adults with ASD. 

Experience Design at the Brandcenter

An Experience Design alum at is ready to hit the ground running as an Experience Designer, User Experience (UX) Designer, User Interface (UI) Designer, Interaction Designer (IxD), or Digital Product Designer.

Experience Design alums have not only perfected their craft, but have also worked collaboratively with your classmates across concentrations.

Here’s what Experience Designers and other teammates have done on all-concentration team projects:

What each concentration does on all-concentration team projects

EXPERIENCE DESIGNERS

  • Develop and design digital products and/or physical experiences where brands and people interact
  • Focus on the user experience for the product or experience they’re designing
  • Provide guidance and ideas regarding new/emerging technologies

ART DIRECTORS + COPYWRITERS

  • Using business insights from creative brand managers and consumer/cultural insights from strategists, develop creative ideas to solve business challenges, engage consumers, and bring brands to life
  • While copywriters generally focus on writing and art directors generally focus on visual design, most AD/CW teams collaborate on all creative aspects

CREATIVE BRAND MANAGERS

  • Focus on a client’s business, category, and competitors
  • Lead internal, cross-functional teams
  • Ensure creative work meets business objectives; evaluate ROI when possible

STRATEGISTS

  • Focus on consumers and culture
  • Lead research efforts (develop a research plan, conduct field research, and analyze results)
  • Turn research data into insights; develop strategic direction and work with creative partners to create concepts/work inspired by strategic direction

Experience Design Chair

Headshot of Andrew LeVasseur

Andrew LeVasseur

Chair & Professor, Experience Design

An image of mockups of three screens on iPhones displaying the screens of the app created through the project
Sharon Byun (Experience Design, 2021)
  • Background: Postpartum mothers are exhausted both physically and emotionally, and social support is crucial during this challenging time. Sending food is the most common form of social support.
  • Solution: Introducing Warmly—a service designed to provide social support for new moms. The mobile app allows new moms to order soups tailored to their specific needs and to have access to virtual social support via features like gift registry and live chat rooms.

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Explore the concentrations

Art Direction

Art Directors create and curate the visual expression of a brand.

Copywriting

Copywriters craft words to tell stories that create ultimate impact.

Creative Brand Management

Business-, people-, and leadership-savvy, Creative Brand Managers lead client and agency teams to accomplish business objectives through creative solutions.

Strategy

Strategists use their powers of curiosity about people, culture, and brands to drive strategy for advertising and brand communications.