User Experience Design (with Integrated Foundation Year)

OVERVIEW

User Experience Design at Norwich University of the Arts (Norwich) is a forward-facing contemporary Communication Design degree in which you will create interactive products including websites and app prototypes, digital imagery, video and motion graphics, and designed research outputs.

You will explore the technologies and people involved in providing the systems and services behind the interfaces and investigate the different ways users experience a design depending on their circumstances.

You will identify users’ goals and needs and map their emotional journeys. User research, user interface design, copywriting, typography, motion, and interaction design will all feature in the work you make.

As a UX Design student at Norwich, you join students from the other graphics courses in an industry-rich, employer-focused curriculum that places engagement with professional designers and agencies right at the heart of the course. Your opportunities to meet and work with industry, in a wide variety of ways, are unparalleled.

INTEGRATED FOUNDATION (YEAR 0)

This course includes an integrated foundation year (Year 0), which promotes developing practical, technical and creative skills and confidence. Building on your prior experience, you will be introduced to some of our workshops to assist your skill development, with an increasing emphasis on professional standards and independent study. The course places emphasis on your personal commitment to study, while supporting you in your progression.

KEY FEATURES

• Share your first year, and then continue to work alongside graphics students, allowing for a unique cross fertilisation of knowledge, skills and experience

• Become adept at problem-solving through understanding and deciphering project briefs, conducting discovery research, generating ideas, developing prototypes, testing, and iterating these into successful concepts, and presenting the final work

• Participate in workshops and classes run by external professionals, undertake project briefs initiated and taught by designers from industry, and enter national and international design competitions judged by the design industry

• Industry engagement including portfolio reviews and surgeries, talks from practising alumni focused on portfolio development and employability, interview practice and graduate portfolio showcase events

• Develop your project management, communication and collaborative working skills so that you leave with a standout CV and portfolio

• Work with a team of expert staff, who are talented educators and designers. Many of whom are practising designers working with clients week in, week out

YOUR FUTURE

The practical studio projects are designed to mimic the type of briefs you would be given in a design agency, resulting in outcomes that genuinely prepare you for the real world of work. Your work throughout the course will generate case studies for your portfolio that showcase your knowledge of user research, user interface design and interaction design to copywriting, typography and motion. By the time you finish the course you will have a developed a portfolio and have a strong sense of where you want to work within the industry. You will also create a range of employment-focused tools including a CV, email/covering letter and a career overview and strategy.

During the summer break between second and third year, and after completing the course, students have taken up internships and joined graduate schemes which frequently lead to full-time employment.

Our graduates have gone on to become employees at digital design agencies including Foolproof, The User Story, Other Media and Cheddar Creative, and in-house positions e.g., at National Grid, Stardust, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Tata Consultancy Services.

OUR STUDENTS’ WORK

Explore our Graduate Showcase – celebrating the very best of Norwich graduate work. Scroll each reel to explore  nuagradshowcase.com

Course Modules

You can find more information about the content of the BSc (Hons) User Experience Design (with Integrated Foundation Year) course at https://norwichuni.ac.uk/4-year-degrees/

The University assesses you through the coursework you produce as you complete each unit. Each unit will require you to present a portfolio of work which may include finished pieces of work, written work, your research, and a reflective journal which allows you to evaluate your learning and highlight your strengths and areas for further development. You can find out more information about our assessment methods at https://norwichuni.ac.uk/bsc-hons-user-experience-design/