Master’s in Innovation with User Experience

Master of Science
A professor teaches her student

Grounded in technology, design, and business disciplines, the online Master’s in Innovation with User Experience (IUX) program is designed to deliver a highly qualified and competitive workforce for the IT industry. The WPI Business School has world-class expertise and resources in UX and is ideally positioned to prepare students as UX professionals and set them on a path to take on leaderships positions such as chief experience officers (CXO). 

UX-driven innovations are no longer a luxury, but a must for maintaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. The continual demand for innovative technologies in our daily lives, both at personal and organizational level, is intensified by the continually increasing pace of our digital economy. Tech companies must ensure that their products are successfully embraced and effectively used by their intended users at home and at work. To achieve this goal, competition in the IT industry has shifted toward developing an outstanding user experience (UX). 

Innovative companies know UX is key to gaining and retaining customers. Become a UX specialist and meet the growing demand for professionals who work with product designers, game designers, and technology designers to deliver exceptional user experiences. Get there by joining our online Master's in Innovation with User Experience graduate program, one of the first such programs in the nation with faculty with UX expertise who provide IUX skills and experiences to professionals with a variety of backgrounds.

A Premier STEM Business Degree, More Affordable Tuition

There is a pressing need for engineers, scientists, and coders with business acumen and management skills. WPI is committed to making STEM education more attainable, and The Business School is doing its part by reducing its tuition for graduate programs. Today, a premier degree from WPI’s business school is more affordable than ever—meaning you can see a high return on investment from your degree even sooner.

The Business School, established at a premier technology-focused university, has world-class expertise and educational resources in technology and business, and thus is suitably poised to offer valuable graduate-level programs that prepare students to apply entrepreneurial thinking and transform into leadership roles.  

Learning Outcomes

The online Masters in Innovation with User Experience prepares students for working in advanced technological environments where they apply the UX driven innovation (UXDI) framework to help their companies develop competitive products and services. Gain skills for careers in product design, user experience design, user experience engineering, interaction design, human factors in computing, and web and mobile app design.

In our project-based, asynchronous online learning environment, students will:  

  • Gain needed skills for designing competitive human-centered technologies.

  • Gain foundational knowledge in design thinking, design science, and the UX-driven innovation (UXDI) framework for developing technological innovations (e.g., smart and connected systems, robots, AR/VR applications) for homes and work environments. 

  • Develop and execute plans for gaining a deep understanding about user needs. 

  • Develop and execute plans for discovering opportunities for creating business and social value with UX driven innovations. 

  • Develop and execute plans for designing and evaluating the discovered UX-driven innovation opportunities. 

  • Develop advanced skills in focused area(s) of interest through the specialties offered in this program such as Applied Analytics, Understanding User for Developing and Delivering IUX, Managing and Organizing Innovation, IUX Research, System Design for IUX, and others. 

  • Capstone experience enables students to revise, integrate, and apply their knowledge and skills through a large project.  

Admissions Qualifications for Master’s in Innovation with User Experience

  • BS or BA degree from an accredited school, in any discipline, with a GPA of > 3.0  
  • GMAT/GRE’s are not required for this program  

For specific application requirements, visit our admissions for online programs page.

If you do not have a bachelor's degree, please view our list of undergraduate programs.

LIVE WEBINAR

The WPI Business School

Join us for an upcoming webinar! Experts from The Business School will highlight curriculum plans, specialties, next steps, the support you'll receive from student success, the graduate student community, and more. 

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Graduate Studies Series

Learn from our enrollment team members and other guests by attending quick and convenient 30-minute webinars we designed to highlight popular topics when starting grad school. Take a deep dive into specific areas of interest such as how to secure funding, how to ace your application, an overview of student services, and more!

Connect with Business School Student

Interested in one of our graduate programs? Students and staff from the Business School at WPI will participate in office hours so prospective students (like you!) can connect and learn about their experience with WPI and ask any questions you may have. Register to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

Summer WEDNESDAYS 9:00–10:00 AM ET

June 21, June 28, July 12, July 26, August 2, August 9

*Hours will be available during the academic calendar weeks for the fall and spring semesters only—not during the summer or school holidays/breaks.

REGISTER: https://wpi.zoom.us/j/93226252819

Curriculum

Program Requirements

The UI UX master’s online is a 33-credit program, designed as a stackable, professional master’s degree. As such, it involves a realistic capstone project. The MS IUX also serves as an entry to the PhD program in the WPI Business School, and thus allows for research credits (with permission of the IUX program director).  

Students will gain specialized knowledge in the following areas/specialties:

  • System Design. Prepares students for designing advanced technologies that utilize data science approaches such as business intelligence and machine learning.
  • Applied Analytics. Prepares students for careers involving information retrieval, data curation, and data analysis.
  • Marketing. Prepares students for developing product management strategies that take advantage of consumer analytics.
Courses

Subject to change based on availability.   
View academic term start dates for online courses.  

Students must complete the three-course core as follows: 

  • MIS 583. User Experience Applications 
  • MIS 585. User Experience Design 
  • MIS 586. User Experience Methods 

Students must complete two three-course specialties, selected from the following specialties: 

Brands, Products and Consumers   

  • MKT 500. Marketing Strategy 
  • MKT 561. Consumer Behavior and Analytics 
  • MKT 569. Product and Brand Management 

System Design (Select any 3; The first three are online; the others, which are not FBS courses, may not be available online)

  • MIS 500. Innovating with Information Systems 
  • MIS 571. Database Applications Design and Development 
  • MIS 582. Information Security Design and Management 
  • IMGD 5000. Game Design Studio  
  • IMGD 5300. Design of Interactive Experiences 
  • RBE/CS 526. Human-Robot Interaction 
  • RBE 595. Synergy of Human and Robot Systems 
  • WR 593. Robot Futures: Design, Ethics, Communication 

Applied Analytics (Select any 3) 

  • MIS 502. Data Management for Analytics 
  • MIS 584. Business Intelligence 
  • MIS 587. Business Applications in Machine Learning 
  • OIE 559. Optimization for Business Analytics 
  • DS 501. Introduction to Data Science 
  • DS 502. Statistical Methods for Data Science 
    •  or, MA 511. Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists 

Organizing and Managing Innovation (Select any 3) 

Students must complete a two-course capstone project experience   

  • OBC 505. Teaming and Organizing for Innovation 
  • MIS 573. System Design and Development 
    • Capstone project for IUX and IT students

See all the events and webinars that the Graduate Studies team are hosting and attending.

View the Calendar


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