The DfI Master’s programme can be started either in the autumn or in the spring semester. The starting date determines the order in which courses are taken. In the first year, the autumn semester focuses on the generation of concepts, while in the spring semester the focus is on design evaluation.


Project Usability and User eXperience Assessment in Design (UXAD)

9 EC MSc specific project

In this project students develop their skills in optimizing interaction and user experience of an existing product through iterative cycles of usage evaluations and redesigns. For this purpose students analyse the usage of an existing product through a user test. The students create a redesign proposal of which they once again evaluate the interaction and experience.

Example of a Usability and User Experience Assessment in Design project

This student movie shows the outcome of an UXAD project on the redesign of a microwave, focusing on user experience and usability - 2013

Project Exploring Interactions

12 EC Master specific project

In this conceptual design project, students analyse current interactions, generate starting points for innovative designs, and develop new design concepts for interactions. In three iterative cycles the students gather and apply knowledge about current and envisioned interactions. Through this they generate an increasingly refined design concept.

Example of an Exploring Interactions (EI) project

Product Understanding, Use and Experience

6 EC Master specific course

The main objective of this course is to enable students to learn the limits and potential of knowledge and insights from the humanities and behavioural sciences as these apply to their understanding of human-product interaction. In this course, relevant knowledge and insights will be addressed in a thematic approach.

Context and Conceptualisation

6 EC Master specific course

The Master course 'Context and Conceptualisation' deals with the various contexts surrounding the product and the users' interaction with the product. Examples of such contexts are the situation in which the product is used, other people that are involved and the role of the product in the user's life, even when the user is not physically using it.

Product Understanding, Use and Experience

6 EC Master specific course


Reflection on Designing

3 EC Master specific course

Designers have a substantial impact on our environment, behaviour and well-being. This course is designed to stimulate a critical reflection on this societal role of the designer and the student’s own design process. The main objective of this course is to contribute to the development of a critical, conscious and personal design philosophy or design attitude.

Visual Communication Design

3 EC Master specific course

The Visual Communication Design course deals with the visual design and visual perception of information. The course content centres around the following subjects: Graphic variables for visually media, visual design of user interfaces, Picture-text combinations, Aesthetics and style of visual communication, Methods for visualization of product communication, The Visual Perception of Design.

DfI Research Methodology
Interactive Technology Design

9 EC Master specific course

The potential of products equipped with digital technologies like embedded computers, sensors and actuators creates new opportunities and challenges for product designers. Students gain an understanding of how knowledge can be embedded in a product, how the user can communicate his or her intentions in an expressive way, and translate design ideas into experiential prototypes.

Example of an Interactive Technology Design project

This student movie shows the outcome of an ITD project on an interactive toy for children with autism that helps improve their social skills and encourages them to be more explorative in free play - 2015



IDE Academy

4 EC Shared master course


Manage your Master

2 * 1 EC Shared master course


Design Theory and Methodology

3 EC Shared master course

The aim of this course is to help you to gain a deeper understanding of the principles, practices and procedures of design in a broad and general sense. The course entails a reflective approach to design practice, including the study of how designers think and behave when designing, what sort of problems they encounter, the use/misuse/non-use of design methods, and the diverse social contexts they might work in.

Shape your master

The third semester is reserved for creating a personal profile. In this semester, students have  30 EC elective space that enables them to shape their personal programme. Students can pursue their professional interests and ambitions with a personalised set of different courses. This elective space enables students to specialise, or broaden their knowledge in specific subjects, such as entrepreneurship, marketing, medical design, automotive design, research, visualisation and others. For those students who want to increase the depth of their development as an industrial design engineer, IDE offers more than 50 different courses. This includes courses from the other IDE master curricula. Students who want to broaden their learning can take master’s courses at other faculties and universities, both in the Netherlands and abroad. This semester can also be a platform for engaging in design and/or research internships.

Graduation Project

30 EC Master specific project


What is it like to graduate within the master Design for Interaction? Watch the movie, which shows the graduation projects of three (international) students.

Detailed course contents

For the detailed contents of the DfI Master courses, you can view the Study guide.

Specialisation Medisign


Honours Programme Master
