Interaction design creates opportunities to shape and guide behavior. It opens possibilities for experiences and exchanges not possible before. At the MFA Interaction Design program, students learn to design products, services and experiences shaped by the pressing needs of people and the planet we share.

Where once we were considering interfaces and interactions on screens, we’re now considering how these expressions tie into bigger systems. As data and generative AI are more abundantly available and designers are informed by new formal and informal mechanisms for connecting, we are aware we are part of something bigger.

In our two-year graduate program, students learn the skills, methods, and mindsets of interaction design in order to 'design with care'. Be part of a robust community of designers, artists, entrepreneurs, technologists, and more — find your future practice at MFA ixD.

The program is collaborative. In a studio environment, students explore prototyping a range of experiences that cross visual, conceptual and technical boundaries. Grouped in transdisciplinary teams, students work both in the studio and in the field to create inventive solutions to real-world problems.

The program is people-focused. We focus on teaching how people relate to one another through the products and technology we explore.

The program is curated. During the first year, students advance through the concepts and methods of interaction design, starting with an understanding of people and the environments that drive their needs, goals and experiences. Course materials consider these social constructs and human experiences as the basis for approaching problems across media. During the second year, students apply the concepts and methods from the first year of study to shape their thesis projects. It is in the second year that students develop deeper business acumen through coursework and direct relationships with New York organizations. Optional summer internships with top companies are available between the first and second years.

The program is practice-based. The MFA in Interaction Design is a professionally focused program aimed at training graduates to become practicing designers, entrepreneurs and contributors intending to make a difference. Upon graduation, students are prepared to take risks, invent new forms with business and academia, participate in strategic decision-making involved with the creation of interactive products and services and are equipped with tools and methods to make smart choices no matter where they find themselves. Faculty members are leaders and innovators in the field, enriching the courses they teach with their experiences in the industry.

The program is your story. The courses are highly demanding, highly selective and highly rewarding, challenging students to have a vision and make choices to align with that vision. Students study concepts central to interaction design, including design research, human-computer interaction, interface design, graphic design, information architecture and ubiquitous computing. Each class becomes a community and each choice a commitment with a story to build upon. The program seeks to cultivate interaction design as a discipline and further its visibility as a community of practice.

Degree candidates must successfully complete 60 credits, including all required courses, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0. A residency of two academic years is required. In the final semester, each student must complete a thesis project, which must be reviewed and approved by the thesis committee and the department chair in order for the student to be eligible for degree conferral.