Designing solutions for real people - TU Delft

MSc programme
Design for Interaction
Faculty of Industrial
Design Engineering
Over the past decades, the subjective meaning
of products and services has steadily gained in
importance in design processes. Increasingly,
a deeper understanding of users, their lives,
and aspirations, has become key for developing
successful propositions. As a result, there is a
growing need for designers who are expert at ‘the
user perspective’ of products and services, who
understand the impact products have on people’s
lives, their experiences, motivation, and their
behaviour.
Designing solutions
for real people
Master’s Programme
The MSc Design for Interaction (DfI) programme focuses
on the ways in which people and products interact:
how does a user understand, use, and experience a
product? This raises the question of how designers can
conceptualise products that are relevant to the user.
The goal of the programme is to educate designers who
understand what people do with and expect from the
products they use in everyday life, and who are able to
design products appropriate to their needs’ concerns
and abilities. The programme offers students a multidisciplinary
course of study, covering topics ranging from
aesthetics and ergonomics to psychology and sociology.
Students learn to formulate design visions, create and
visualise concepts, and develop and test experiential
prototypes. The programme delves deep into the processes
and principles underlying people’s interactions with
products: how to involve users in analysing needs, and
how to apply technologies in the product development
process. During the project phase, students apply and
integrate what they have learnt. Not only is a DfI student
able to design interaction visions, through technological
knowledge he is able to create realistic and working
demonstrators. Through this combination DfI prepares
you both theoretically and hands on, to become a user
experience expert.

Shape your master
In all of the Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) masters’
curriculums, 18 EC is reserved for elective courses. This
gives students the freedom and responsibility to shape their
own development to match their professional interests and
ambitions. In this way, students can create their own profile.
The elective system has many advantages. Students who want
to broaden their learning can take master’s courses at other
universities, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Furthermore,
they can take courses at other TU Delft faculties.
For those students who want to increase the depth of their
development as a Design Engineer, IDE offers more than 50
different courses. It is even possible for students to sign up for
courses from one of the other IDE masters’ programmes.
It is also possible for students to specialise in Medisign by
spending at least half of their elective ECs (9), a design project
and the graduation project within the Medisign theme.
Curriculum Design for Interaction
Candidates begin their studies either in September or in February; the starting date affects the order in which courses are taken. In
either case, in the autumn semester the programme focuses on the generation of concepts and on design evaluation in the spring
semester. During the second year the emphasis is on the students’ design projects and establishing, defining and completing the
individual graduation project.
General IDE Courses
EC
Design Theory and Methodology 3
Generic and Professional Skills 3
Internationalisation 3
Joint Master Project 12
Product Understanding, Use and Experience 6
Context and Conceptualisation 6
Interactive Technology Design 6
Visual Communication Design 3
Reflection on Designing 3
DfI Research Methodology 3
Exploring Interactions Project 9
Usability and User eXperience Assessment in Design Project 12
Electives (specialisations can be taken here) 18
Graduation Project 33
EC
Shared IDE courses Projects Master-specific courses Graduation project Electives
• 1 EC = 28 hrs study, according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) • One academic year = 60 EC (1680 hours of study)
• Total amount of credits MSc programme = 120 EC
More information on all courses at: www.studyguide.tudelft.nl

Career prospects
The programme prepares graduates for positions as product or interaction
designers, R&D specialists, and usability consultants, as well as providing a
solid foundation for work in design-centred research. Graduates of the DfI
programme have been hired by leading companies like Philips, Vodafone,
HP, Microsoft, TomTom, Océ, and Unilever, as well as for many smaller
firms, and design and market research agencies.
“You can design
without limitations”
I chose DfI because I aspire to be a
user-centred designer. I want to develop my
skills to improve the experiences people have
with products. DfI teaches you how to design
meaningful product experiences: researching
and analysing needs and values of users,
conceptualising innovative concepts, and
creating and testing interactive prototypes. As
an interaction designer, I enjoy the ability to
communicate with the various parties involved in
the project to get an overall understanding of the
design challenge at hand. What I love about DfI is
that it starts at the beginning of the design process
where everything is still possible and you can
design without limitations. For me, this creative
freedom is a huge motivation - and then the
process of transforming these original ideas into
interactive prototypes, well that puts a smile on my
face, every day!
Student Mark Studer
The Netherlands

Admission requirements
and application procedures
Dutch university BSc degree
If you hold a BSc degree of Industrial Design from TUD, TU/e or UT, you
will be admitted directly into the programme. If the Master programme does
not follow directly on from your undergraduate programme, you will be
required to take additional courses in a so-called bridging programme. To
see which Master programmes are open on completion of your BSc degree
at a Dutch university, go to www.doorstroommatrix.nl
and verify the results with the IDE academic counsellors.
Admission for the Master programme and for bridging programme must be
granted by the Board of Examiners. Students who are accepted can register
on: www.tudelft.studielink.nl.
If you plan to apply, please consult with the IDE acadamic counsellors first.
The deadline for application is 1 July.
Dutch higher education BSc degree
To start a Master programme with a HBO BSc degree, you will first need to
complete and submit the following four checks:
1. Check with the academic counsellors if your BSc degree is related
2. Apply to the IDE Board of Examiners by sending in your full transcript
of records, portfolio and motivation letter.
3. Pass the TU admission tests for Math and English
4. Complete a 30 ECTS bridging programme. Only possible in the first
semester.
The deadline for application is 1 July.
For further information
Please visit the website for all details,
complete requirements,
deadlines and contact information:
www.dfi.msc.tudelft.nl
Further information for Dutch applicants
ir. J.C. Thieme, ir. C.Veldhuizen or ir. M.W. Biemond,
Academic Counsellors
T +31(0)15 27 82941/87081
E j.c.thieme@tudelft.nl, c.veldhuizen@tudelft.nl or
w.m.biemond@tudelft.nl
Further information for
international applicants
International Office IDE
T +31 (0)15 27 81077
E internationaloffice-io@tudelft.nl
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Landbergstraat 15
2628 CE Delft
The Netherlands
facebook.com/idetudelft
twitter.com/idestudents
See www.hbodoorstroom.tudelft.nl for more details. Application for the
programme is granted by the Board of Examiners. If you plan to apply,
please fulfil all the application deadlines and requirements and consult with
the IDE academic counsellors first.
International degree
To be considered for admission to a Master programme, applicants with an
international BSc degree must make a formal application for admission.
For the starting moment in September the application period starts in
October and closes on 1 April. Please note that your complete application
should reach TU Delft before 1 November should you want to apply for a
TU Delft Excellence scholarship.
For the starting moment in February the application period starts in August
and closes on 1 October.
To start an Master application, please complete the online application
and pay the application fee of € 100. Send hard copies of the application
documents to TU Delft’s International Office and upload your portfolio
digitally. Please visit the webpage for admission requirements, deadlines,
application procedures and contact information: www.dfi.msc.tudelft.nl