Master of Design in Interaction Design Degree
ArtCenter's STEM-certified Master of Design (MDes) degree program in Interaction Design (IxD) is built for where the field is going, not where it’s been. Our one-year, Online and In-person programs prepare working designers and ambitious practitioners to operate at the highest levels across domains, including consumer products, AI-driven interfaces, automotive human-machine interaction (HMI), extended reality (XR) and spatial computing, financial products, healthcare, service design and beyond.
ArtCenter's MDes in Interaction Design is a one-year (three-term), STEM-certified graduate program built for working designers who are ready to level up their skills and advance their career. Evening and weekend scheduling allows you to pursue the degree while working. You can complete the program from most U.S. states, South Korea, or Ontario, Canada.
In our program, you'll learn from industry practitioners, not career academics, through project-based coursework that spans the full complexity of contemporary interaction design: advanced research methods, AI-driven design systems, strategic prototyping, futurecasting, creative leadership, and cross-disciplinary collaboration with engineers, product managers and organizational stakeholders.
Earn your MDes degree in Interaction Design at ArtCenter
Student Work
Just the Stats
A fast-growing, high-paying field
When it comes to market conditions, it’s imperative to ignore the noise and to instead read the data. And the data shows that interaction design (IxD) and user experience (UX) design are amongst the fastest-growing, highest-paying fields in design.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of web and digital interface designers to grow 7% annually through 2034, more than twice the national average for all occupations. And in California alone, advertised salaries for master's-level interaction design roles grew 33.6% over the past three years, reaching a median of $183,000, according to Lightcast Q4 2025 data.
Today's roles require AI fluency
Interaction designers don't have a single job title. Our graduates shape automotive interfaces at GM and Hyundai, build AI-driven financial products at Fidelity Investments and Salesforce, design spatial computing experiences at Meta, Google and Apple, and lead service design across healthcare, finance and emerging industries.
Research shows that AI fluency is now an essential skill for designers.* The field isn't being replaced by AI; it's being transformed by it. And that transformation requires exactly the kind of rigorous, systems-level thinking our IxD MDes program develops.
The ROI
According to Lightcast, interaction designers with a master's degree earn a median of $183,000 annually in California—$63,000 more per year than those with a bachelor's degree alone.† That means an MDes in Interaction Design from ArtCenter can pay for itself in a short period of time. Few graduate investments in any field offer a comparable return.
*Lightcast Q4 2025 Hot and Cold Skills by Job Postings, California, Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255), January 2025–January 2026.
†Salary data: Lightcast Q4 2025, California, master's-required IXD/UX roles. Salary premium based on comparison to bachelor's-level median. Individual outcomes vary.
What Sets Us Apart?
Critical skills for an AI-transformed field
The designers who will lead this decade aren't the ones who just use AI tools, they are able to use AI strategically and with intention. They'll be the ones who understand what AI can and cannot do for the human experience, and who can make consequential decisions at that intersection. ArtCenter's IxD MDes curriculum addresses AI-driven design directly: from AI-assisted coding to conversational interface design and multimodal systems to the ethical frameworks that responsible practice demands.
Advanced research methods
Interaction design at the highest level is an evidence-based discipline. As a student in ArtCenter’s IxD MDes program, you'll develop expertise in qualitative and quantitative user research, behavioral analysis, and synthesis methods that translate insight into defensible design decisions. These are the skills that separate designers who execute from designers who lead.
Futurecasting, at our core
ArtCenter's MDes in Interaction Design is one of the only programs in the country to embed futurecasting as a core design competency. You will learn to anticipate technological, cultural and behavioral shifts and design ahead of them, producing graduates who don't just respond to industry change, but shape it.
An alumni network that opens doors
When you graduate from our program, you’ll leave with a degree and a body of work that demonstrates mastery across interaction design specializations, tailored to your personal career goals. But you'll leave with something else just as valuable.
ArtCenter's alumni network spans every major technology company, automotive OEM, design consultancy and creative institution in the world. And these are not passive connections. ArtCenter alumni understand what a degree from ArtCenter means, and what it took to earn it. Our alumni actively recruit, refer, mentor and champion each other, across decades and across industries.
The relationships you build here don't end at graduation; they compound. Whether it’s your next job, your next collaborator, your next client or your next pivot, the ArtCenter network has a way of showing up at every stage of your design career.
Careers
ArtCenter Interaction Design MDes graduates go on to select top design roles at leading companies. Our alumni hold senior roles across industries that are defining the next decade of human-technology interaction: major technology companies, automotive OEMs, financial institutions, healthcare systems, and the startups reinventing entire sectors. Roles our graduates have landed include:
- Senior or Lead Interaction Designer, UX/UI Designer or Service Designer
- Senior or Lead UX Researcher
- Human-AI Interaction Designer
- Automotive HMI Designer
- XR/Spatial Computing Designer
- Design Strategist
- Creative Technologist
- Design Manager
- Design Director
Todd Masilko
Todd Masilko brings experience across Disney, tech startups and industry collaborations to his leadership of ArtCenter’s Interaction Design program.
A. Puicón-Pérez boosts career with online MDes IxD master’s degree
Earn Your MDes in Interaction Design at ArtCenter
The Master of Design in Interaction Design program prepares thoughtful leaders and innovative game-changers in the growing fields of interaction and UX design. You’ll establish hands-on expertise in creating accessible, appealing and user-oriented digital spaces. Invest in the forefront of emerging technologies and become an architect of tomorrow’s most compelling ideas at ArtCenter.
Rolling Admissions
We review applications on a rolling basis through August, space permitting.
Eligibility
Currently, ArtCenter is authorized to offer our online MDes degree in a select number of U.S. states. Visit our State Authorization page to learn more.
Because this is a fully remote program, ArtCenter is not authorized to issue I-20s for international students to enter the country to enroll in this program. International students who will be located in an authorized U.S. state can enroll in the program but will need to arrange for a visa that allows them to study online on their own. If residing outside of the U.S., we are authorized to enroll international students who will be located in South Korea or Ontario, Canada while in the program.
