Recently, many students have been consulting with Natural Light Art about studying abroad in interactive design. For example, the employment prospect of interactive design after studying abroad, should we choose the UK or the US for studying abroad in interactive design? Which is better, CMU or CCA? Today, I would like to systematically analyze the interaction design major and human-computer interaction study abroad with you for reference.
In the current Internet era, whether you operate computers, mobile phones or other smart products human-computer interaction "Interaction" originates from English interaction, that is, mutual communication and two-way interaction. The current intelligent products (such as software, mobile devices, artificial environments, wearable devices, etc.) all involve interaction. It can be said that good interaction can create an intelligent product, but generally speaking, good interaction must be created by professional interaction designers.
Now open your Android or Apple phone, from unlocking, opening the main interface of the application, opening the application settings, returning to the previous level and so on. It seems simple, but in fact, the interaction designer is behind it.
According to the Natural Light Art Education Consulting Department, the concept of "interaction design" was proposed and defined by Bill Moggidge, a founder of IDEO, the world's top design company and the father of notebook design, at a design conference in 1984. To sum up, interaction design is the behavior of artifacts, environments and systems, as well as the design and definition of shape elements that convey this behavior. From the perspective of users, interaction design is a people-oriented goal oriented design, and it is a technology of how to make products easy to use, effective and pleasant. The goal of interaction system design can be explained from two levels of "usability" and "user experience". Take Android and ios for example, they have strong "usability", easy to understand system level operation and low learning cost; In terms of "user experience", Android and ios have clear logic, beautiful icons, and soft and unobtrusive animation effects between application and system levels. The reason why Android and iOS are known as the two most popular mobile operating systems at present is that interaction designers have absolutely contributed.
As the birthplace and master of interaction design, the United States has always led the development of interaction design. Alan Cooper, the founder of interaction design and software inventor in the mid-1970s, once founded Cooper Company (focusing on technical product design). His ideas and innovative methods in software design have been recognized as the current standard. In addition, many influential scholars in the international scope are mostly from American universities and enterprises, such as Bill Moggidge, Bill Verplank, etc. Under the leadership of these scholars, American universities were among the first to set up such academic programs.
According to the Natural Light Art Education Consulting Department, there are mainly two types of schools offering interactive design in the United States: comprehensive universities, such as Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, University of California, Los Angeles, Georgia Tech University, Arizona State University, etc; Art universities, such as the California Academy of Arts, the New York Institute of Visual Arts, the Art Center Design Institute, the San Francisco Academy of Arts, and so on.
Comparison of CMU and CCA interaction design disciplines
So what is the situation of Chinese students applying for the strong interactive design schools in the United States? The Natural Light Art Education Consulting Department specially lists the cases of two students among many successful cases.
Student A, a domestic key undergraduate, majoring in new media, whose standardized scores basically meet the requirements, applied to Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, etc. with the efforts of natural light art education and students themselves.
CMU Interaction Design
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University, as a comprehensive university, is as famous as MIT in computer science and ranks first in the United States. Therefore, the advantage of interaction design in art is very obvious I! However, the computer background must be strong when applying for CMU interaction. In the employment ranking released by Linkedln, CMU pushed MIT, Harvard University and other world famous universities to rank first.
The Master of Design (MDes) in Design for Interactions project lasts for two years. It cultivates and trains students' cutting-edge design concepts, design ideas and skills in the form of classes, seminars, group projects, studio practice, and closing papers. The curriculum is basically a small class system to ensure better learning experience for students. In addition, another advantage is that you can take courses in different fields. If you are interested in game design, you can also take courses in the Entertainment Technology Center.
CCA Interaction Design
Student B, 211 undergraduate, is an art student, majoring in design, and has standardized scores. With the efforts of natural light art education and students themselves, they applied to California Academy of Arts, San Francisco Academy of Arts, etc. California Academy of Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is one of the most famous art universities offering interactive design. CCA ranked 15th in US NEWS 2016 as a top design school in the United States with a history of 120 years. The Bay Area where CCA is located is rich in educational resources, adjacent to Stanford University, UC Berkeley and other comprehensive colleges, as well as Silicon Valley, the birthplace of high-tech in the United States, so CCA is located in a creative learning environment. The Master of Design (MDes) in Interaction Design project lasts for one year, including three semesters of intensive courses and training. The project focuses on the combination of design and practice to cultivate students' ability to solve problems through innovative thinking. This project is the first comprehensive project for interaction design, which is more original and pure. CCA has senior teachers like Frog, Method Design, Adaptive Path, and the dean of IDEO, plus the design resources of the Bay Area. I'm afraid most research institutes do not have such unique resources to enable designers to lay a solid foundation and form a network of contacts and various professional impacts.
Compared with the interactive design school derived from human-computer engineering, software development, industrial design, visual design, media art, criticism and innovative design, CCA should be the first "relatively original" interactive design department, or the first place to lay a comprehensive foundation for interactive design.
In the current Internet era, websites, software, mobile apps, operating systems, etc. have put forward high requirements for interaction design, and interaction designers will still be a popular profession. Students studying in interaction design can generally find employment in large foreign enterprises, communication enterprises, mobile phone design companies, professional design companies, etc. After careful research and accumulated experience, they can become real interaction designers, with an annual salary of up to 200000 to 400000 yuan. The most senior interaction designers can even get 500000 to 800000 yuan. In some companies, interaction designers are often referred to as user interface designers, usability designers, user experience designers, etc., which means that interaction designers will develop into versatile talents.
Tips：
What should students pay attention to if they choose to go to the United States to study for a master's degree in interactive design? The consultant teacher lists the following application requirements:
① Undergraduate is preferred to have a professional background in computer or design, or have a good artistic foundation
② GPA 3.0 and above
③ TOEFL minimum 80 points above, TOP30 institutions best 95+
④ You need to prepare a collection of works+a statement of works (which has the most direct impact on admission)
⑤ GRE (comprehensive universities need GRE, arts universities can be exempted from GRE, and the specific score depends on the school)
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