Master of Professional Studies in UX Design
CCAD is the place to learn creative problem solving
While UX has traditionally been associated with software and website interface design, the true value of UX is far broader. UX design can impact systems, information, environments, and much more. It’s about solving challenges, improving systems, and preparing organizations for the future. Graduates develop the knowledge and the tools that employers are looking for—and that the world needs.
This is not a bootcamp. This is not a certificate program. At CCAD, you’ll learn from practicing UX professionals and other subject-matter experts, in a 30-credit, non-terminal, accredited master’s degree program designed to fit the needs of working professionals. You’ll graduate with the essential knowledge and experiences for you to thrive in this growing field—and you can do it in as little as one year (full-time), or two years (part-time).
Improve the world, one user experience at a time.
User experience (UX) design is increasingly important in not just business, but in any organization that seeks to engage customers and audiences. Human-centered UX design can simplify complex tasks, establish greater empathy, and create solutions that are more effective, inclusive, and equitable.
Meet our program chair
Dr Tamara Peyton
Dr. Tamara Peyton is the chair of CCAD's Master of Professional Studies graduate degree programs in User Experience (UX) Design and Retail Design. As a qualitative UX researcher, design thinker and ideation expert, Dr. Peyton is invested in understanding how everyday people interact with each other in their favorite physical and digital environments, and through their favorite brands and technologies. Before switching careers to design education, Dr. Peyton had a decade-long career in the young UX and dot-com industry in Canada, working as a business systems analyst, UX designer, and intranet services manager for a handful of major national and international corporations.
We are in a service-driven economy that is grounded in the need for people to have instant access to relevant information and to the right people and services that will help them to achieve their goals, whatever those might be. Therefore, people need the capacity to share, collaborate, buy, and sell in digital and physical environments that are suited to the tasks people need to do."
Dr. Tamara Peyton
Chair, Master of Professional Studies Programs Associate Professor, UX Design
Find your place in a growing field
UX design professionals are in high demand in healthcare, social services, government, financial services with roles like:
- Environmental designer
- Product designer
- Digital marketer
- Product owner
- Service manager
- UX strategist
Headquartered in Columbus, like many of the world’s biggest retail brands, Bath & Body Works has hired a number of talented, skilled CCAD students and alumni over the years—creative thinkers who have found professional success and fulfillment in their work.
Each year, CCAD recognizes some of our outstanding alumni with our Alumni Awards. And this year, we were aided in that process by our inaugural 12-member CCAD Alumni Advisory Board, who aided in selecting the winners from the pool of nominees submitted by our community members.
The Columbus Arts Festival is back in 2023. This year’s festival, presented by the American Electric Power Foundation and produced by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, is Friday, June 9–Sunday, June 11, on Columbus’ downtown riverfront.
Columbus College of Art & Design alum Robert Coles (Retail Advertising, 1995) has established the Coles Diversity Impact Scholarship Fund to strengthen access and opportunities for incoming students at CCAD.
Shorts (Industrial Design, 2006) is the founder/creator-in-chief of Columbus creative agency Artfluential; in addition, he founded the Maroon Arts Group (a collective promoting Black culture and art); has a newsletter, Shut Up and Create; and, with fellow alum—and CCAD Trustee Corey Favor (Illustration, 2003)—is co-founder of artist conference Creative Control Fest.
MPS in UX Design FAQs:
Bootcamps and certificate programs scratch the surface of UX education; CCAD’s degree goes deep, exploring the functional, emotional, and intellectual aspects of human-centered design—and how to apply it in current-day contexts. This is a sophisticated, credentialed degree that will open new opportunities for our graduates. In addition, while many bootcamps approach UX design from a technology standpoint, CCAD emphasizes service design, a more holistic approach that includes creative problem solving, social innovation, and integrations of products and services.
Yes! In fact, it’s a perfect opportunity for working professionals to add timely and relevant expertise to their skillset. Classes are mostly online and offered in the evenings and weekends, and the curriculum provides your choice of a full- or part-time experience. Most working professionals who maintain their full-time careers will participate as part-time students, but it is not a requirement
These tests are not required for enrollment. View the application form for other requirements.
