The Master of Science in Information Experience Design (IXD) program is an innovative blend of the information science (IS), human-computer interaction (HCI), and user experience (UX) disciplines. The IXD program educates students and prepares them for careers in the rapidly growing UX profession, which includes UX designers, information architects, interaction designers, UX researchers, usability analysts, and content strategists.
With its empathetic, research-based, and human-centered approach to technology design, the IXD program teaches students to be well-rounded UX professionals who are not just strong designers but also skilled researchers, communicators, and strategists.
The IXD program teaches students how to design understandable, useful, and engaging digital interfaces and become well-rounded UX professionals. The program is designed for people from any background; previous design or technical knowledge/experience is not a prerequisite.
The IXD program is not a UX boot camp. It is an intensive two-year graduate program where students will not only learn the knowledge and skills needed to be a UX professional, but also engage with creative, critical, and ethical challenges. Throughout their time in the program, students will create a unique and strong UX portfolio that is essential for a career as a UX professional.
For international students, please note that the IXD program is designated as a STEM program by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and thus qualifies for the STEM optional practical training (OPT) extension for F-1 students.
What will you do?
Recent job titles obtained by program graduates include:
UX/UI Designer
UX Researcher
Product Designer
UX Specialist
Information Architect
Design Researcher
Where will you work?
A selection of organizations where these graduates work:
Throughout the IXD program, students will create a digital portfolio to highlight the work they have completed and demonstrate they have met the program’s five student learning outcomes:
Research – Apply appropriate research methods to identify meaningful insights about people’s needs, behaviors, and experiences
Communication – Compose compelling narratives and convey information to diverse stakeholders using appropriate communication styles (visual, written, and/or oral)
Tools – Choose and effectively employ industry-standard software associated with all phases of the user-centered design process
Experience Design – Create quality digital interfaces through an iterative and purposeful user-centered process that incorporates relevant technical, social, and cultural factors
Ethical Practice – Construct a strong professional identity that reflects a commitment to the ethical application of design and research and critically considers their impact on individuals, communities, or ecosystems.
School of Information courses are small (average class size is 12 students) and are held at 11:30 AM, 3 PM, and 6:30 PM, with the evening session offering the most options to help accommodate students who are working during the day. Select required courses in the IXD program include:
INFO 643 Information Architecture and Interaction Design This course provides students with practical knowledge and hands-on experience designing digital interfaces from a user-centered perspective through an exploration of the dual practices of information architecture and interaction design.
INFO 644 Usability Theory and Practice Students will learn and apply usability principles and gain hands-on experience with several common usability evaluation methods, including traditional user testing and inspection- and field-based methods.
The IXD program also offers a wide-variety of elective courses. A selection of them includes:
Selecting an area of emphasis allows IXD students to focus their studies and build a cohesive set of knowledge and skills targeted to a specific career pathway within the User Experience (UX) profession. Students are encouraged to select an area of emphasis early in their studies, but are also free to create their own customized study plan based on their career interests and academic goals.
Two areas of emphases are available:
The Design area of emphasis is for students interested in designing engaging and understandable digital interfaces and services. Coursework in this area of emphasis focuses on the full user-centered design lifecycle, from discovery research and content architecture to ideation and prototyping.
This area of emphasis prepares students for the following types of roles:
The Research and Evaluation area of emphasis is for students interested in understanding user needs, identifying insights to inform design decisions, and evaluating digital products. Coursework covers both qualitative and quantitative methods for gathering user feedback, assessing design quality, and measuring user engagement.
This area of emphasis prepares students for the following types of roles:
Our faculty consists of full-time faculty, who are researchers and scholars holding doctoral degrees, and our part-time faculty, who are accomplished professionals holding a range of roles in New York City institutions and companies. Full-time faculty members act as advisors to students, help connect career goals with the program curriculum, and teach over half of the courses.
All applicants are considered for merit scholarships during review of applications; a separate scholarship application is not required. Scholarships are significant and can cover up to 50% of the cost of tuition. For students in good academic standing (i.e., if the student maintains a minimum 3.0 GPA), merit scholarships are automatically renewed for the second year of study.
Fellowships
Second-year students in the program can apply for a nine-month fellowship with a leading NYC organization. IXD students have completed fellowships at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Other Support
Support for research-based scholarly and/or creative projects that enhance students’ professional development—individually or through small student teams—is available through the Graduate Student Engagement Fund (GSEF). Students can also take advantage of research opportunities working closely with individual faculty or with the team through graduate assistant funding, including at the Center for Digital Experiences.
In addition to support from the School of Information office, all students are assigned a faculty advisor upon entry, and can access a variety of services from Pratt’s Student Services division.
The School of Information meetup at the Whitney Museum of American Art (photo by Carol Choi)
The School of Information has five student groups that enrich the academic experience by organizing guest lectures, workshops, tours, site visits, and other events that will help deepen and expand your professional network. IXD students created the first student chapter of the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA): UXPA@Pratt. Students can also form new organizations through Pratt’s Office of Student Involvement.
IXD students also participate in School of Information activities, such as the annual showcase of student work (Infoshow).
Located at the crossroads of the Greenwich Village and Chelsea neighborhoods, our home at Pratt Manhattan Center offers an excellent environment that provides easy access to all that New York City has to offer. Our specialized facilities facilitate our hands-on curriculum: from usability eye-tracking studies to archival reformatting projects and beyond. Specialized facilities designed specifically to support our IXD program include:
The User Experience Lab Participant Room is a space designed for bringing in participants for testing various interfaces, such as desktop and mobile interfaces, as well as eye-tracking studies.
Designed as a space for researchers to observe the testing activities happening in the Participant room, the Observation room is a comfortable space for IXD student researchers.
Photos from this year's Research Open House! And congrats to Prof. Nancy Smith who won the Excellence in Research Award!
Data Textiles: Exploring Data Physicalization in Quilts, Embroidery, and Fiber Arts
Nancy Smith, Associate Professor
Decoding Mental Health Conversations with GenAI
Irene Lopatovska, Professor
Marc Lobo, Graduate Student
Exploring Student Use of Generative AI Tools in Prototyping Physical Computing Projects
Monica Maceli, Associate Professor
The Migrant Mortality Mapping Portal Project (M3P2) – A Humanitarian Data-Provision Project in Process
Rachel Daniell, Visiting Assistant Professor
National Gentrification Intensity Map
John Lauerman, Associate Professor
Alice Viggiani, Graduate Student
Emely Perkins, Graduate Student
Product Architecture Method: Architectural Thinking for Digital Product Design
Hasan Hachem, Visiting Assistant Professor
Regulation-Informed Design: Developing Ways to Integrate Legal Knowledge into UX Practices
Sai Shruthi Chivukula, Assistant Professor
Kirsten Segeren, Graduate Student
Maanya Agarwal, Graduate Student
Value Lanes: Toolkit to Build Ethical Argumentation in Design Students
Sai Shruthi Chivukula, Assistant Professor
Aayushi Bharadwaj, Graduate Student
Xin Jiang, Graduate Student
Exploring MohenjoDaro in Virtual Reality
Jack Young, Researcher
Uzma Rizvi, Professor (SLAS)
Jacob Welch, Graduate student
Museum Accession Cards in Mohenjo-Daro: Archives, Labor, and Decolonial Practice
Sophia Trifoli, Graduate Student
Uzma Rizvi, Professor
Course-Based Civic Engagement at Pratt
Michael Kelly, Adjunct Professor
Irine Le, Graduate Student
Ewa Miano, Undergraduate Student
Alum and archivist Hanna Pennington (MSLIS ’22) is profiled in a Prattfolio story and offers advice on building a professional community. Link available via our bio.
Registration is now open for InfoShow26 via the link in our bio!
InfoShow26 is the annual showcase and celebration of School of Information (iSchool) student work. Organized like a conference, InfoShow26 includes presentations, panels, posters, digital and non-digital object exhibitions, and demos/interactives from students in these four areas.
Student work is featured from 5:00 to 7:30 PM. From 7:30 to 9:30 PM is a reception.
Open to the public. Guests of Pratt Institute should register and show ID at the ground floor security desk to gain entry.
It's the School of Information April '26 newsletter: Prof. Leanne Bowler is retiring, the Assistant Dean is hired, the Amazon Music Student Product Design Challenge winners are announced, and more! Link available in our bio.
Image: United Nations class visit with Prof. Kat Chiluiza, Spring 2026
Congratulations to the winning teams of the Amazon Music Product Design Student Challenge! The winers are:
- Sharron Lou, Pragya Lohia, Esha Ahluwalia - Amazon Drops
- Avani Chandorkar, Apporva Kavitkar, Tracy Khiew, Esha Navarkar - Frequency: Making Music Discovery Personal from Day One
- Shiying Chen, Anli Huang, Yuxuan Xia - Fandom Mode
Thank you to all the participants, to Amazon Music for their donation and their staff time on this challenge, the faculty judges, and Prof. Anthony Conta for organizing.
Congrats to everyone who participated in the first ever Pratt iSchool 5K! The winners are:
1st Place - Spencer Christian (MSLIS)
2nd Place - Prof. John Lauermann
3rd Place - Prof. Amy Ballmer
We hope to do it again next year!
We invite submissions for an Earth Day Poster Student Exhibition!
Earth Day (April 22) was founded in 1970 to support environmental action and civic engagement. Throughout the years, posters have been an important way to spread the word about climate change and show support for various environmental causes. We invite Earth Day poster submissions from the SI Community. Your poster should speak to a relevant environmental issue and advocate for a more sustainable planet. All submissions will be considered for the public exhibition, and everyone who submits will receive a potted plant for participating.
Posters are due April 15. Link to submission form available via our bio.
Posters should be 11x17 inches
Please submit as a hi-res (300 dpi) PDF.
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