This 1-year Specialising Master programme features 400 hours of in-class training and 80 hours of workshops with hands-on activities.
 

The programme takes place 3 days a week. 
Minimum mandatory attendance is 75%.

Courses

User Experience Psychology Principles (3 ECTS) Psychology of user experience Cognition and emotions Social and communication psychology Paradigms of human-computer interaction UX ethics

Design and UX Principles (3 ECTS) Human-centreed design Interaction design basics Service design basics From strategic design to design thinking Visual design basics and tools

User Research Tools and Methods (5,6 ECTS) Research planning and execution Qualitative research methods Cognitive modelling Task analysis PACT framework and scenario mapping

User Research Practices (2,4 ECTS) User research in practice Conducting qualitative interviews Building personas Defining customer journey maps

Creativity and Soft Skills for UX (1,6 ECTS) Soft skills for UX Team management Team creativity

UX Design Practices (8 ECTS) Concept generation User stories and user cases Information architecture Prototyping Hand-off: UX to UI to development

Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation (5,6 ECTS) Experimental design, ethics and validity Qualitative research evaluation methods and tools Quantitative research evaluation methods and tools

Design Evaluation Tools and Methods (2,4 ECTS) Usability testing and A/B tests CRO and data analysis Prototype refinement

Final Project Work (6,4 ECTS) Hands-on workshop

Internship (6 ECTS)

Final Project (16 ECTS)

 

Classroom training, seminars, project-work and internship experiences carried out with partner companies are integrated into an optimized professional path to maximize the talents, ambitions and starting skills of each participant. 

During the Master, you will also enjoy teamwork with colleagues from different backgrounds (i.e., designers and psychologists), under the rigorous supervision by leading international experts.
 

THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL LESSONS
THEMATIC SEMINARS
EXERCISES
CASES ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
LAB. ACTIVITIES
PROJECT WORKS
INTERNSHIP

At the end of the programme, you will enjoy the opportunity to put your knowledge and skills into practice, by participating in an internship.

You will have access to the Master's wide network of partner companies and will be supported by the Master's Career Management service in the research of an internship.

Our faculty counts on serveral recognized teachers and professionals, from the fields of psychology and design.

Scientific Direction

Prof. Andrea Gaggioli 
Andrea is full professor of psychology  at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.  
His research goal is to integrate neuroscience, immersive design, and art to create transformative digital experiences that improve people’s lives.  Andrea earned a M.Sc. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Bologna and a Ph.D. in Psychobiology from the University of Milan.  Over the last 20 years, Andrea has been involved in several R&D projects concerning human-computer interaction and Ux. His research has been largely funded by the European Commission. Andrea has published over 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Science and Nature, and he has been invited to give keynote addresses at national and international conferences on the topics of his research.

Prof. Venanzio Arquilla
Venanzio is Associate Professor at Politecnico  di Milano - Design School and Secretary of the Bachelor Degree on Product Design and   the Master Degree on Product Design for Innovation  at the Politecnico di Milano - Design School.
His research activities deal with design innovation tools and methodologies, service design, design policies, making and fabbing, including different lines of research on design innovation and technology transfer, with collaboration at national and international levels. Venanzio is Founder and Director of the Experience Design Academy - POLI.design and of Laboratorio Co.Meta - Design for Autism.

 

Executive Board

Prof. Andrea Gaggioli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Prof. Venanzio Arquilla, Politecnico di Milano
Prof. Carlo Galimberti, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Prof. Giuseppe Riva, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Prof. Davide Genco, Politecnico di Milano

The goal of the training is to form professionals who are able to combine high-level skills in design (research, prototyping, conceptual development  and evaluation) and the psychological ability  of understanding user’s needs and expectations. Students who complete this programme can develop their professional career in the following paths: 

• User experience designer
• UX researcher
• Interaction designer
• UX specialist
• Product designer
• Usability analyst

The Master has established partnerships with several qualified companies, which will provide you with project work and internship opportunities.

 

Main sponsor:
MIDA SB Spa

Partner companies:
Ernst & Young
Promoest
SRLabs
Studio Volpi
Narvalo
Conflux
Vodafone Design Studio

Classes begin on January 23, 2026.

The programme takes place 3 days a week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

A minimum attendance of 75% is required.

The graduation ceremony will be on April 17, 2027.

SELDA (Servizio Linguistico di Ateneo) organizes fee-paying Italian language courses. For more information contact SELDA from the dedicated iCatt function (in the homepage, box “request for information”), or send an email to selda.lingueper@unicatt.