Digital Design

• How do we design digital solutions that work well in a holistic way, balancing people’s needs, economic conditions, and technical capabilities?

• How do we approach digital solutions strategically and with a long-term perspective, taking into account society, the environment, and culture?

• How do we responsibly handle the possibilities offered by digital technologies (e.g., big data, AI, mobile internet)?

• Design Theory: Here, you’ll learn to consciously design digital solutions in terms of form, function, and quality.

• Construction Theory: Here, you’ll learn how digital solutions are created, from development processes to the finished product. You’ll also get to know AI as a partner in the construction process.

• Design Theory: Here, you’ll learn to design solutions, explore ideas, and distill concepts to their essence.

• Materials Science: Here, you’ll learn about the digital “materials” used to build solutions, such as end devices, software technologies, and, of course, artificial intelligence technologies.

You can focus your study program along three dimensions:

• Projects: Individual and team projects are part of the program from the very beginning. By choosing your own topics, you’ll build a personal portfolio that allows you to delve deeper into your interests and later use it to stand out in the job market.

• Elective-Required Courses: Through our three elective-required modules, you’ll set your own areas of focus and delve deeper into the topics that interest you most.

• Master’s Thesis: You choose between two tracks. In a project-oriented thesis, you design a concrete digital solution. In a methodology-oriented thesis, you explore the methodology of digital design itself.

Design is practical—you learn it by doing it. Design theorist Daniel Martin Feige calls it “an aesthetic form of practical engagement with the world”: By designing, you change the world—and that change has an effect on you. That’s why projects are an integral part of our master’s program.

Digital design is also needed in many practical contexts. Digital designers work, for example,

• in software development: You contribute your design expertise to build well-rounded software—from well-thought-out use cases to attractive user interfaces to data structures that people can work with effectively.

• in counseling: You apply your strategic design skills, advise companies on digital transformation, and develop viable digital business models and processes.

• in specific industries such as retail, logistics, public administration, or insurance: You’ll apply your full range of design skills and actively shape the digital transformation.

AI will play a key role in all these roles: It helps you explore ideas more quickly, design variations, build prototypes, and scrutinize decisions. With us, you’ll learn to use these new possibilities confidently and responsibly—rather than letting them lead you.

At the end of each semester, you’ll showcase what you’ve been working on: In our public semester exhibitions, you’ll present your projects to an interested audience. Here, you’ll receive genuine feedback—from people in the business world, society, and the professional world, far beyond the lecture hall.

With a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Digital Design, you’ll be in high demand across many industries. Digital design is considered one of the three key career paths for the digital transformation: www.digitalisierungsberufe.de(Opens in a new tab) 

A master's degree opens the door to a doctorate. If you're interested, you can find more details on the Graduate Center's website.