Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design Program (G301)

Program Description

Program Overview

This program is eligible for an entrance scholarship.

The Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design is a four-year degree that produces designers who can solve problems using human-centred, socially conscious and economically viable digital solutions.

Full Description

The Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design Degree is a four-year program that produces designers who can solve problems using human-centred, socially conscious and economically viable digital solutions.

Digital experience design includes related fields such as service design, user experience design and interaction design. It involves understanding human behaviour and human computer interaction, conducting research and usability studies, managing projects and working in teams, applying business skills, working with existing and emerging digital technologies, prototyping new ideas and anticipating future trends.

In this program, you will develop the ability to critically analyze and adapt to ever-changing conditions of technology and culture. Foundational courses build your analytical, technical and business skills. In upper-year courses and capstone projects, you will collaborate on digital interfaces and applications, as well as interactive environments and objects.

This design degree curriculum focuses on three areas of learning based on the digital experience design process:

  • Think: design thinking, theory, culture and research
  • Make: designing, building and testing digital experiences
  • Ship: entrepreneurship and the commercialization of digital products

Interactive Digital Media is a growing industry that is quickly changing, driven by shifts in consumer behaviour and technology. Graduates of this program will be able to contribute to and eventually lead interdisciplinary teams to solve problems across a variety of fields such as security, transportation, education and manufacturing. The degree also prepares students to pursue graduate studies in a wide range of academic disciplines.

Why study Digital Experience Design at George Brown College?

The School of Design at George Brown has an established reputation for design education that focuses imagination, hones critical thinking skills and engages with the latest technologies. Our faculty bring a combination of professional experience and advanced education to offer course content that is always evolving and reflective of trends in industry and academia.

The School of Design resides in a new 103,000-square-foot facility in the Daniels Waterfront – City of the Arts development. This state-of-the-art building supports academic programs and industry projects with features such as:

  • virtual and augmented reality lab
  • usability and testing lab
  • Future Ways of Living lab
  • peer tutor lab
  • digital sandbox
  • incubators
  • prototyping and workshop spaces
  • design and innovation showcase spaces

Our facilities and computer labs include the latest hardware and software and are complemented by the Digital Media and Gaming Incubator and Digifest, an annual festival that brings together industry, academics and the public to think about how digital tools and technology will shape our lives and our future.

A curriculum that reflects changing industry demands

The Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design was created in consultation with industry, faculty, alumni and students. It provides specialized skills training, knowledge and hands-on experience to prepare students for current and future job market demands, as well as for graduate studies. Learn more about what industry is looking for in graduates in this field and how the curriculum builds those skills.

Applied research: The Innovation Exchange and the Design Centre for the Smart Economy

The future School of Design building will include the Innovation Exchange and Design Centre for the Smart Economy, a research hub where students and businesses will team up and bring new ideas to market. Find out more about research and innovation at the School of Design and how it benefits our students.

Apply to the Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design bridging program

Students currently in year two or three of George Brown’s existing three-year Interaction Design advanced diploma program may be eligible for advanced entry into the Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design program.

Following the Winter Semester (January–April), students who have successfully completed the second year of Interaction Design and Development (G113) with a GPA of 3.2 (75 per cent) or higher will be eligible to complete a fall bridge program. Upon successful completion of the bridge, students will enter into semester 5 of the degree program.

Your Field Education Options

Students must complete a 420-hour paid co-op work term in the spring/summer period between the third and fourth year.

Students have the opportunity to complete this co-op domestically and/or internationally, as opportunities arise. The majority of co-op work terms are completed in the Greater Toronto Area, where the design sector is robust and the majority of interaction jobs are located.

The School of Design Field Placement team works with many notable training partners, including agencies such as Publicis, K9 Strategy + Design, Trevor/Peter and Relish Interactive; larger, well-known brands such as Nelvana (Corus Entertainment), Rogers Media, Mozilla, Crayola and PUR Gum; and a variety of industry-relevant arts and design institutions, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) and Applied Arts.

The work term allows students to apply the skills, abilities and knowledge they've acquired in the program in a workplace environment or through an appropriate interaction design research project or initiative. Students gain valuable experience and the opportunity to reflect on the application of previous learning. A faculty member evaluates the student based on feedback provided by the employer.

Students will develop a digital portfolio demonstrating artifacts completed during the co-op work term.

Learn more about Experiential Learning at the School of Design including how to apply, important dates, workflow, and PLAR eligibility.

Career & Postgraduate Study Opportunities

Career Options

Graduates of this program will have acquired the skills necessary to be employed in design and digital media studios, creative labs, in-house design and digital departments within larger corporations across sectors, or to work independently or in a start-up.

This program prepares graduates for positions such as:

  • digital experience designer
  • user experience designer
  • user interface designer
  • human interface designer
  • interaction designer
  • information architect
  • digital designer
  • digital product designer
  • visual designer
  • mobile designer
  • web designer
  • user experience researcher
  • usability tester
  • entrepreneur

Industry

Digital Experience Design

Digital Experience Design embeds and influences human experience through novel and interactive forms of digital technology, combining hardware, software and design. The term “experience” refers to the multifaceted interaction between humans and technology that respects the contextual and situational features of each. The future of digital design lies in understanding this interaction.

Digital Experience Design is gaining currency in the field of research and practice. IDEO, a prominent global design consultancy, lists “Digital Experiences” as one of their core areas of expertise. IDEO sees “Digital Experiences” as those in which there are no boundaries among platforms. They use hardware, software, web and mobile elements, and interactive media to develop effective means for people to share, create and communicate. Thus, Digital Experience Design is a dynamic field, continually adapting to new technologies and interfaces, such as smart devices, sensors, adaptive architectures, mixed realities (AR/VR), immersive environments, multiscreen and multisensorial displays. Digital experience design is revolutionizing how organizations serve customers and how we interact with each other and the world around us.

Interactive Digital Media (IDM)

The Canadian Interactive Alliance defines interactive digital media companies as creators of “digital content and environments that provide users with a rich interactive experience – either with content itself or with other users – for the purposes of entertainment, information, or education, or that provides services that directly enable these products/services” (2012 Canadian Interactive Industry Profile). IDM in Canada is a growing industry that is quickly changing, driven by shifts in consumer behaviour and technology. The comprehensive IDM sector includes companies that produce interactive content as well as firms that provide various types of products or services to enable the production of interactive content. These are sometimes called “core” and “peripheral” IDM. Core IDM content includes but is not limited to video and mobile games, cross-platform entertainment, web series, e-learning and training products (Interactive Digital Media, OMDC).

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) leads North America in offering a diverse, talented pool of interactive digital media workers. The GTA has 15,000 technology companies employing more than 168,000 people, making Toronto Canada’s largest technology hub and the third-largest North American centre for technology firms, in addition to being the third-largest centre for design on the continent.

Educational Pathways

Graduates of the Honours Bachelor of Digital Experience Design program may qualify to pursue further graduate studies in relevant program areas. Students should contact universities directly to explore graduate school opportunities.

Examples of potential graduate study and research areas include: design, interaction design, digital/interactive media, digital experience, human computer interaction, systems design, e-health, e-learning, game design, interactive arts and critical practice.

Students can enter the Bachelor of Digital Experience Design Degree via our Art and Design Foundation or our Interaction Design and Development programs or after working or completing other College or University programs (or portions of them). After completing the program, successful students can go onto Career in Digital Media / Experience Design or onto further education in Masters level programs at graduate School, or obtain graduate certificates in Interactive Media Management, Design Management, Game D

If you are a George Brown College student who has completed the second or third year of the Interaction Design and Development Advanced Diploma (G103) with a grade point average of 3.2 (75 per cent) or higher, you may be eligible to enter a degree completion pathway to this program.

For more information, contact digitalexperience@georgebrown.ca, or call 416-415-5000, ext. 3129

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