Job Description

Among other things, you stand out for having a solid understanding of current developments and trends in the fields of user experience (UX), human-computer interaction (HCI), mixed/virtual reality (MR/VR), and robotics. In addition, you have not only acquired design expertise in the areas of interaction design, information visualization, and multimodal interfaces, but are also familiar with the technical fundamentals of the necessary sensor technology, signal processing, and machine learning. In this role as a designer of human-technology systems, you oversee many areas relevant to the successful development of user-centered digital products and services. As a result, you can build and lead interdisciplinary teams.

To turn innovative ideas into successful products, many prototypes at various stages of development are typically built. Thanks to your solid technical training, you are able to carry out detailed prototyping, as you have mastered a wide range of design and implementation strategies—including hardware and software tools and programming languages—that you acquired before and during your studies. These technical skills are so important because innovations in general are occurring at ever-shorter intervals, and technical innovations in particular require you to quickly familiarize yourself with new technologies. As a result, you are also qualified to work as a user interface designer, front-end developer, or user interface specialist.

Because you are familiar with the Design Thinking methodology and have a solid understanding of human needs and capabilities based on your knowledge of the human sciences, you can quickly and efficiently design innovative products and services that offer a good user experience (UX) and usability. As a UX designer, interaction designer, or user researcher, you are not only able to design user-centered systems and implement them using software engineering techniques, but you can also professionally evaluate them according to established concepts regarding usability and user experience.

In addition to traditional IT companies, which today place a special emphasis on user experience, industrial companies in the fields of mechanical engineering, logistics, industrial production, and so on have increasingly been hiring graduates with knowledge of human-centered computing in recent years, as they seek to leverage their expertise to improve the usability, user experience, and market success of their products.

Thanks to your solid technical and methodological training in human-centered computing, you can contribute to scientific and industrial research—for example, in fields such as human-computer interaction, mixed reality, smart production/Industry 4.0, and so on—and also pursue a Ph.D.

After more than 7 years, we have a good overview of the companies where our students are pursuing their passions. Here is a small selection:

• IT companies such as Dynatrace, ecx.io / IBM iX, Runtastic, Siemens Digital Industries Software, Tractive,
• industrial companies such as BMW, B&R Industrial Automation / ABB, Engel, Fronius, Magna, Wacker Neuson
• SMEs and startups such as credi2, checklens, gateways labs, mobile solutions
• Universities, universities of applied sciences, and centers of excellence such as Aarhus University, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, imc University of Applied Sciences Krems, Johannes Kepler University (JKU), Software Competence Center Hagenberg, and Eindhoven University of Technology.