Web Design

Web Design

Did you know that 93% of first impressions come from web design? 75% of a website's credibility comes from the design, too. Web designers power the most important asset of nearly every business.

This program teaches a broad range of essential skills that you'll actually use on the job and enables students to specialize and dive into the areas of greatest interest. 

Faculty Contributors

Dr. Charles Severance, University of Michigan - Dr. Charles Severance holds a PhD in Computer Science from Michigan State University. He is the former Executive Director of the Sakai Foundation, and one of the world’s leading online CS educators. His contributions and curriculum form the basis of our programming curriculum.

Dr. Colleen Van Lent, University of Michigan - Dr. Colleen Van Lent holds a PhD in Computer Science from Pitt. Her work focuses heavily on web design and development, especially in the field of accessibility. The Web Development course series is based on her Web Development for Everybody curriculum.

Curriculum Highlights

In addition to the major requirements, the core web design courses include:

• User Experience I: Understanding User Experience
• User Experience II - Building Compelling User Experiences
• Goal-Oriented Web Design

How does this degree align with the real world?

We conducted interviews with over 20 Fortune 500 employers and distilled the problems in education today. Traditional Web Design majors often overlook the fact that this is a synthetic discipline, combining elements of programming, graphic design, and marketing. These programs often produce graduates with skills that are either half-baked, or overly narrow. Our Web Design major was built to produce graduates who have all of the skills necessary to be effective Web Designers.

• An understanding of key marketing concepts, and the importance of intent in web design
• Programming skills necessary to build polished, database-backed websites
• Robust skills in visual design and aesthetics
• A comprehensive background in User Experience design, and a working understanding of how the best websites drive visitors to take desired actions
• An understanding of the product development cycle

Career Outlook

There are over 700,000 jobs available in tech today, most of which require some technical experience. 

The most common jobs for web design majors are: 

• UX Designer (Med. salary $90,400)
• Web Designer (med. salary $77,200)
• Front-End Designer (med. salary $90,800)
• Interactive Designer (med. salary $99,000)
• Senior UX Designer (med. salary $134,255)