Information Services Design

Information Services Design at KISK is a distance undergraduate career-oriented program. During your studies, you will learn to design information services with today's global societal and environmental challenges in mind. You will meet current and future leaders in the field of information services and you will be able to immediately apply your learning experiences in practice in commercial, non-profit and public services.

“Research and design information services with impact in mind”

In each semester, we explore the areas of design thinking, user research, information services design, management and services, and strategic design. We emphasize the integration of information service design and technology with insights from psychology, sociology, and other social science fields. We emphasize a critical approach, ethics, and accountability - leveraging our knowledge of interaction design, inclusive design, and transition design.

The study program is based on the principles of self-directed learning. Lectures, videos and study materials are available to you at all times. You won't be alone to go through the semesters: we will support you to collaborate with your colleagues, tutors will guide you through each course, and online tutoring and mentoring is a matter of course. We'll see you once every 14 days on Fridays via the Teams platform. We are the first Czech program to fully integrate immersive virtual reality into our teaching.

Practical training

Internships are an integral part of the study and will be at least 2 weeks each semester, over 12 weeks in total. They are mainly carried out through the courses Information Services Design - Project I-IV and in the form of an undergraduate project. During the course of their studies, learners will have the opportunity to undertake internships in the form of work on an assigned project as well as in the form of an innovative project in their own organization.

Graduates of the study programme can easily find employment in a wide range of positions in the field and research and development services:

• Information services design specialist (service designer). The job of a service designer is to design services and their individual elements (interfaces) to be accessible, usable and useful for users.
• User research specialist (UX researcher). The role of the user researcher is to investigate user needs using applied qualitative and quantitative research methods, to involve users in the design of the information product using participatory research methods, and to test the usability, accessibility and usefulness of services.
• The interaction designer designs interfaces and individual service elements to make it as easy as possible for the user to interact with the service or product.
• The product owner/service owner is a member of the team that develops the service and is tasked with prioritising and managing the agile development process of the information service based on the needs of the user.

Examples of specific positions currently held by graduates of the current Information Services Design degree:

• Information Services Designer
• design thinking specialist
• user research specialist
• interaction designer
• product owner
• project manager
• community manager
• CX specialist
• service manager
• information services manager
• Social innovation specialist.

Graduates can hold these positions in public institutions, commercial companies including international corporations and non-profit organizations. Likewise, the program will also prepare them for a career as an independent professionals (self-employed, so-called freelance). Given this diversity, professionals from all these fields are represented among the trainers and mentors.

This programme is taught in Czech.

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the Field of Study Examination. The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations.

You can file your e-applications for studies from 1 November to 28 February.
Field of Study Examinations will be held from 21 April to 24 April.
The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this degree programme, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination

This examination is only in Czech. It is intended to check the applicants’ knowledge of the given field of study. It is done in the form of a written paper and oral interview.

Basic description of the Field of Study Examination:
Written part: please upload a motivation letter and a CV or portfolio presenting your previous experience in the e-application. Each document should be between 1 and 2 standard pages (1 standard page = 1800 characters including spaces). You may include a link to a publicly accessible website. Please upload the documents in PDF format directly into your e-application in the Příloha 2 section. In the section, select the correct type of file to be collected, i.e. 'Design informačních služeb: Motivační dopis' and 'Design informačních služeb: Životopis nebo portfolio', and remember to click 'Save' at the bottom of the page. Please upload your documents no later than 1 March.
Oral interview will take place online. At the interview you will meet the teachers and you will also have the opportunity to decide whether the study is suitable for you. Candidates who pass the written part of the entrance exam, i.e. score 50 points or more out of a maximum of 100 points for the written part, will be invited to the oral interview.

Admission without the entrance examination

You may not be exempt from the entrance examination for this programme.

Criteria for evaluation

• Total number of points for the motivation letter: 50
• Total number of points for the CV or portfolio: 50
• Total number of points for the written part of the Field of Study Examination: 100
• Limit for successfully passing the written part of the Field of Study Examination: 50 points

The oral interview: only candidates who pass the written part of the entrance exam, i.e. score 50 points or more out of a maximum of 100 points for the written part, will be invited to the oral interview.

• Total number of points for the oral interview: 100
• Limit for successfully passing the oral interview: 50 points

Applicants will be sorted into the final admission order based on the results of the oral interview.

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Minimum score and numbers of accepted applicants in past years

Graduates of the Information Services Design programme can continue in any further studies. Direct continuity is provided mainly by the Information Studies and Librarianship (mainly with the Information Services Design profile) at the KISK Faculty of Arts at MUNI.