IIT Bombay ePGD Interaction Design: Skills You Will Learn

Before we get into the skills, here’s the basic picture.

The programme was launched by IIT Bombay’s IDC School of Design for working professionals. It’s designed for interaction designers, UI/UX professionals, software developers, IT quality professionals, product managers, and faculty members who want to teach interaction design and related subjects.   

This course is offered in both online and in-person formats, and the programme also includes seven additional courses covering research, human factors, emerging technology, and design theory.  

The application fee for the programme is ₹2,500 + GST, while the total programme fee is ₹3,00,000 + GST.  

The diploma is a 36-credit programme. You choose 5 or 6 courses from a pool of 8, each worth 6 or 12 credits, and you have up to 3 years to finish. Courses run either online through live weekend sessions or in person at IIT Bombay. Even online courses end with an in-person presentation or exam on campus, and attendance is mandatory. To pass a course, you need at least 50% overall and 40% in the final assessment.  

On eligibility, you can apply with a degree in design, engineering, architecture, fine arts, applied arts or a related field. Candidates with any other degree can apply with 3 or more years of experience in roles such as UX designer, web developer, product manager, or copywriter, or with a qualifying CEED score.  

Overall, the IIT Bombay ePGD Interaction Design skills fall into five broad groups:

1. Designing interactive products from scratch
2. Understanding users through research
3. Understanding human behaviour and limitations
4. Working with emerging technologies and play
5. Thinking critically about design

The nice part is that the programme doesn’t treat design as only “making screens look good”. It treats it as a mix of research, psychology, technology, and thinking, which is how real products actually get built. Let’s go through each one. 

Skill 1: Designing Interactive Products (Design of Interactive Products) 

This is the heart of the IIT Bombay interaction design course skills. The “Design of Interactive Products” course takes you through how interactive products are conceived, designed, and evaluated, with a hands-on course project covering user studies, interaction design and evaluation, drawing from IIT Bombay’s long-running HCI course.         

In practical terms, this is where you build skills like: 

• Understanding how people interact with apps, websites, and digital tools
• Turning a vague problem into a clear design brief  
• Sketching and prototyping ideas before investing in development
• Testing your designs with real users, aligning them with business goals, and building a portfolio of hands-on projects 

For a UI/UX designer, this sharpens the “why” behind your design decisions. For a developer or product manager, it gives you a structured way to think about users instead of relying on gut feeling.    

Skill 2: Qualitative Research Methods in Design

Good design starts with listening. The qualitative research methods course focuses on understanding people through observation, interviews, and conversations rather than numbers. It’s an advanced course meant to take your qualitative research skills to the next level.

This is one of the most valuable IIT Bombay ePGD skills for anyone working in product teams. It helps you:    

• Plan and run user interviews that actually reveal insights
• Observe how people use products in real situations
• Spot patterns in what users say and do
• Turn messy notes into clear findings the team can act on

If you’ve ever sat in a meeting where everyone argued over opinions, you’ll appreciate how powerful solid research can be. 

Skill 3: Quantitative Research Methods in Design

Qualitative research tells you the “why”. Quantitative research tells you the “how many” and “how much”. The quantitative research methods course adds the numbers side to your toolkit.

With this skill, you can:

• Form a research hypothesis, identify variables, and design experiments that give reliable results
• Collect and analyze data, applying statistical methods and avoiding common mistakes in research design
• Back up your design choices with evidence stakeholders trust

Combined with the qualitative course, you get a balanced research mindset. That mix is rare and really useful, especially if you want to move into senior design or research roles.  

Skill 4: Human Factors in Interaction Design

This course looks at the human side of the equation: how people see, think, remember, make mistakes, and get tired. It’s the kind of knowledge that quietly separates a usable product from a frustrating one.

Among the IIT Bombay ePGD Interaction Design skills, this one helps you:

• Design interfaces that fit how people naturally perceive and process information
• Focus on usability, safety, and user satisfaction by reducing errors and confusion
• Think about accessibility and diverse users from the start

It’s especially handy if you work on products for large or varied audiences, which is pretty much every product in India today. 

Skill 5: Virtual and Augmented Reality Basics

The introduction to virtual and augmented reality course opens the door to immersive experiences. You won’t become a VR engineer overnight, but you’ll understand how interaction works when screens are replaced by spaces.  

You can expect to build skills like:

• Understanding Extended Reality (XR) domains and VR technology
• Following a design process made for immersive, interactive experiences
• Spotting where immersive tech actually adds value (and where it’s just a gimmick)

For designers who want to stay ahead of the curve, this is an exciting addition to the IIT Bombay interaction design course skills list. 

Skill 6: Game Design Principles and Practice

Games are some of the most carefully designed interactive systems around. The game design course teaches you what keeps people motivated, curious, and coming back. It’s an intensive, in-person course in which you design real, innovative games. 

The lessons travel well beyond gaming. You can use them to:

• Build engaging learning apps, fitness tools, and rewards systems
• Understand feedback loops, challenge, and motivation
• Design experiences that feel playful without being childish

If you work in edtech, fintech, or any product where user engagement matters, this is a surprisingly practical skill.   

Skill 7: Data Visualization

Data is everywhere, but data that people can’t read is useless. The data visualization course teaches you how to turn complex information into clear, meaningful visuals, with practical experience in building and evaluating them.

This is one of the more job-ready IIT Bombay ePGD skills, because it helps you:

• Choose the right chart or visual for the story you want to tell
• Design dashboards that people actually understand
• Present insights in a way that helps decision-makers act quickly

Product managers, analysts, and designers all benefit from this one.

Skill 8: Theoretical Perspectives in Design

This course might sound heavy, but it’s where you build long-term thinking. Theory gives you language and frameworks to explain your work, question assumptions, and make smarter design choices. The course also offers critical perspectives on technology and design, including how ideologies shape technology and society. 

The skills you build here include: 

• Critically examining why designs work or fail
• Communicating your design reasoning clearly and confidently
• Connecting practice with research, which is especially useful if you’re interested in teaching or academic work

This is also why the programme suits faculty members who want to teach interaction design with a stronger foundation.   

Beyond the course topics, learning alongside professionals from different backgrounds quietly builds some bonus skills:

• Collaboration: working with people from design, engineering, and product perspectives
• Communication: explaining design decisions to non-designers
• Self-discipline: because self-paced learning needs a routine
• Critical thinking: questioning “how we’ve always done it”

These rarely show up in a syllabus, but employers notice them. 

The programme can be a great fit if you are:

• A UI/UX designer who wants a deeper, research-backed foundation
• A software professional with UI experience but no formal design training
• A product manager who wants to make better product decisions
• A design professional from another field who wants to move into interaction design
• A faculty member who wants to teach interaction design with confidence

If you’re unsure whether you qualify, review the eligibility criteria above and confirm them with IIT Bombay before applying.  

Explore IIT Bombay’s ePGD in Interaction Design and get personalised guidance to understand the programme and how it aligns with your career goals.

• Apply learning at work. Test what you learn on your real projects, since that makes the concepts stick.
• Build a portfolio as you go. Document your process, not just the final screens.
• Pick courses that match your goals. You choose 5 or 6 of the 8 courses and pay per course, so plan your path thoughtfully.
• Stay consistent. Even a few focused hours a week add up quickly. 

The IIT Bombay ePGD Interaction Design skills go well beyond learning a few tools. You get a well-rounded foundation: designing interactive products, researching users, understanding human behaviour, exploring emerging tech, and thinking critically about design. And because it’s built for working professionals, you can learn while you keep earning and keep growing in your current role. 

If you’re serious about moving ahead in UX, product, or design-led roles, this programme is worth a close look. Before applying, check the latest course schedule, eligibility, and fees on the official IDC School of Design website, as details can change.