IMD Prerequisites
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Admissions to the Interactive Media Design program will be paused for two years (2023-2024 and 2024-2025). Currently-enrolled students are not affected. We are reevaluating a program delivery model that will best serve our students and community. Please check back for further updates as they become available.
Interactive Media Design (IMD) Prerequisites (20 credits)
This page describes the purpose of each pre-requisite requirement and offers example courses that fulfill them.
Due to the variation in courses across different campuses, students may need to combine multiple courses to meet a prerequisite requirement. Students can work with an advisor to ensure they have met the prerequisites.
English Composition (5 credits)
The purpose of this requirement is to develop and practice the skills and habits that are foundational to academic writing and communication, and to recognize how to adapt these skills for the varied demands of design.
Introductory Course in Interactive Media/Design Thinking/Visual Arts (5 credits)
The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that:
- Students are familiar with how to think and work through an interactive, adaptive process using feedback and critique to create and evolve art / media / design concepts / products / etc. This could be fulfilled via a variety of paths, such as:
- Students introduced to 2D / 3D / time-based art and design principles and studio practice
- Students are familiar with the mindsets, principles, processes, and practices of design thinking / human-centered design / user centered design
- Students can use societal / cultural lenses, such as differences in power dynamics and equity, to make work that critically explores relations between design, media, and art and the contexts in which they are realized.
Example courses that fulfill this prerequisite include, but are not limited to:
- INFO 200 Intell Foundations (UW Seattle)
- BIS 233 Participatory Media Culture
- BIS 236 Introduction to Interactive Media
- B IMD 250 Introduction to Interaction Design
- DESIGN 166 Design Foundations (UW Seattle)
- HCDE 210 Explorations in Human Centered Design (UW Seattle)
Introductory Course in Web Development and Programming (5 credits)
The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that:
- Students can program to the level expected after a Programming CS 1 course.
- Students can use HTML, CSS, and scripting language (e.g., JavaScript) to create interactive websites.
Example courses that fulfill this prerequisite include, but are not limited to:
- B IMD 233 Fundamentals of Web Media Technology
- CSE 154 Web Programming (UW Seattle)
- INFO 340 Client-Side Development (UW Seattle)
Statistics/Quantitative Methods/Data Visualization (5 credits)
The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that:
- Students can use basic statistics and data visualizations to reason about quantitative data and how well that data supports a hypothesis.
Example courses that fulfill this prerequisite include, but are not limited to:
- BIS 232 Intro to Data Visualization
- BIS 315 Understanding Statistics
- B BUS 215 Intro to Business Statistics
- B MATH215/B HS 215 Statistics for Health Studies
- STMATH 341 Intro to Statistical Inference
- STAT 220 or 221 Basic Statistics (UW Seattle)
- QMETH 201 Introduction to Statistical Methods (UW Seattle)
- STAT 311 Elements of Statistical Methods (UW Seattle)
*A minimum grade of 2.0 is required for each prerequisite.
Need Assistance?
First Year or Pre-Major Students
If you are a current UW Bothell pre-major student, please contact a Pre-Major Advisor.
Transfer Students
If you are a transfer student (this includes students studying at UW-Seattle, community colleges, and universities), please contact the Admissions Office.
Current IMD Students
Sara McDermott, IMD Academic Advisor