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The MDes prepares students to work in creative and technical roles designing products, services, experiences, and environments. The diversity of our student body is mirrored in the exciting and varied professional roles our graduates step into beyond the program. Alongside that tremendous richness in career trajectories, our students and graduates are all connected by a deep desire to design with humans and the planet at the center of their work, and a passion for leveraging technology to improve lives.
Our program equips students not just for the jobs of today, but also careers of the future. As the world sees rapid change enabled by emerging technologies, our graduates are expected to work in an ever-expanding set of roles at the intersection of design, technology, and social impact.
This page provides some data on MDes alumni career outcomes, a look at how our dedicated staff provide programs and services to support students and alumni at every step of their career journeys, as well as some characteristics that make our program a great place to launch, pivot, or supercharge your career.
Career Data
From designing immersive experiences at world-renowned design studios to developing digital products at some of the world’s largest enterprises, our alumni are making a global impact across industries.
Here is a selection of exciting roles MDes alumni are working in:
- Designer @ Tellart
- Immersive Experience Designer @ Rock Paper Reality
- Design Analyst @ McKinsey
- Senior Product Designer @ Netflix
- Designer @ IBM
- User Experience Interaction Designer @ Google
- Designer, Media & Accessible Design Lab @ LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Founding Engineer @ KREA
- Product Designer @ Uber
- User Experience Designer @ AKQA
- Head of Design Innovation @ Schoolab
- Interactive Art Director @ ELM Learning
- Digital Insight Product Innovator @ Nike
- Design Technologist @ Amazon
- XR Designer @ Accenture
- Co-founder, CEO @ Third Space Therapy
- Materials R&D @ Bilio
- Design Engineer @ 10xBeta
- Product Manager @ TikTok
- Founder, AR/XR Designer @ BroadAR
- Product Design Manager @ Speechlab
- Digital Sculptor @ General Motors
- Mechatronics Engineer @ Pictorus
Benchmarked against the most comprehensive national data on career outcomes for masters levels students in the US from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, our MDes graduates have higher rates of job placement 6 months after graduation and are earning more on average. Below is some summary data for our first two graduated cohorts (up to date as of October 2023).
| Career Outcomes Summary Data | |
| Accepted offer before graduation (%)* | 44% |
| Accepted offer w/in 6 mo. after graduation (%) | 88% |
| Median base salary** | $122,500 |
| Mean base salary | $114,608 |
| Leadership roles | 1 out of 4 graduates |
* Knowledge rate of roles our students are working in is 91%
**Knowledge rate of mean and median base salary for graduates is 45%
Our graduates are working at companies of all sizes, with a little over a third of all alumni at large enterprise companies, about a third at startups, and the rest at small to medium size businesses, as shown in the table below.
| Organization Size | |
| Startup | 37.0% |
| Small-sized business (0-100 employees) | 13.0% |
| Medium-sized business (101-999 employees) | 8.7% |
| Large enterprise (>1,000 employees) | 41.3% |
Alumni Testimonials
Benal Johnson | MDes Fall 2022
Designer at Tellart
“The MDes influenced my career greatly; I came in thinking I wanted to work in one specific space and then my mind was opened up to a whole other world. I wasn’t too aware of the work happening at the intersection of the tangible and the digital before I came to the MDes, but I was incredibly drawn to this space the more I was exposed to projects, writings, and readings in the program. All of this eventually led to me working in immersive media and immersive interaction design, where I get to combine storytelling, technology, speculative futures, and tangible experiences. I never would have thought I’d end up working in this area, but I’m so glad my path led me where I am now.”
Felicia Renelus | MDes Fall 2022
Innovation Designer at IBM
“Being part of the MDes program strengthened my critical thinking as a designer. Being able to apply these skills in real life settings and to be able to think about the implications of technology and how it can be used to help but also hurt people, is something I use in my day to day life as an Innovation Designer at IBM. Design strategy was a field I knew little about, but was exposed to after taking Design Frameworks as part of MDes core curriculum. Beyond my day job at IBM, I’m really passionate about exhibition curation and development, more specifically, working in science and art museums to create educational, yet speculative pieces. MDes allowed me to explore speculative design throughout all my coursework, inspiring me to continue to create thought provoking pieces that incorporate technology in my personal life. “
Akash Mahajan | MDes Spring 2022
Design Analyst at McKinsey & Company
“My experience in the MDes program at Berkeley was instrumental in preparing me for my role as a design consultant at McKinsey. The opportunity to interact and have 1:1 relationships with professors, guest lecturers, visiting industry professionals and career coaches helped me build a strong network of mentors who provided insights and regular guidance on how to prepare and navigate my career choices. In addition, the diverse cohort and the program’s interdisciplinary approach played a big part in developing a holistic perspective on how design interacts with various fields like tech and business.”
Eleanor Mayes | MDes Spring 2022
Designer, Media & Accessible Design Lab at LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
“I came to MDes with an engineering background, an appreciation for design, and a desire to use my knowledge, effort, and time to advance social good. The emphasis on interdisciplinary learning in MDes illustrated to me that charting a career trajectory aimed at social impact was feasible while still undertaking more traditional engineering activities. Through MDes, I realized that STEAM holds immense value beyond that of STEM alone. I came to understand that I could have a career that involved design and engineering instead of picking just one, especially by pulling from relevant parts of both fields. The course that typified this most for me while in MDes was Designing Emerging Technologies. I gained so much inspiration from the interactive examples we learned about in class; they pushed my imagination further than when I was learning just engineering essentials. Now, I work with clients from various industries and sectors. I love specializing in accessibility because while the format stays the same, the content differs considerably between clients. I design within the constraints of my medium while ensuring that the designs are accessible to blind and visually impaired individuals.”
Grace Thompson | MDes 2023
Human Factors Engineer, Audio @Apple
“Coming into the MDes, I knew I wanted to be a designer but wasn’t sure which area of design to pursue for my career. Through collaborating with my cohortmates on diverse class projects, exploring leveraging AI in the audio space for my thesis project, and doing an internship at Apple, I discovered I could combine my skills in user research with my passion for audio innovation as a Human Factors Engineer. The MDes helped me connect those dots and launch into a career I’m really excited about.”