Master Thesis at the Chair of Integrated Product Design
Become a Master
30 ECTS | Master Thesis
The Chair of Integrated Product Design offer a diverse range of Master thesis topics at the intersection of creativity, generative AI, and technology-driven research methods, vailable from the Summer Semester 2025 onwards. Below, you will find a current list of available topics. For more details, check out the PDFs available for download. New thesis topics will be added regularly, so check back often for updates.
Who can do a Master Thesis with us?
We’re open to students from all kinds of study programs – including (but not limited to): Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, Human Factors Engineering (HFE), Management & Innovation, Information Systems, and Science & Technology Studies (STS). Your field not listed? No problem – feel free to reach out anyway if you’re interested!
Interested?
If you are interested in one of our Master thesis topics, just send us an email to thesis.ipd(at)ed.tum.de with the subject line of your requested thesis topic. In your email, please include: your preferred starting date, a brief motivation for your interest in the topic, your resume and selected portfolio samples.
Important note
If you take on a thesis with us, it's mandatory to attend our seminar “Methodical Development of Research Questions” – it's where we help you shape and sharpen your master thesis topic.
Thesis Topics
| A Room for Flow | For this Master thesis, you will engage with scientific literature about deep work (Newport, 2016), flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), and neuroaesthetics (Skov & Nadal, 2024). Based on the insights and your developed hypotheses, you will design and build an interior space that facilitates deep focus work – either as a 3D digital model, or as an analog scale model. Subsequently, you will select one particular element from your design, build it in real-size, and test and evaluate its effectiveness through qualitative and quantitative measures in our lab. Possible tools for this evaluation study are physiology and EEG measurement tools, questionnaires, and performance tasks analyses. As a result, you will develop not only a deep understanding of spatial design patterns that promote focused work, but also design an aesthetically striking interior space and a real-size, testable design intervention. If the outcome of your thesis allows, we will jointly publish the results in an academic design journal or conference proceedings. | more details (.pdf) |
| An Awe-inspiring, Sublime Workspace | For this Master thesis, you will first conduct field research in the form of a “walking tour” through pre-selected examples of sacred architecture in the Munich neighborhood. After exploring the city on your own and identifying appropriate spaces that provide a sublime and awe-inspiring atmosphere (e.g., churches, museums, libraries), you will create a tour for a group of approximately 10 participants, to experience these places under your guidance. You will measure participants’ emotional responses to these spaces through questionnaires and physiologymeasurement tools (specifically EDA). Based on the results, you will then develop hypotheses for awe-inspiring spatial characteristics and underpin them with scientific studies (Negami & Ellard, 2024) and philosophical literature (Botton, 2007, 2013; Burke, 2014). Finally, you will transfer the insights into actionable design patterns to be applied in office spaces. One particular (feasible) pattern shall be implemented in real-scale and tested in a real office environment. As a result, you will develop not only an evidence-based understanding of spatial design patterns that instigate awe but also design a real-sized, testable workspace intervention to test your hypothesis. If the outcome of your thesis allows, we will jointly publish the results in an academic design journal or conference proceedings. | more details (.pdf) |
| Reimagining Workspaces for VR/AR | How can we design physical workspaces that support the needs of Virtual and Augmented Reality professionals? Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are revolutionizing how we interact with workspaces, breaking the limitations of traditional office setups. Immersive work involves movement, interaction, and extended periods of wearing headsets - factors that demand a new approach to workspace design. This thesis explores how physical workspace design can evolve to better support professionals who work in immersive settings. The goal is to create a real-world (1:1) workspace prototype and initial design principles that respond to the unique spatial, ergonomic, and technological needs of VR/AR workflows. You will begin with a short literature review on using immersive technologies in professional contexts, physical workspace design, and ergonomics. Then, through interviews with experienced VR/AR users (e.g., designers, developers, researchers), you will identify practical challenges and needs related to immersive work. Based on these insights, you will design and build a full-scale prototype of a workspace optimized for VR/AR use. To complete your study, a small group of pilot users will test the space, offering usability, comfort, and effectiveness feedback. This feedback will help validate your concept and contribute to design recommendations for future immersive work environments. | more details (.pdf) |
| Tangible AI | For this master’s thesis, you will design how people can use Generative AI (GenAI) more seamlessly in their everyday work tasks. Rooted in a human-centered AI approach (Shneiderman, 2020), you will explore a range of GenAI tools and delve into human-AI interaction and AI agent research. Based on that, you will develop concepts and prototypes showcasing novel human-GenAI interaction methods. Existing examples that can serve as a reference are physical interfaces for using GenAI (MIT Design Intelligence Lab, 2023), personal AI assistants like Rabbit r1 (Rabbit Inc., 2025), and embodiments of GenAI (LOOI Robot, 2025). You will design and build the medium – a GenAI-embodied product. Optionally, you can evaluate the effectiveness and user experience of the developed design to ensure they address the user's needs. Along the way, you will gain in-depth insights into how GenAI is reshaping our workflows while also creating more seamless and intuitive human-AI interaction for the future. In doing so, this thesis will extend GenAI theory and practice. If the outcome of your thesis allows, we will jointly publish the results in an academic design journal or conference proceedings. | more details (.pdf) |