Courses

All students complete a total of 5.0 credits, with 2.5 credits devoted to a thesis and 2.5 credits to the coursework:

Mandatory courses for all HCI students:

HCIN 5100/ PSYC 5105 (0.5 credit): Fundamentals of HCI design and evaluation

A survey of strategies and practices in HCI design and evaluation. Students will learn to perform studies in user interface analysis and design, to read the research literature critically, distill important points from readings, summarize, and write papers as well as design user interfaces and present their written and oral work.

HCIN 5200 (0.5 credit): Software and User Interface Development

Design and development of user interfaces for software systems based on principles for supporting user interaction, with emphasis on frameworks, tools, and processes for user interface development.

HCIN 5300 (0.5 credit): Emerging Interaction Techniques

Advanced interaction styles and their associated technologies. Topics may include handheld and gestural interactions, ubiquitous computing, deformable user interfaces, physiological computing, and tangible user interfaces.

Research skills courses: One (0.5 credit) course is mandatory and chosen on the advice of the thesis supervisor.

HCIN 5400/CGSC 5101: Experimental Methods and Statistics (0.5 credit)

An introduction to the design of experiments and the statistics needed to interpret data in cognitive science

HCIN 5404/IDES 5102: Design Research Methods (0.5 credit)

Critical analysis of research methods in design and disciplines contributing to design including anthropology, psychology, sociology, and business. Application areas include advanced materials and manufacturing processes, advanced visualization, product interaction design, extreme environments, sustainable design, design and culture, design management, and human-oriented design.

HCIN 5407/ITEC 5209: Empirical Research Methods in HCI (0.5 credit)

Advanced quantitative methods and conducting controlled user studies, statistically analyzing and reporting results in a research paper. Topics include history of empirical HCI, experiment design, hypothesis testing, interaction models, and scientific writing. Students complete a term-long research project.

Elective (0.5 credit):

This is a list of courses that past HCI students have taken as electives or that have been suggested by HCI faculty.

Any graduate course is possible but should be chosen in consultation with the thesis supervisor. Depending on the course and unit, registration may also require the permission of the instructor.

Cognitive Science