Ethics and criticality, design theory, UX practice, design pedagogy, learning experience (LX) design.
Human-computer interaction (HCI) has traditionally been the domain of engineering and psychology. In this track, we approach HCI from the perspective of design. That is, we focus on the ways that design and research cooperate to create openings and insights into emerging design domains; how research contributes to design processes and methods; and how design practices can themselves be a form of research.
In this track, you’ll seek to understand the opportunities and challenges of interactive systems in a way that equally addresses technological possibilities, human needs, and social and cultural contexts and trends. You’ll contribute to the development of design theory, methods, and practice as you conduct research in areas such as:
- Design and theory
- Computer-supported cooperative work
- Social computing
- Ethics, values, and critical computing
- Social impacts of AI/ML
- Usability and evaluation methods
- Augmented, virtual, and mixed reality
- Design pedagogy and learning systems
- Social and organizational views of technology use
- Health and wellness technologies
- Critical and sustainable computing
- Creativity and cognition
This track is designed to change the way you think. You’ll go beyond using technology to solve a problem, to creating and researching technology experiences that will be functional, intuitive, and even delightful for users. With this track, you’ll learn to think like a design researcher. You’ll refine your personal design philosophy and research skills through coursework that:
- Teaches you the key history, literature, and research approaches of HCI/d
- Introduces you to multiple disciplinary perspectives, research techniques, and design theory concepts
- Enables you to explore the socio-technical complexity of implementing technologies in different cultures and context.
