ASk HN: Best schools for Human-Computer Interaction degrees? | Hacker News Reader

ASk HN: Best schools for Human-Computer Interaction degrees?

8 pointscme8 comments

I have no technical background, but I do have a design background as an Industrial Designer. I have a start up of my own that I work on during nights and weekends, but I've been considering going back to school.

I'm very interested with Human-Computer Interaction and was wondering what some of the best programs were out there? Also are technical skills required to enter these programs?

Thanks!

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I looked into this a while back, and here's what I still remember. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

* CMU has a good range of research, along with good aid.

* MIT (CSAIL or Media Lab) is good for novel interfaces.

* University of Washington also has a fairly well known program.

Those 3 are the top programs, from what I remember. Here's a list of the rest of the schools that have something relevant: Georgia Tech (UbiComp), University of Michigan (school of information), UCI (UbiComp at school of information), Univeristy of Toronto (graphics and HCI), Stanfard (HCI and tangible computing), Northwestern (InfoLab), Iowa State University, University of Waterloo, and Texas A&M.

This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it's a good starting point for you. It also depends on what areas of HCI you're interested in. Hope this helps!

MIT is undergoing a dramatic change in their AI philosophy. They are dissatisfied with the state of AI today and the slow (near-zero) progress on fundamental problems of AI over the last 3 decades. They are about at the point of throwing everything out and starting over. So right now, CMU might be better if you want to see the state of the art in HCI, whereas MIT might be better if you want to get in on the ground floor of a potential revolution in HCI.

From what I've heard from some people working in industry, a lot of human factors (the superset of HCI) jobs, like to see graduate level degrees. It's largely an artifact of most HF programs actually just being a specialization tacked onto something else (like systems engineering). I can't actually vouch for how accurate this information is though. (Currently at UofWaterloo System Design Eng, may be on track for a HF specialization...).

Though if you want to learn stuff for yourself, then it's a whole different ballgame (and don't get suckered into the programs which offer it as a specialization. just wasting time then).

Not all of them may be good, but here is a comprehensive list: http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/degrees.asp.

I was considering either Iowa State or Carnegie Mellon. CM is supposed to be really good but is also pretty expensive.

You might also want to look at The Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Be self taught, or study psychology.

any recommendations on the best way to become self taught? (books, tutorials, ect?)

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Human-Computer-Interaction-...

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