Overview

Uxer experience design (new course under development) introduces students to the many ways technologies make users feel (e.g., fun, playful, fulfilling, intimate) and what specific tech design choices can create these effects. Open to everyone, it is suited for any student who wants to design interactive applications for themselves or people like them. Students who want to become professional tech product designers can also benefit from the course’s deep dive into the cognitive science and psychology of user experience (UX).

Prerequisite: None. No programming experience required, but the course project involves prompt engineering and vibe coding.

Human-Computer Interaction Design (INFO3450/5355) is designed for students who want to become professional tech product designers. The course centers on empathy: how to understand users who are very different from you and to create technologies that are usable, useful, and valuable to them.

Prerequisite: Taking UX Design course before this class is strongly encouraged. No coding required.

Human-AI Interaction Design (INFO4940/5940) is designed for students who want to create machine learning products professionally, including data scientists, machine learning engineers, and UX designers on AI/NLP/CV product teams. Students will dive into concepts that characterize human‑centered AI (e.g., human–AI teamwork, explainability, trust, fairness), learn to work in interdisciplinary teams, and practice creating AI systems that are useful, trusted, respectful of users’ agency, and resilient to bias and manipulation.

Prerequisite: Prior coursework (or equivalent industry experience) in either technical AI or HCI/design. Python is required for students in the technical AI session. Programming skills (e.g., arduino, web app dev) are a plus for students in either session. Some seats are reserved for students in the AI minor.

4240: Designing Technology for Social Impact covers many concepts and methods that are also useful for designing AI systems. I encourage taking it before or after taking the HAI Design course.

HCI/HAI Design Resreach (INFO6940) introduces student researchers to foundational concepts and literature in design and scholarly design research.

Prerequisite: Prior experience in HCI reseach. Some seats are reserved for Ph.D. students in InfoSci.