The human-computer interaction (HCI) minor is designed to give any undergraduate student at Washington University a multidisciplinary understanding of the principles and applications of HCI. This minor will introduce students to the techniques necessary to create effective user interfaces: requirements gathering, ideation, prototyping, visual design and evaluation. Students will explore these ideas in a variety of application contexts.
The HCI minor is intended for students who are interested in the design of user-centered interactive technologies and those desiring jobs that include user interface creation, product design, UX/UI design, app development, virtual and augmented realities, and so on. This minor should appeal to students in the College of Art — particularly designers and computationally intrigued artists — who are interested in gaining a more in-depth knowledge of back-end development skills. It will also be of interest to engineering students looking for more experience with aesthetics and front-end design skills. In addition to being useful for these primary audiences, this minor allows students from other departments on campus to support their studies with a clear track in a hybrid pursuit of design and programming.
Course Work
Students must complete two pillar courses, one integration course and three approved electives. Courses listed below are considered approved elective offerings between the Sam Fox School and the McKelvey School of Engineering.
- Pillar Courses (6 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CSE 131 | Introduction to Computer Science | 3 |
| ART 138S | Visual Principles for the Screen | 3 |
- Integration Courses (3 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ART 236A | Interaction Design: Understanding Health and Well-Being | 3 |
| CSE 256A | Introduction to Human-Centered Design | 3 |
- Electives (9 units, with at least one course each from CSE and Art/Design):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CSE 204A | Front-End Web Development | 3 |
| CSE 330S | Rapid Prototype Development and Creative Programming | 3 |
| CSE 457A | Introduction to Visualization | 3 |
| CSE 438S | Mobile Application Development | 3 |
| CSE 557A | Advanced Visualization | 3 |
| CSE 556A | Human-Computer Interaction Methods | 3 |
| ART 326H | Special Topics: Interaction Design: Layout Systems | 3 |
| Psych 360 | Cognitive Psychology | 3 |