
ASk HN: Best schools for Human-Computer Interaction degrees? - cme
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.<p>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?<p>Thanks!
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LokiSnake
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!

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sp332
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.

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icegreentea
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).

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tfitzgerald
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.

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mdawson11
You might also want to look at The Institute of Design at Illinois Institute
of Technology in Chicago.

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abbasmehdi
Be self taught, or study psychology.

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

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abbasmehdi
[http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Human-Computer-
Interaction-...](http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Human-Computer-Interaction-
Stuart-Card/dp/0898598591)

