Curriculum

UCI’s MHCID program is a lock-step program. All students take the same classes at the same time. This cohort atmosphere allows students to build strong ties and ensures a universally high quality outcome.

Fall Kickoff:

During the fall, students will participate in a five-day intensive taking place online and in-person at UCI. Students will network with members of our advisory board, alumni, faculty, and other members of their cohort.

280 Overview of HCI and Design (4). Introduction to human-computer interaction and user centered design. The material is focused on laying the groundwork for understanding the history, importance, and methods of human computer interaction and design. This class is an accelerated course taking place over a five-day period.

Fall Quarter:

281 User Needs Analysis (4). Understanding the user’s context, needs, and preferences. Topics include: Interviews and observations, modeling the context, flow, culture, space and artifacts involved in an endeavor, ways of aggregating what is found, and presenting these findings to others. Pre-requisite: INF280.
282 Design and Prototyping (4). Introduction to user centered design and prototyping. Focused on practical methods for interaction design. Topics include the nature of design and the challenges to creating and evaluating good designs, as well specific skills for designing interactive systems. Prerequisite: INF280.

Winter Quarter:

283 User Experience and Evaluation (4). Evaluating prototypes and completed systems. Topics include: comparative analysis, laboratory experiments, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs, surveys, clickstreams, and help-desk. Prerequisite: INF281.
284 Advanced Design and Prototyping (4). Develop and communicate interactive technology design prototypes. Moving concepts from brainstorming and paper prototypes to wireframe and limited functionality mock-ups. Prerequisite: INF282.
289- Applying HCI and Design In Industry (4). This course formalizes our professional development offerings and aligns them with the goals of our professional students. Selected topics related to professional development and current practices within the User Experience and Design industries are covered.

Spring Quarter:

285 Interactive Technology Studio (4). Technologies, languages, and skills required for creating prototypes to communicate interactive technology concepts. Topics include: HTTP, CSS, CSS scripting, AJAX, Design Patterns, Javascript, Javascript libraries such as jQuery, SQL, MVC and cloud architectures. Prerequisite: INF280.
287 Capstone Project in HCI and Design (4). Group project that reinforces all concepts learned in this program, including knowing where user experience work is most appropriate and essential and executing these steps. Prerequisite: INF283, INF285.
289- Applying HCI and Design In Industry (4). This course formalizes our professional development offerings and aligns them with the goals of our professional students. Selected topics related to professional development and current practices within the User Experience and Design industries are covered.

Spring Intensive:

Students will once again come to campus for an intensive in-person session, this time for three days. This on-site time will provide an opportunity for hands-on instruction, meetings with fellow program students to kick off the capstone project, and networking with faculty, alumni, advisory board members, and other students.

Summer Quarter:

286 Innovations in HCI and Design(4). Recent social and technological developments in human-computer interaction and design. Topics will vary as the field progresses but include novel input techniques, novel platforms, and innovations in theory and methods of design. Pre-requisite: INF280.
288 Capstone Project and Portfolio (4). Completion of capstone projects and development of portfolios. Ideation, critique, development and critique. Prerequisite: INF287.
289- Applying HCI and Design In Industry (4). This course formalizes our professional development offerings and aligns them with the goals of our professional students. Selected topics related to professional development and current practices within the User Experience and Design industries are covered.

Please contact mhcid@www-dev.ics.uci.edu for further information.