About
HCI at UC Santa Cruz
At UCSC, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) explores computing research at the intersection of culture and technology with a goal to design more just futures.
Focusing on the human-side of computing with a social justice lens the program seeks to answer key questions such as:
- What are the effects of technology?
- Who benefits or is harmed by technology?
- How are people shaping technologies to fit their needs?
- How do we design technologies that support people’s lives?
Our values
Silicon Valley is a site for technological innovation, yet technology has the potential to and has caused harm, often to those most vulnerable or marginalized. We are committed to supporting HCI and UX professionals who are socially conscious and reflective advocates and designers for diverse users. These are a few of our tenets:
- The lack of diversity in the field harms some users and benefits others
- We need to move away from only valuing functionality and productivity
- We must make visible our unconscious assumptions and values
- Social justice should be central to design and research
- Technology is not always the solution
Within our cohort we embrace these beliefs:
- We are not afraid to critique
- Collaborate, don’t compete
- Respect diverse skills (e.g., programming is not more valued than design or vice versa)
- Feedback is a gift
The HCI MS Program at our Silicon Valley Campus
What sets our HCI MS program apart?
- Commitment to design for social justice through our curriculum, including our class on Ethics and Activism in Tech and Design
- Tight coupling with UX professionals from industry and nonprofits through our mentor coalition and industry sponsors
- World-renowned HCI faculty with experience teaching the next generation of UX professionals
- A four-quarter curriculum designed to give you ample opportunities to pursue summer internships or independent study
- Two-quarter capstone project with industry sponsors
For questions about the HCI MS, contact us at hci@ucsc.edu
The Computational Media connection
The field of Human Computer Interaction finds a natural home at the Baskin School of Engineering in the Computational Media Department (CM), where we engage in boundary-pushing research and education that integrates technical, interpretive, and design work to create human-centered media that address complex problems for societal impact.
In addition to our HCI MS program, the CM Department has a nationally ranked Computer Game Design B.S. program. Faculty in the CM Department teach a number of classes about HCI for both our HCI MS program and undergraduate program. A number of our faculty also conduct cutting-edge research in HCI with CM Ph.D. and MS students, often allied with industry partners.