Student Experience:
Previous students describe what it’s like in the MHCI+D program and what their fellow students bring to the experience.
Explore MHCI+D
A page for candidates offered admission to the MHCI+D Class of 2023
Next Steps
Between now and April 15, we will be offering a number of online sessions, most recorded, for you to talk with current students, faculty and staff, to meet each other, and to learn everything you can about our program and the UW. Because of Covid uncertainties, we did not schedule in-person events this month, and will instead hold all organized events online. If the UW Covid restrictions are indeed relaxed at the end of March as currently planned, we may be able to allow visitors to the studio in early April on a one-on-one basis. Email if you will already be in town and if you are interested in this.Pre-decision webinars
Please join us at some or all of the following webinars over the coming month. At the end of most of these, we’ll also open up breakout rooms to allow you to get to meet some of your potential classmates more casually if you want to stick around:- Tuesday March 22 at 8:00 AM (Pacific Daylight Time). Overview of MHCI+D with Program Director, Axel Roesler and Advisor, Matt Bartels. Zoom link here
- Tuesday March 29 at 4:30 PM (Pacific Daylight Time). MHCI+D Teaching Faculty. Zoom link here
- Friday April 1 at 8:00 AM (Pacific Daylight Time). Career Outcomes and Career Services. Zoom link here
- Tuesday April 5 at 6:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time). Sit in on Research Studio Class with Kristin Dew and John Zoshak. (Zoom link will be sent by email the day before class)
- Wednesday April 6 at 5:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time). Free talk with current students and alumni. Zoom link here
- Monday April 11 at 4:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time). Final Q & A with staff. Zoom link here
Talk with us
- Schedule a one-on-one Zoom meeting with Graduate Advisor Matt to discuss your specific questions.
- You should have received an invite on 20 March to a Slack channel with current students. That will be a great forum to speak directly with each other and current students
How to accept the offer
April 15, 2022 is the last day you can accept the offer of admission. Accepting the offer is a two-step process:- Notify us that you accept the offer by changing your status in the application system. This will trigger a notification to you with your UW student ID number and with information on how to pay the non-refundable $500 deposit.
- Pay the non-refundable $500 deposit. This deposit will be applied to your Fall Quarter tuition.
Why did you choose MHCI+D?
Class of 2022 students reflect on their decision.
Where you’ll spend your time this year: The Studio
Studio Tour:
Join Class of 2022 students Daniel and Madison on a tour of the MHCI+D Studio space.
Where to live in Seattle
Here are short introductions to some of the neighborhood popular with the students: Here’s a map of where the Class of 2020 (Cohort 7) lived while students
Exploring Seattle:
Join Class of 2020 students on a day trip exploring Seattle.
Follow students’ current activities on social media
Curriculum Structure and Core Principles from our website.
Student Work
Immersion Studio
In the first week in the program, students complete a one week “Immersion Studio.” For the Class of 2021, the challenge was to use technology to support harmonious cohabitation between humans and non-humans. Sample project write-ups, shared on Medium:Ideation Studio
In fall quarter, Ideation Studio has student teams respond to a challenge related to changing human behavior through technology. four recent examples, from student portfolios:- Story, by Ann (Class of 2021)
- Helply, by Nathan (Class of 2021)
- Somo, by Casey (Class of 2020)
- Sail, by Zara (Class of 2020)
Prototyping Studio
In winter quarter, Prototyping Studio allows students to explore physical computing, hardware and software integration, and alternative input and output modalities. Professors Jon Froelich and Andy Davidson describe the process in this video The Class of 2019 worked with Microsoft Education to design STEM lesson plans for middle school classrooms. Three examples, from student portfolios:- The Mint Challenge, by Hannah (Class of 2019)
- Trebuchet Trials, by Javan (Class of 2019)
- Planting Stems, by Eleanor (Class of 2019)
Capstone Studio
Capstone projects are the culmination of the program (not the starting point). Teams consist of three or four students, and an industry advisor provides guidance and advice. Capstone projects span three quarters and challenge you to design a solution to a real-world problem using all the skills you have developed. Our website archive of all Capstone Project Videos. Both short ‘concept videos’ and longer final presentation videos are available for all previous capstone projects. Alternately, browse final product videos on youtube, here:- Playlist of 2021 Capstone Product videos
- Playlist of 2020 Capstone Product videos
- Playlist of 2019 Capstone Product videos
Teaching Faculty
Watch and read recent talks and blogs by faculty involved with the program:
Faculty talks
- Amy Ko, Information School, instructor for “User Interface” core class, wrote recently about Adapting to Teaching in a Hybrid Model for MHCI+D [link]
- Jon Froehlich, Computer Science & Engineering, instructor for “Prototyping Studio” core class, and chair of the MHCI+D Faculty Committee. A recent article profiled Project Sidewalk, the accessibility project he has been leading through his lab, the Makeability Lab [link]
- Jeff Heer, Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty Committee member and instructor for “Data Visualization” elective. Podcast interview from ACM discussing his work [link]
- Axel Roesler, Division of Design, School of Art, Art History + Design. Foundations of Interaction Design elective [link] and Advanced Interaction Design elective [link]
- Daniela Rosner, Human-Centered Design and Engineering. Visual Communication elective [link]
- Gregg Gottesman, Computer Science & Engineering. Entrepreneurship [link]
- Jacob Wobbrock, The Information School. Designing Information Experiences elective [link]
- Jeff Heer, Computer Science & Engineering. Data Visualization elective [link]
- Katharina Reinecke, Computer Science & Engineering. Intro to HCI and Adv. Intro to HCI electives [link]
- Sean Munson, Human Centered Design & Engineering. Usability Studies elective [link]
MHCI+D graduates are in demand. You can expect to leave the program ready to find meaningful and rewarding work.
Be sure to join the Career Overview webinar on April 1 for details. We’ll be diving deep on all the career development programming you can expect while a student (or alum!). We’ll also talk about career outcomes from recent years and discuss where our alum have been finding work recently. In the mean time, refer to the following pages on our site:
Overview
- Financial Aid: In general, as an intense professional program, this is not designed to be work-compatible and because this is a fee-based program, many sources of state funding are not available. The majority of students meet the majority of their financial needs via loans, savings, or family support.
- GSEE supplemental finance awards: Merit-based financing for U.S. students from underrepresented groups. We have had students receive this award in the past. If interested in applying, contact us immediately at mhcid@uw.edu to get started on the award application process.
- Working: You will not have enough time to work full-time while in this program. A few students are able to hold down positions asking for 8-10 hours / week, but that is about the maximum you might manage. Some students have started the year with part-time consulting or freelance work, but most have found this is too taxing and distracting and have let these go mid-year. Each year we hire 3-4 students to assist with social media, website design,videography and other tasks. A few other students have taken other light work-study positions, but these are generally less than 10 hours per week.
- Additional Expenses: We work hard to keep you from having to buy little things throughout the year. So we provide coffee and tea in the studio, a high-quality printer/copier/scanner (although occasionally you may need to print elsewhere to meet a deadline), all in-class and prototyping materials for core classes, access to the studio Cricut cutter, 3-D printer, video-quality hard-drive, and large-screen monitors. Each quarter, your team will have a budget for relevant purchases, such as gratuities for research participants or specialized materials for your capstone project. What we don’t provide is materials or gratuities for your elective courses, meals, housing, dog sitting, etc.
- DUB: Bringing together the broader UW HCI community of faculty and students, “DUB” or “Design Use Build” is the MHCI+D program’s founding organization. DUB holds weekly seminars, an annual retreat, and a chance to network with others from a wide range of disciplines, programs, and departments.
- UW Career & Internship Center: The campus-wide career center offers workshops, industry and employer information sessions and other events nearly daily. They also organize career fairs throughout the year that offer a chance to connect with hundreds of employers.
- Seattle HCI community: Beyond campus, Seattle has a vibrant HCI scene, with hundreds of professionals working in the field at local companies. UX meetups, hackathons and conferences offer students frequent opportunities to get to know their future colleagues.