Haiyi Zhu, Director of the Undergraduate Programs and Professor, Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Email: haiyiz@andrew.cmu.edu
Amelia Baisley, Academic Program Manager, Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Ashley Kosko, Senior Academic Coordinator, Human- Computer Interaction Institute
Location: Newell Simon Hall 3526B
https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/academics/hci-undergraduate

Undergraduate Major in HCI

In 2020, Carnegie Mellon University became one of the first universities worldwide to offer a primary major in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Students within the School of Computer Science (SCS) can now declare HCI as their primary major.

About the B.S. in HCI

The Bachelor of Science in Human-Computer Interaction will produce HCI specialists who are technically skilled and adept at designing and prototyping interactive solutions with the latest digital technologies. Students graduating from the HCI primary will have a unique perspective on how digital products and services impact humans, and also how they can be designed to have a positive impact.

Students in this major will have a strong Computer Science core of programming, algorithms, systems and mathematical foundations, just like the other undergraduate majors in SCS. They will specialize by making core elements of human-computer interaction the primary focus of their upper-level classes, and can explore a large range of HCI topics in greater depth through their elective choices. In the final capstone project course, they will work as part of an interdisciplinary student team to produce innovative digital solutions for a problem presented by a client.

Responding to the Demand for HCI in Tech

Our corporate partners spoke of the need for competitive entry-level professionals who can enter the workforce with a solid understanding of HCI. This technical program will prepare graduates to understand and create innovative services, systems and applications that serve all people. Students will have the opportunity to design for a range of digital technologies, including web, mobile, IoT, VR, AR, sensors, fabrication, gadgets and more.

There is also a need for HCI practitioners with a "T-shaped person" knowledgebase. That is, professionals who exhibit broad knowledge and diverse technical skills, as well as a valuable focus in a specialization area. HCI majors will build a broad foundational knowledge in computing, mathematics and statistics; development skills for digital and interactive technologies; and experience with methods of rapid prototyping, all of which will help them to collaborate with their peers in related fields.

Opportunities for B.S. in HCI Grads

Graduates with this rigorous background will serve key roles in the tech industry. B.S. in HCI graduates will be poised to take on strategic roles at early stages of their careers, including Front End Engineer, Interaction Designer, Technical Product Manager and UX Engineer positions. HCI students aiming for research careers or graduate school can select a senior thesis option and conduct independent research work under the mentorship of HCI faculty.

Program Outcomes

Students in the B.S. program in HCI are expected to acquire the following skills upon graduation:

• Knowledge and skill in computing
  • Theoretical foundation in computer science
  • Development skill for software and digital technologies
  • Knowledge of relevant mathematics and statistics
  • Development skill for technical platforms used in interactive technologies
  • Methods for rapid prototyping
• Knowledge of domains of impact for digital technologies and services
• Skill in HCI processes
  • ​Mastery of methodologies and techniques for user research and design (needs finding, synthesis)
  • Interaction design skill  (ideation, concept validation, design)
  • Mastery of methodologies for evaluating success and impact of digital products  and services
  • Ability to address an ill-defined design problem through integration of HCI and design methods
• Basic knowledge in behavioral science and its relations  to interactive technologies
  • ​Knowledge of how humans function individually, in groups, and in societies
  • Knowledge of how interactive technologies can impact, and can be impacted by, psychological, social, and cultural factors
• Basic knowledge of business, leadership, and communication
  • Project management, leadership, and teamwork skill
  • Technical communication
  • Skill in articulating business value and strategic significance of HCI projects

The primary major in HCI supports students by preparing them with very strong technical knowledge, skills, and understanding. HCI majors must take a minimum of 360 units distributed as follows:

• CS Core:  5 courses + freshman immigration course
• Core @ CMU: 3 units
• Mathematics and Statistics:  4 courses
• HCI Core: 6 courses
• Psychology: 1 course 
• HCI Electives: 3 courses
• SCS Elective: 1 course
• HCI Capstone Project: 1 course
• Free Electives: 4  courses
• Science and Engineering: 4 courses
• Humanities and Arts (Gen Ed):  7 courses

Total: 36 courses

Computer Science Core  (5 courses + immigration course)

Prerequisite Courses		Units
15-112	Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science	12
07-131	Great Practical Ideas for Computer Scientists	2

Required Courses		Units
07-128	First Year Immigration Course	3
15-122	Principles of Imperative Computation	12
15-150	Principles of Functional Programming	12
15-151	Mathematical Foundations for Computer Science	12
15-210	Parallel and Sequential Data Structures and Algorithms	12
15-213	Introduction to Computer Systems	12

Mathematics and Statistics Core  (4 courses )

Prerequisite Course		Units
21-120	Differential and Integral Calculus	10

Required Courses
21-122	Integration and Approximation	10
21-259	Calculus in Three Dimensions	10
Select one of the following courses:
15-259	Probability and Computing	12
21-325	Probability	9
36-218	Probability Theory for Computer Scientists	9
36-225	Introduction to Probability Theory	9
Select one of the following courses:
15-251	Great Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science	12
21-241	Matrices and Linear Transformations	11
21-242	Matrix Theory	11
36-226	Introduction to Statistical Inference	9
36-401	Modern Regression	9

HCI Core  (6 courses) 

Research & Evaluation Courses (2)		Units
05-410	User-Centered Research and Evaluation	12
Select one:
36-202	Methods for Statistics & Data Science	9
36-315	Statistical Graphics and Visualization	9
70-208	Regression Analysis	9
Ideation & Design Courses (2)
05-360	Interaction Design Fundamentals	12
Select one:
05-361	Advanced Interaction Design	12
05-315	Persuasive Design	12
05-317	Design of Artificial Intelligence Products	12
05-418	Design Educational Games	12
05-452	Service Design	12
05-470	Digital Service Innovation	12
*Some (but not all) special topics classes (05-499) might also count towards the advanced design class requirement. Please consult with an HCI undergraduate advisor.
Technical Core (2)
05-380	Prototyping Algorithmic Experiences	12
05-431	Software Structures for User Interfaces	12
Note: It is recommended that students take 05-380 in spring of their sophomore year and 05-431 in fall of their sophomore or junior year)

Psychology (1 course) 

Select one:		Units
85-110	Cognitive Psychology	9
85-150	Social Psychology	9
85-251	Personality	9
85-213	Human Information Processing and Artificial Intelligence	9
85-421	Language and Thought	9
85-413	Perception	9
88-120	Reason, Passion and Cognition	9
Note: The Psychology course fulfills the Category 1: Cognition, Choice and Behavior requirement for HCI majors.

HCI Electives (3 courses)

HCI Design Elective (1) **Select a different course from that chosen under Ideation and Design HCI core (above)		Units
05-361	Advanced Interaction Design	12
05-315	Persuasive Design	12
05-317	Design of Artificial Intelligence Products	12
05-418	Design Educational Games	12
05-452	Service Design	12
05-470	Digital Service Innovation	12
*Some (but not all) special topics classes (05-499) might also count towards the advanced design class requirement. Please consult with an HCI undergraduate advisor.
HCI Technical Elective (1)
05-318	Human AI Interaction	12
05-333	Gadgets, Sensors and Activity Recognition in HCI	12
05-434	Machine Learning in Practice	12
05-839	Interactive Data Science	12
11-411	Natural Language Processing	12
10-301	Introduction to Machine Learning	12
07-280	Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning I	12
15-388	Practical Data Science	9
15-464	Technical Animation	12
15-362	Computer Graphics	12
15-466	Computer Game Programming	12
15-494	Cognitive Robotics: The Future of Robot Toys	12
16-467	Introduction to Human Robot Interaction	12
17-428	Machine Learning and Sensing	12
17-437	Web Application Development	12
17-537	Artificial Intelligence Methods for Social Good	9
HCI General (05-xxx) Elective: The remaining (1) elective can be chosen from the above lists or from the pre-approved list of HCI electives. Other options will require approval from the program director.

SCS Elective (1 Course) 

This elective can be from any SCS department; 200-level or above, at least 9 units (see exceptions below): Computer Science [15-], Computational Biology [02-], Human Computer Interaction [05-], Machine Learning [10-], Language Technologies [11-], Robotics [16-], and Software Engineering [17-]. (NOTE: The following undergraduate courses do NOT count as Computer Science electives: 02-201, 02-223,  02-261. Some IDEATE courses and some SCS undergraduate and graduate courses might not be allowed based on course content. Consult with HCI advisor before registration to determine eligibility for this requirement.

*Students who take two intro minis from 02-180, 05-180, 07-180, and 16-180 during their first year may use these two courses together as one SCS elective.

HCI Capstone Project  (1 course) 

05-571

Undergraduate Project in HCI

12

Science & Engineering (4 courses)

Four courses in the domain of science and engineering are required, of which at least one must have a laboratory component and at least two must be from the same department. These courses typically come from the Mellon College of Science and the College of Engineering (CIT). Courses with a primary focus on programming, computation or mathematics are not acceptable for science or engineering courses. Requirements for this component of the degree are listed under the SCS main page under General Education Requirements.

Humanities & Arts (7 courses)

These requirements follow the SCS General Education requirements for Humanities & Arts. Requirements for this component of the degree are listed under the SCS main page under General Education Requirements. NOTE: The Psychology requirement of the HCI core will satisfy the General Education requirement for Category 1: Cognition, Choice & Behavior.

Core@CMU (1 Course)

The following course is required of all CMU students:
99-101	Core@CMU	3

Free Electives (4 courses)

A free elective is any Carnegie Mellon course. However, a maximum of 9 units of Physical Education and/or Military Science (ROTC) and/or Student-Led (StuCo) courses may be used toward fulfilling graduation requirements. These could be used for optional Research Track or an optional minor or concentration.

Additional Major in Interdisciplinary HCI

Haiyi Zhu, Undergraduate Director
Email:  haiyiz@andrew.cmu.edu
www.hcii.cmu.edu

OVERVIEW

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a fast growing field devoted to the design, implementation, and evaluation of interactive computer-based technology. Examples of HCI products include intelligent computer tutors, wearable computers, social networking sites, and internet-connected personal digital assistants (PDAs). Constructing an HCI product is a cyclic, iterative process that has at least three stages: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation.

The Design stage involves principles of design and human behavior, the Implementation stage principles of computer science, and the Evaluation stage empirical research methods common to several disciplines. There are thus four topical areas to cover in this major: Human Behavior, Design, Implementation, and Evaluation. In slightly more detail, the major involves the following sorts of knowledge and skill:

Design

• Eliciting from the client, formulating, and articulating functional specifications
• Knowing how human factors and cognitive models should inform design
• Knowing the principles of, and having experience with, communication design
• Understanding how implementation constraints should inform design
• Incorporating evaluation results into iterated designs

Implementation Programming Skills

• Standard programming languages - e.g., C++, Java
• Rapid prototyping skills
• Computational literacy, i.e., knowledge sufficient for effective communication and decision making about:
  • interface construction tools and languages
  • multimedia authoring tools
  • data structures and algorithms
  • operating systems, platforms, etc.

Evaluation

• Experimental design
• Focus groups
• Surveys
• Usability testing (Cognitive walkthroughs, user models, heuristic evaluation, GOMS)
• Statistical analysis

There are over 45 courses relevant to these areas that are now offered by eight different departments in four different colleges at Carnegie Mellon (School of Computer Science, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Fine Arts, and Tepper School of Business).

ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL MAJOR

The Additional Major in Interdisciplinary Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is available to current undergraduate students from any CMU college. Students maintain their primary major, and by adding an additional major in HCI, can explore multiple areas of study during their time at CMU. Applications to the additional major are processed once a year, in the spring (see below).

CURRICULUM

The following requirements are for students entering Fall 2025. 

The Additional Major in Interdisciplinary Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) consists of 12 prerequisite and required courses.

Prerequisite Courses (4)

These courses do not need to be taken before applying to the additional major program. However, please note the required order sequence for three courses, listed below.

• Introductory statistics course, details below
• Psychology (details below) must be completed before enrolling in the HCI core course 05-410 User-Centered Research and Evaluation
• A freshman-level programming course (details below) must be completed before enrolling in the HCI core course 05-391 or 05-380 or 05-431
• 05-360: Interaction Design Fundamentals must be completed before enrolling in the HCI core course 05-361 Advanced Interaction Design 

Prerequisites		Units
Psychology (Select one)
85-110	Cognitive Psychology	9
85-150	Social Psychology	9
85-213	Human Information Processing and Artificial Intelligence	9
Design
05-360	Interaction Design Fundamentals Design majors do not need to take 05-360 as a prerequisite, since they learn similar material in other courses for their major.	12
Statistics (Select one)
36-200	Reasoning with Data	9
36-220	Engineering Statistics and Quality Control	9
36-225 & 36-226	Introduction to Probability Theory and Introduction to Statistical Inference	18
36-226	Introduction to Statistical Inference	9
70-207	Probability and Statistics for Business Applications	9
Introduction to Programming (Select one)
15-104	Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice	10
15-110	Principles of Computing	10
15-112	Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science	12
15-121	Introduction to Data Structures	10

HCI Core Courses (4)

The HCI core courses include the following required courses: (Prerequisite courses and the electives are not core courses.)

• 05-410: User-Centered Research & Evaluation (UCRE)
• An Advanced Design course (see details below) 
• 05-391: Designing Human-Centered Software or 05-380: Prototyping Algorithmic Experiences (PAX) or 05-431: Software Structures for User Interfaces (SSUI)
• 05-571: Undergraduate Project in HCI (Capstone) *The Capstone course should be taken during the student’s final spring semester. 

Core Courses		Units
05-410	User-Centered Research and Evaluation	12
Select one (Advanced Design):
05-361	Advanced Interaction Design	12
05-315	Persuasive Design	12
05-317	Design of Artificial Intelligence Products	12
05-418	Design Educational Games	12
05-452	Service Design	12
05-470	Digital Service Innovation	12
*Some (but not all) special topics classes (05-499) might also count towards the advanced design class requirement. Please consult with an HCI undergraduate advisor.
Select one (Technical Core):
05-380	Prototyping Algorithmic Experiences	12
05-391	Designing Human Centered Software	12
05-431	Software Structures for User Interfaces	12
Capstone
05-571	Undergraduate Project in HCI	12
**Please note that it is recommended that HCI Additional Major students complete 05-410, 05-360 and the technical course before registering for Capstone in the senior spring.

Special Notes for Design Majors

• Design majors do not need to take 05-360 Interaction Design Fundamentals as a prerequisite, since they learn similar material in other courses for their major.

Electives (4 courses) 

HCI additional major students must take four HCI-related electives (9 units or more).  Electives are intended to provide additional major students with advanced concepts and skills relevant to HCI or breadth of experience not available from their primary major. Given these goals, most electives will be 300-level courses or higher. Courses at the 100-level and 200-level in one's primary major will not count as electives, although the same course taken by a non-major may count (approval is still required).

Students can take electives in the HCII or courses relevant to HCI from many other departments on campus. All external electives are approved on a case-by-case basis. 

All 05-xxx courses are pre-approved as HCI electives; however, core courses cannot double count as electives. See the HCII website for a list of current pre-approved electives: https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/academics/hci-undergrad/electives

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two (2) of the required core and elective courses (prerequisite courses do not apply to the double-counting rule) with their primary major. 

Accelerated Master's Program (AMHCI) 

The HCII currently offers a three semester (12-month), 15 course Masters in HCI. Undergraduates currently enrolled in the HCI major may apply for the Accelerated Masters program in the fall semester of their senior year. If admitted, students finish the masters degree the following fall semester. For more information, see the HCII website: https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/academics/accelerated-masters

Admission to the Additional Major

Because space is limited in the major's required courses, enrollment in the HCI additional major is currently limited. The admissions period occurs in spring semesters. For more details, see the website at hcii.cmu.edu/academics/hci-undergrad/additional-major-hci/admissions.

Minor in Interdisciplinary HCI

The Minor in Interdisciplinary Human-Computer Interaction will give students core knowledge about techniques for building successful user interfaces, approaches for conceiving, refining, and evaluating interfaces that are useful and useable, and techniques for identifying opportunities for computational technology to improve the quality of people’s lives. The students will be able to effectively collaborate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of easy-to-use, desirable, and thoughtful interactive systems. They will be prepared to contribute to multidisciplinary teams that create new interactive products, services, environments, and systems.

The key concepts, skills and methods that students will learn in the HCI Minor include:

• Fieldwork for understanding people’s needs and the influence of context
• Generative approaches to imagining many possible solutions such as sketching and “bodystorming”
• Iterative refinement of designs
• Basic visual design including typography, grids, color, and the use of images
• Implementation of interactive prototypes
• Evaluation techniques including discount and empirical evaluation methods

The HCI minor is targeted at undergraduates who expect to get jobs where they design and/or implement information technology-based systems for end users, as well as students with an interest in learning more about the design of socio-technical systems. It is appropriate for students with a major in Information Systems, as well as students in less software-focused majors, including Design, Architecture, Art, Business Administration, Psychology, Statistics, Decision Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, English and many others in the university.

CURRICULUM

The following requirements are for students entering Fall 2025. 

Prerequisite (select one)		Units
15-110	Principles of Computing	10
15-112	Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science	12
15-121	Introduction to Data Structures	10
15-104	Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice	10

Core Courses		Units
05-391	Designing Human Centered Software	12
05-360	Interaction Design Fundamentals	12
Special Notes for Design Majors: HCI Minors who have a primary major in Design may substitute taking 05-391 Designing Human-Centered Software with another HCI 05 elective course; HCI Minors who have a primary major in Design must substitute taking 05-360 Interaction Design Fundamentals with another HCI 05-xxx course.

Electives

HCI minor students must take four HCI-related electives (9 units or more). Electives are intended to provide minor students with advanced concepts and skills relevant to HCI or breadth of experience not available from their primary major. Given these goals, most electives will be 300-level courses or higher. Courses at the 100-level and 200-level in one's primary major will not count as electives, although the same course taken by a non-major may count (approval is required). 

Students can take electives in the HCII or courses relevant to HCI from many other departments on campus. All external electives are approved on a case-by-case basis. 

All 05-xxx courses are pre-approved as HCI electives; however, core courses cannot double-count as electives. See the HCII website for a list of current pre-approved electives: https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/academics/hci-undergrad/electives

Double Counting

Students may double count up to two (2) of the required core and elective courses (prerequisite courses do not apply to the double-counting rule) with their primary major. 

Admission to the Minor

Because space is limited in the minor's required courses, enrollment in the HCI minor is currently limited. The admissions period occurs in spring semesters. For more details, see the website at https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/academics/hci-undergrad/minor-hci.

Human-Computer Interaction Courses

About Course Numbers:

Each Carnegie Mellon course number begins with a two-digit prefix that designates the department offering the course (i.e., 76-xxx courses are offered by the Department of English). Although each department maintains its own course numbering practices, typically, the first digit after the prefix indicates the class level: xx-1xx courses are freshmen-level, xx-2xx courses are sophomore level, etc. Depending on the department, xx-6xx courses may be either undergraduate senior-level or graduate-level, and xx-7xx courses and higher are graduate-level. Consult the Schedule of Classes each semester for course offerings and for any necessary pre-requisites or co-requisites.