About the Program
The Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design program is offered by faculty from Arts, Business, Computer Science, Education, Humanities, Informatics, and Social Sciences.
Building on strengths across numerous schools on campus, the MHCID program educates designers, researchers, and developers to not only use a variety of key skills, tools, and approaches but to invent next-generation solutions to complex real-world challenges.
Students will attend intensive, accelerated in-person classes on the beautiful UCI campus in Orange County, California, as well as courses online.
Graduates of MHCID will be prepared for a variety of careers, including:
- user experience (UX) research and design systems analysis
- design research
- project management
- usability evaluation
- web development, and more.
In just one year, students will learn:
- theories of human behavior and cognition
- to develop user facing software, including high and low fidelity prototypes
- the place for user experience in the software development life cycle
- visual design
- empirical methods and analysis
- ideation and design processes
- to develop personas, scenarios, and storyboards for explaining user needs and design solutions
- to communicate effectively with clients, software developers, and within teams
- legal requirements for accessible systems and principles of universal design
- current trends in user experience.
Real-world experience
MHCID students solve real-world problems in diverse teams that work closely with our award-winning interdisciplinary faculty.
After mastering a range of key UX skills and subjects, graduates will gain important academic and practical experience through our capstone project course.
Working in teams of four to six, students will collaborate with an industry client to innovate, improve, or modify a new or existing digital product or service.
Flexibility and support
MHCID maintains low student-faculty ratios across the program, with every class taught by a faculty member and receiving support from multiple Teaching Assistants.
The flexibility of distance learning allows students to complete their coursework on a schedule that meets their professional needs without moving and leaving successful career paths.
MHCID students will have access to a broad range of networking activities through our extensive alumni network, as well as our industry and academic advisory boards.
Review the program curriculum or contact mhcid@ics.uci.edu for further information.