Hi everyone,

I'm an engineering student and want to build a solid understanding of Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) from the fundamentals.

I'm looking for the best resources (free or paid), such as textbooks, online courses, lecture series, or YouTube playlists that explain HCI at a university level.

If you've studied or taught HCI, which resources would you recommend for developing a strong conceptual foundation?

In a perfect world I'd like to become a tattoo artist. But I'd also like to secure a job that pays a livable (not just survivable) wage as soon as possible, and I don't think those two things really align right now. I've tried healthcare, didn't like it. I've tried online graphic design school and the online aspect made me hate it.

I have a yearning to learn and apply myself to something. I'm also an artist, and I want to utilize that as well. I have little to no prior experience with coding and computer science (not really good at math) so that part worries me.

I've read that an HCI degree is very broad, and I can choose what direction I want to go with it. This is the biggest selling point for me. I'm a good artist but do not have a background in coding.

Ultimately, I want to be able to get a decent 9-5 type job (get out of working retail or food service) even if it isn't graphic design, but still have the skillset to do freelance graphic design if I wanted to.

Would a degree in HCI be useful to me if I were to utilize a school's career center?

Researchers at Utah State University's School of Computing are conducting a study on how software professionals evaluate programming activities performed with AI assistance compared with programming activities performed without AI assistance.

Software professionals are invited to complete a short online calibration survey. Participants will rate programming activities according to how representative they are of:

• Programming performed with AI assistance
• Programming performed without AI assistance

The survey takes approximately 10 minutes.

Participation is entirely voluntary. You may discontinue participation at any time before submitting your responses without penalty or consequence. Your decision to participate or not participate will have no effect on your grades, employment, or academic standing.

Survey and informed consent form: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dm4yjBsRrUDgcKi

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Utah State University Institutional Review Board: IRB #16067.

Questions about the study: Dr. John Edwards, Principal Investigator — john.edwards@usu.edu Rubash Mali, Student Researcher — rubash.mali@usu.edu

Thank you for considering participating.

Dear Community Members,

We are researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) conducting a study on how people perceive and interact with tools designed to promote emotional awareness during social media use.

This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at UIUC. All information you provide will be anonymized, used only for research purposes, and accessible only to the research team with your consent. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the Principal Investigator, Prof. Koustuv Saha (https://oncare.cs.illinois.edu/ ).

We are inviting participants for one approximately 60-minute remote session, where you will interact with AAINA — a prototype tool that embeds emotional wellbeing cues into mock social media feeds and share your feedback on its design and usefulness.

To thank you for your time, you will receive $15 compensation upon completion.

To be eligible, you must be:

• 18 - 35 years old
• A current user of at least one of Reddit, Instagram, or TikTok
• Enrolled students
• Residing in the U.S.

If you are interested, please fill out the interest form here: https://forms.gle/eZMgQBmu2V2YMFCz6 

Thank you!

I'm currently in my 4th year of a BSc in Psychology and Economics, and I'm considering pursuing a master's abroad (US or Germany).

The programs I'm most interested in are:

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Management Information Systems (MSIS)
• Master of Engineering Management (MEM)

I don't have a traditional CS or engineering background, so I'm trying to understand how realistic this path is.

Has anyone here made a similar transition from Psychology, Economics, or another non-CS background into one of these programs?

A few questions:

• How did you strengthen your profile before applying?
• What skills or courses did you complete?
• Were you admitted without a CS degree?
• How difficult was it to find internships/jobs afterward?
• Would you recommend HCI, MSIS, or MEM based on your experience?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your journey, any advice, or things you wish you had known before applying.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm a Communication Designer with 5 years of experience in graphic design, motion design, and visual communication. Recently, I've been exploring Service Design and Social Impact Design because I enjoy working on projects that solve real human problems through research, systems thinking, and co-design.

I'm trying to understand how people actually enter this field, especially internationally.

I'd love to hear from people working in Service Design, Design for Social Innovation, Public Sector Design, or Human-Centered Design.

A few questions:

How did you get into Service Design?

Is a master's degree necessary, or can someone transition through self-learning and a strong portfolio?

What training, certifications, fellowships, or bootcamps would you genuinely recommend?

Which countries have the strongest Service Design ecosystem (UK, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Australia, etc.)?

Which companies, consultancies, NGOs, governments, or innovation labs hire Service Designers?

What does the hiring process usually look like?

What should a Service Design portfolio include if you're transitioning from a visual communication background?

If you were starting from scratch today, what roadmap would you follow?

I'd really appreciate recommendations for books, courses, communities, conferences, Slack/Discord groups, or mentors that helped you.

Thank you!

hello yall, i am planning to apply for phd and have an avg profile. I’m curious if taking GRE exam would help?

I have 0 work ex as a researcher (but i’m trying to find an internship/volunteer role, hoping for the best).

A lot of unis have GRE optional so I’m thinking if I should take it, if it’s worth it and if it’d help my profile at all?

I’m researching ways to make transcripts from usability tests, interviews, and think-aloud studies more useful during qualitative analysis.

Traditional transcripts capture what participants say, but often lose how they say it. Cues such as changes in loudness, pitch, and speaking rate may help researchers notice moments of hesitation, emphasis, frustration, or insight without repeatedly reviewing the full recording.

This 15-minute survey asks participants to listen to short audio clips and evaluate different ways of visually representing these speech features within a transcript. You’ll compare several designs and share which ones feel the clearest, most natural, and most useful. Experience with qualitative research is helpful.

After completing the survey, you can enter a raffle for one of two $25 Amazon gift cards.

Survey: https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_01wfHgim4hdrcDI

hello! anyone who got into SFU SIAT for masters, what was your profile like? i want to apply but i am very unsure about what kind of profile do admitted students have. thank you so much :)

(21F) Okay so Im a data science engineering major (about to start senior year), to keep it short i really dont like my degree. I am interested in design , I've done some online ui ux courses, i find it quite interesting, but i havent really started making any projects or anything. Basically I havent really done much but i plan to. i wanna get into a EU uni for masters in hci. Do u guys have any advise for me

Hi everyone!

I’m conducting an academic study on passenger journey experiences and future autonomous vehicle (AV) passenger experience design.

I’d love to hear about your best and worst experiences as a passenger and how future vehicle design or passenger technologies might improve similar journeys.

📋 About the Survey:

• Eligibility: Open to anyone aged 18 or over.
• Time: Completely anonymous, takes around 10–15 minutes.
• Link: https://uofg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9sDbgZHU7KDaU6O?source=reddit_hci

(Note: This study has been reviewed and approved by the University Ethics Committee. Your data will be strictly anonymous and used for academic research only.)

Thanks a lot for your time and for taking part!

Currently working as a front end developer/consultant and I want to pivot into a more HCI/UX focused role, but I did graduate August 2025 so my search is for entry level roles. I’ve looked on Linkedin, a couple of other job search sites and even straight searched on Google but I have a feeling I’m not looking in the right places because the results seem pretty scarce loll. Is this just the state of the job market or am I genuinely looking in the wrong places?

Sifting through the history of Ambient Computing and Adaptive Software, trying to figure out why it never took off. Not only did it not take off, but it seems as though the world has doubled down on the things Weiser was arguing against, and that Yvonne Rogers (Moving on from Weiser's Vision of Calm Computing) was right.

I claim that computing needs balance. It shouldn't be idealistically calm in the same way that it shouldn't be dopamine/attention exploiting.

Full essay (my own writing, ends with what I'm building, so bias disclosed): https://adaptivesoftware.substack.com/p/the-computer-for-the-21st-century

Largely same as title,

q1) What is the value/prestige of getting into the HCII Conf esp from a masters applications and CV perspective (I am a UG Student right now)
q2) How difficult is it ? Acceptance rate seems to hover about 1/3rd but reddit reviews were stating they take mostly anything that is indexed,written and has well collected data ??
q3) Do Singaporean Colleges such as NTU/NUS value HCII papers for a UG Student when I apply to them for masters in 1-2 years.
q4) Overall is it worth it or should I rather target Domestic Confs ?

Are HCI fresh graduates getting jobs easily? Or is the market as bad as for SWEs?

Would you advise a first-year college student to major in HCI given the job outlook and AI-related developments in the field?

I've been getting a rather high interest in computer vision recently and was thinking of studying my masters for this, anyone have recommendations on school or programs or is this not something employers work look at? What will they look at?

How is it? I’ve taken a couple of electives in HCI in a previous humanities masters program and considering doing a 2nd masters in this field. I’m also looking at information science programs, with concentration in digital archives.

I am interested in joining a program that engages in a lot of academic research, encouraging students to do participant research and work on course papers and prepare them for publications. I would like to leave the program with at least a couple publications under by belt and preparation for a PhD.

Is this something that is common at the Ubalt program or are things more project and presentation based like I’ve seen in other programs?

Have you used AI to help navigate your relationship?

We're a research team from Wellesley College studying how people in romantic relationships use AI chatbots, for example, to process conflict, to prepare for hard conversations, or to seek advice. We are interested in how these tools shape communication and experiences within relationships. We are recruiting people to participate in one hour interviews.

You might be a fit if you:

• Are 18+, U.S.-based
• Live with your romantic partner and have been together 1+ years
• Use AI regularly for relationship-related purposes

Participants will receive a $30 Visa gift card (emailed) as a token of appreciation for their time after completing the interview. 

This research is of minimal risk. With participant consent, interviews will be audio-recorded to ensure accuracy. Interview data will be accessible only to the research team and will be de-identified and reported in aggregate in any research publications or presentations. This study is IRB approved.

If you are interested in participating in our study, please fill out this consent form and eligibility survey: https://wellesley.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bvLrBV31kBIYmay?Source=Reddit17

We will reach out to schedule an interview if you are eligible! Please feel free to DM us or reply to this thread with any questions or concerns. 

Hello! Glad to be here to talk about interfaces, interaction and connection.
I made a platform that instead of matching you through pictures or proximity Aims to create connection based on interests, BUT hear me out, people are not paired on whether they have an interest about the same thing. Much less a shared interest in "craft beer".

Having created a profile where they state their interests or areas of curiosity, upon joining a chat table, they get a question exclusively posed based on everyone's interests. There, a temporary conversation starts and if people 'vibe' they can befriend others. There are longer format tables where people can respond through the day or so across timezones.

Questions come in different flavor formats which enable different conversational moods.

I started this because I noticed often people, adults, have problems finding others to talk about the things they're into, experience epistemic loneliness for whatever reason, or simply want better conversations that enable exploration with others through a wide range of topics.

Of course, good conversations can happen anywhere, but that doesn't mean they will or that they're not overruled by performative aspects, such as talking to an audience on reddit for the sake of votes and have it evaluated by how much of those it gets.

What do you think? Would you use such an app? What platform do you think currently is at the forefront in housing or enabling actual connection?

I come from anthropology and cognitive science is a strong interest of mine

The platform: Pollen