You may use the five elective courses to tailor the program to your individual interests and background. You may choose to broaden your experience by sampling courses from a variety of application or technology areas, or you may choose to concentrate in a particular specialized area. This will enable you to be the leader or sole practitioner representing that specialty in a multi-disciplinary development group.

Each elective course must be the equivalent of a full-semester (9 or 12 unit) course; two half-semester courses (6 units each) count as one elective. These courses must be different from any that you may have taken as part of the HCI core, and they cannot have counted toward a degree previously awarded by CMU.

Electives must be individually approved by the Director of the Program, on a case-by-case basis for each student. Typically graduate courses and 300- and 400-level courses in many departments are eligible for consideration. Because the MHCI program provides an opportunity for students to expand their education into areas they may not have previously explored, it is possible that a few 200-level courses may be considered for students really broadening their horizons (e.g., a design major may want to take the sophomore-level Fundamentals of Computer Science, an intense 200-level course for CS majors; this 200-level course could be considered for approval given this student's educational background). 100 level courses are typically considered to be non-appropriate.

Following is a list of courses that have been previously approved as electives for individuals in the HCI program, listed in various areas of specialization. Since course availability changes, and because new courses are introduced often, this is not a comprehensive list and students should discuss alternatives with the Director of the program.

Analysis and Evaluation/Behavioral Science

Design/Graphics/Fine Arts

Implementation/Computer Science

Miscellaneous Electives