Masters Program

Overview | Curriculum | Madeira Program | Capstone Project | Admissions | Contact

MHCI Program & Project Video

The Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) at Carnegie Mellon University offers a professional Master of Human-Computer Interaction degree.

Highlights of the program include:

• Interdisciplinary orientation.
• Diverse faculty from Computer Science, Design, Psychology, Learning Sciences, Business Administration, Electrical Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction.
• 12-month, 12-course duration.
• Substantial project component for an external client, with a team orientation.

The HCII’s mission is to understand and create technology that harmonizes with and improves human capabilities, goals, and social environments through interdisciplinary research and education in design, computer science, and behavioral social sciences.

Nested under the Computer Science umbrella and memberships with the Tepper School of Business, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Fine Arts, the Software Engineering Institute, and a research and teaching faculty with a substantial focus on human use of computing, the HCII is one of the few institutions in the world with such a breadth of expertise.

The HCII’s Masters Program (MHCI)

Our program is known by the software and technical industries for it’s interdisciplinary nature, rigor and deep knowledge in Computer Science, Psychology and Design. It is a two year masters degree set into a twelve month duration. During their first semester, students learn core knowledge in programming, design, psychology and HCI methods. During their second and third semesters the students can choose any electives across the University, while they participate in a substantial industry capstone project with an external client.

At the end of the twelve months, our students are able to effectively lead and collaborate in the design and implementation of easy, desirable, and thoughtful software and technical systems. They are well prepared to contribute to the multi-disciplinary teams that typically construct software and technical systems and interfaces. They are broadly knowledgeable about techniques for building successful user interfaces, design principles that make user interfaces visually clear and appealing, techniques for identifying needs for software and its success, and the people and organizations that will use their systems.

The MHCI Students

Over the past seventeen years, our program has graduated over 520 students. Right out of school, our students take on various roles in technical and software companies. Some of these include: Interaction Designer, Usability Engineer, Design Team Lead, Developer with a Design “bent”, User Researcher, and User Experience Designer.

Our alumni go on to become Senior Designers, Technical Directors, Usability and Design Group Leaders, Senior Product or Project Managers and CEOs.

The in-depth interdisciplinary experiences here at Carnegie Mellon make our students known as the “glue” between Design, Development and Management in many companies. The MHCI student is often hired to design interfaces, but very quickly becomes an indispensible team player, and in many cases, team leader for research, design and strategy in software, technical or consulting engagements.