Human Computer Interaction - HCI

Graduate School
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I am new to the forum and was wondering if I can get some opinions on my situation. I am a 30 year old graphic designer with a bachelor's in graphic design. I would like to pursue something more technical with the background knowledge of graphic design. My initial though was the HCI program. I do have knowledge of web languages from a designer's prospective, but I do not want to build websites.</p>

<p>I foresee a few problems with my circumstance:</p>

<p>I have been self employed for the last 6 years. I have built and continue to operate a successful design and printing business within the wedding industry. I have zero interaction with other professionals and haven't had an employer in so long. My daily interactions involve my own clients, so naturally I am worried about not having Letters of Recommendation of worthy merit.</p>

<p>Secondly, I would prefer to stay in the Atlanta area and Georgia Tech seems to be the only college that offers this program. I understand that it is very selective, and I doubt my ability to get in. Are there any other graduate programs I should consider with my background?</p>

<p>Third, even though HCI is promoted as a combination of computer science, psychology, and design, the applicants I read about are almost always comp sci or psychology majors.</p>

<p>What course of action would you take in my situation? My thought is to enroll in computer science and math course at Georgia State university, to show my dedication and build relationships with professors. I am hoping that will help my letters of recommendation problem. I do have my doubts about being accepted in GaTech's HCI program. Would it getting a masters in Computer Science at a state university level be any benefit to me? What are the chances I would be able to do HCI work with my background and a masters in CS?</p>

<p>Please be as blunt as possible. I feel a bit embarrassed of my age, and wish I did this 6 years ago rather than build a business. If if I won't get a great job with a masters or PHD from an unranked state college, I'll accept it and continue with what I am doing now.</p>

2

<p>As a start, you might consider joining a professional society (usually much cheaper as a student member) such as the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Atlanta chapter website here: [HFES</a> Atlanta Chapter, Main: Home Page](<a href=“http://wellhost.com/hfesatl/index.shtml]HFES”>HFES Atlanta Chapter, Main: Home Page)
or an IEEE or ACM special interest group (SIG)
[TOCHI[/url</a>]
[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.sigchi.org/]Welcome”&gt;http://www.sigchi.org/]Welcome</a> — SIGCHI](<a href=“ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-HUMAN INTERACTION Home”>http://tochi.acm.org/)
[More</a> about SIGCHI — SIGCHI](<a href=“http://www.sigchi.org/about/more]More”>http://www.sigchi.org/about/more)</p>

<p>or at least reading some of their publications which are probably available at the GA Tech or GA State libraries: [Human</a> Factors and Ergonomics Society: Publications](<a href=“http://hfes.org/Publications/]Human”>Publications | HFES)
[Publications</a> — SIGCHI](<a href=“http://www.sigchi.org/publications]Publications”>http://www.sigchi.org/publications)</p>

<p>You may find that the field is more complex than knowing about graphic arts or that there are areas of specialization that are most of interest to you (examples: making computers easy for kids to use, reducing human errors when using controls and information displays in nuclear reactors or hand held hospital data entry devices… etc).
The aerospace industry for instance is quite keen on human factors.</p>

<p>I am not familiar with the nuances, but I think Human Factors/Human Computer Interaction/and MMI (Man-Machine Integration) are very similar and overlap with ergonomics.</p>

<p>Good design, whether of intuitive web sites or software, or the more mundane like office chairs that fit well with the human form, should be a consideration in anything intended to be used efficiently.</p>