UW MHCID Info Session 22 Oct 2025

Hello everyone, welcome in. This is the information session for applications and admissions for the University of Washington Master of Human Computer Interaction Design program. We're here

to talk to you today about admissions for the class that will begin in 2026, graduating in 2027. So, welcome

everybody in here. We hope we'll have an informative and worthwhile chat with you today to tell you a little bit about the program.

As we get going today, um, if you wanted to use chat to give an introduction, say who you are and where you're calling in from, I think it could be interesting to sort of get a feel for where the where

in the world this group of people that are gathered here are all coming from.

So, feel free to use chat. We can also put questions in chat as we go along.

Um, we'll keep an eye on those and when we get to the Q&A side, um, we can make use of those questions that have come up in the chat session to, um, answer the

things that are top of mind for you.

As we get going here today, we've got um a agenda set out that's pretty straightforward in what we're up to. So

we're going to give a little bit of introduction here, talk the big picture on what what we're doing here in this program, go into a little detail about the curriculum, talk about uh the

specifics for admission, a little bit about career outcomes in this program, and then um talk with a group of students who are here with us today too to talk about their experience. Um I

think it's always more interesting to hear from people who are actually experiencing this program as students.

So we'll do that and then we'll have time for questions and answers at the end.

Um to begin, I hope you're continuing to introduce yourself and chat along the way. Um the

hosts for today, we got three hosts from the staff side and a group of students here as well. So with me today, I'm Matt Bartell's in the center circle there.

I'm the assistant director of student services, a graduate adviser in the program. Um, joining us as well is Jacob

program. Um, joining us as well is Jacob Wro, a professor in the information school and our program director and Michelle Berto. She's a graduate adviser

Michelle Berto. She's a graduate adviser in our program. So, the three of us will be your hosts for today. In addition to us, we have four students from the current cohort who have joined us and

will be here to talk about their experience and answer questions as well.

We've got Caleb, Kishka, Meera, and Jai all here to chat with us today, too. and

you'll hear from them a little bit later in the day. So that's the that's the crew on this end and I think it's time to start talking about the program a

little bit. So to start us off um I'd

little bit. So to start us off um I'd like to introduce Jacob Wro um to talk a little bit from the overview perspective. So Jake, welcome in.

perspective. So Jake, welcome in.

>> Yeah. Hi everybody. Um I go by Jake, so um that that works as well. And uh I am a professor in the information school as Matt said and I'm currently the interim

director of the program and uh I actually helped found the program way back in I'm going to date myself a little bit here but we started to work on it in 2008 and we had our first

cohort I think in 2012 and so um it was a number of years in building out uh what is a really special program and part of what makes it special is that it

brings people together from four different units um on campus in particular and those are the information school uh design and human center design

and engineering and computer science and engineering. Yeah, I knew we had a

engineering. Yeah, I knew we had a diagram here to uh that we'd get to and I'll talk I'll talk a little more about this when we when we get to it. Um so

from those origins uh we we are here today in this fabulous new space. Matt's

going to talk about that in a little bit. And our mission is that we seek to

bit. And our mission is that we seek to prepare leaders who intentionally draw from and contribute to different disciplines to practice critical optimism in how human computer

interaction and design approach practice. So it's a lot of words, but

practice. So it's a lot of words, but basically we are um optimistic uh but not uh bllightly so. Uh so we're critically optimistic. We evaluate

critically optimistic. We evaluate things carefully. uh but we believe in a

things carefully. uh but we believe in a better future than uh than a worse one and we seek to make the future better

through our design and uh technology and user research efforts. Um and we also are focused on practice like the end of

that sentence says. So we uh care a lot about how we go about our work and we want to practice our design in ethical ways and in conscientious ways and

environmentally sensitive ways and so on. And so our practice is a big part of

on. And so our practice is a big part of what we focus on. Okay, go ahead to the next slide.

We also have a vision um that our graduates will create equitable, ethical, interactive systems that enhance human well-being considering the needs of both uh humans and societies.

So we think about individual users and we also think about groups and organizations and even society as a whole and that the whole kind of range of that. And so um that's what we're

of that. And so um that's what we're going to try to turn you into if you're not already. And uh you can see the

not already. And uh you can see the focus here is on uh a kind of thoughtful uh practice of design and human computer interaction.

Okay, go ahead to the next slide. So as

I mentioned we come from uh we in the program and the program itself comes from the four contributing units. The

school of art, art history and design, computer science and engineering, human- centered design and engineering and the information school. And those groups

information school. And those groups founded um an cross-campus group called DUB which stands for design, use build.

And Dub is essentially the umbrella that we all in HCI and design at UDub kind of sit under. And um I'll just brag for a

sit under. And um I'll just brag for a moment and say that uh to be fair along with Carnegie Melon, Udub and Carnegie Melon are kind of heads above the rest as far as the number of faculty who do

HCI and design and the number of papers that we publish in the top conferences and journals every year, the number of awards that we win, uh the number of great students that we produce. It's

it's kind of a heads above the rest kind of thing. And it's not to say there

of thing. And it's not to say there aren't other good programs in other places. There definitely are, but they

places. There definitely are, but they tend to be smaller or maybe focused on a niche area. Um, but UDub and CMU are

niche area. Um, but UDub and CMU are kind of the two gorillas, I guess, in the in the zoo here. And I went to Carnegie Mel and got my PhD there. Uh,

so um, it's a great place as well. And I

know many of you might be looking at their masters of HCI program. It's

great. I have nothing bad to say about it. Um, but that's that's kind of the uh

it. Um, but that's that's kind of the uh the landscape here. Um and we we do it not by a single department like they have but we bring together uh these different departments and faculty from

across the campus to make for this uh special program. Okay, let's go ahead to

special program. Okay, let's go ahead to the next slide. So out of dub came MHC and uh as I said we started working on

this in 2008.

I came to Udub in 2006 along with some other faculty and some of these other units and that's how we got started so early on this and uh we're really proud

of this program because it really set a kind of precedent for interdisciplinary programs across campus for example now we have a masters of science in data science at UDub and it has six

departments that contribute to it and it patterned itself after MHCID so we really were a pioneer in this kind of program at UDub and now we're the model

that a lot of the other programs look to for these kinds of interdicciplinary programs. Okay, >> you can go to the next slide. So, I'll

um leave it there as a little bit of history and a little cheerleading for what we've got here as being so special.

I really believe in it. It's uh

something that's very near and dear to my heart and has been for 20 years. So,

I hope you're able to come join us and get excited about uh this program in the way that I'm still so excited 20 years 20 years later. I'll pass it along.

>> Awesome. Thank you much, Jake. Yeah. Um

it's really great to sort of start, I think, from that perspective of where we've come from and what what this program was established to do. I'm going

to get more into the weeds here to talk a little specifically about how we structure the program and um what the curriculum looks like. So, the program

structure is fairly straightforward, but it's really important to know as you're comparing different programs and you're looking for ways that will teach you in the way that best fits your own interests and your own learning styles.

So, just to state hopefully some things that are obvious and others that may not be as obvious. Um, we're a one-year program. Students begin in September and

program. Students begin in September and graduate 11 months later in August. um

we're one one year start to finish to get the master's degree. It's a

full-time program and it's mostly a daytime program. So um this is a pretty

daytime program. So um this is a pretty intensive year. Um you'll be very busy

intensive year. Um you'll be very busy this whole year as you go through. In

addition, because it's a full-time program and a mostly daytime program in this compressed state, um it's not a work compatible program. Um, it's

possible to do a little bit of work while you're in the program, but you're not going to be able to take this in addition to a full-time job. We don't

think that's a setup that works for the way that we structured the program. Um,

every year we enroll about 50 students.

Uh, the current cohort has 47 students in it. Um, and we work according to the

in it. Um, and we work according to the cohort model in a dedicated studio space. And those last two points I

space. And those last two points I wanted to call out and talk a little more about as we go forward. So what do we mean by the cohort model? So the

cohort model um is a setup that has you working together with your classmates a lot more than you do in a lot of different graduate programs. Um the

emphasis in how we learn is really on group collaboration. You'll be working

group collaboration. You'll be working in a lot of group projects throughout this year here. Um, this is not a program for someone who wants to bury

their nose in a book and escape to the library for the whole year. Um, you're

together with others for much of what you're doing here. There's not too many solo projects throughout the year. A lot

of group collaboration is how we form the learning objectives in most of our courses through here. Um, the core courses are all taken together as a

cohort. So, for about 85% of the credits

cohort. So, for about 85% of the credits that you take, you're going to be with the full cohort together. Um, the ways you specialize, we'll talk about in detail in a little bit, but electives

are where you can kind of um shape the edges of the curriculum and the specific projects that you work on when you're in the core classes. But that that's what makes us a cohort model. a lot more

collaboration with this set of people that form the group that comes in together and walks through the program throughout this year. Um, I mentioned a dedicated studio space. Um, we've moved

into a new space this year and we wanted to take a little bit of time in the info session to show off our space. So, if my technology is working, I'm just going to

hit play on this video that we just made from our move in what space looks like.

Hey, hey hey.

So, By the way, I want to give kudos to Caleb, um, one of our student presenters in the panel coming up soon. Um, Caleb

shot this video for us. Um, it was shot before we really had moved our students in, so it doesn't look quite lived in, but this is a great new space that we've

got here. And I think um one of the one

got here. And I think um one of the one of the advantages of this place that we moved in is there's really some room to spread to go and like work in one

corner. Um get together with a team in

corner. Um get together with a team in another corner, go have a meal down at one edge of the studio space. Um it's a nice area to to spread out in, find a

classroom or or an office space that you want to work in or work in the large studio space. So, um we're excited that

studio space. So, um we're excited that we've got this really beautiful looking new studio space that's joining us.

We're just one month into our occupancy here. Um pretty awesome.

here. Um pretty awesome.

So, I want to talk a little about the um types of courses and how the curriculum puts together once you've seen those overarching themes of like how how we're a cohort model and and the like. I'm

wanted to just talk briefly about the classes you'll be taking. And I think these come together in about five different types of classes in our core curriculum. Um you'll take studio

curriculum. Um you'll take studio courses, the capstone series, which is sort of an add-on addition to the studio courses. Then there's seminar courses,

courses. Then there's seminar courses, the portfolio class, and electives. And

we'll talk about each one of these things as we go along. So first up in that list are studio courses. Um studio

courses are where we learn by practice.

So these are courses where you're often um put together in small groups of three or four people um classmates and you'll have a theme for the course and you'll

explore different ways of designing and different parts of the design process.

In fall quarter it's ideiation studio.

That's what our current students are taking right now where the emphasis is on coming up with ideas and understanding how to select amongst the ideas that you've chosen the beginning

stages of the design process. Even

though it's at the beginning um the course still has students walking through a full project um to get to a point that they can have a portfolio piece out of that studio class. In

winter quarter, you take prototyping studio, a studio focused on um moving from the computer to the real world. So

embodied design, making things, building physical objects, a little bit of coding along the way as well for sensors and the like. But prototyping is really

the like. But prototyping is really about like using those skills that you want that you need to use for building up the tools to test the ideas that you have. And then come summer or or spring

have. And then come summer or or spring and summer, we move into capstone studios. So capstone runs beginning

studios. So capstone runs beginning lightly in the winter quarter with a class to figure out what your teams are and who your industry adviserss are, but then you go into a studio for research

um about all the background that you need to become subject matter experts in the theme for your capstone um project.

summer quarter, the final quarter in the in the program is capstone studio where you're working almost entirely on your capstone project. So capstone projects

capstone project. So capstone projects are group projects again three to four people. Each team is matched with an

people. Each team is matched with an industry um advisor. Um, so in addition to their faculty instructors, you'll have somebody that you're working with that comes from industry and brings

their expertise with them to help shape the way that you approach your design problem. Um, these are intended to be

problem. Um, these are intended to be sort of the sumitative project. You've

been studying through the year. You've

gone through several loops of projects.

And this is a chance to dive in in an eight-monthlong project to really explore what might be possible if you had a lot of time and a lot of space to really push yourself on some new space

to or new project to work on. Um, by way of example, um, every year we have different sets of industry adviserss.

Um, some return year after year, others come in new, but this is a list of who the adviserss were for the cohort that most recently graduated. um a great

group of um industry adviserss from big and small companies around the Seattle area. Um and that's a typical group that

area. Um and that's a typical group that we have as industry adviserss. So you

can see some familiar and some maybe unfamiliar names in there. Um, we think it's really important though for this large project in capstone to have both

the perspective of instructors and your classmates and also the industry perspective to really ground what you're doing in something that's realistic for

the um, business space after you've graduated.

A second type or another type of course that you'll have um throughout the program are what we think of as our seminar courses. So if the studios are

seminar courses. So if the studios are the practice side of things, seminars are intended to mostly be the the theory side of things. We want you to come out of this program not just having done a

lot but also understanding why you're doing what you're doing. So you go through a series of core seminars, one each quarter that build on the different theoretical and historical frameworks

that underlly why we're how we're doing this design process that we're doing. So

in the fall quarter we have usability and user research seminar where you get a grounding in a lot of different methods of research and understanding

how to do good research and how to avoid bad research methods along the way.

Winter quarter we take user interfaces software and technology a course that really dives into understanding where these different interfaces that we are working with come from. What's the

history behind them? What are the theories that undergur how we interact with the different interfaces that we design for? Now, um the third seminar in

design for? Now, um the third seminar in this series in the core curriculum is called designing interactive systems. It's often a class that problematizes the design that we're doing. And now

that we've been through much of the year, by the time you get to this course, we want to step back and say like, okay, what are the why are we doing it the way that we're doing it?

What else might we be considering? Who

are we excluding? Who are we including in the way we design? The design of interactive systems class in the spring is really a chance to start taking on uh head-on those ethical questions to make

sure that that's part of how we build our designs and how we move forward in with projects going forward from there.

In spring quarter, you also have a portfolio class. It's a dedicated class

portfolio class. It's a dedicated class to help you um really make further strides in presenting the projects that you're going to be presenting for the job search. The portfolio class brings

job search. The portfolio class brings together um a couple of folks from industry who will come in and talk to you about best practices for telling your stories from your different cases

and projects that you've worked on. um

understanding what makes a good webbased portfolio and what makes a good portfolio presentation during the interview process. Um two slightly

interview process. Um two slightly different skills that you'll want to be developing. Um you'll focus on that a

developing. Um you'll focus on that a lot in spring quarter. Um finally, after portfolio class, the last piece of our um curriculum that we'll go through is

electives. So I mentioned about 85% of

electives. So I mentioned about 85% of the curriculum is all taken together as the cohort. Um electives are where you

the cohort. Um electives are where you can specialize a little bit. Our

electives are mostly offered by those four um schools that Jacob mentioned in the beginning. Uh the information

the beginning. Uh the information school, computer science and engineering design um division of design and um human center design and engineering um electives in those each of those

programs as part of hosting us they offer a space for students to take several electives every quarter. So

there are electives available. I think

of them as a place sort of icing on the top of your year of study. They're a

place where you can either fill in a gap of something that you've identified that you're missing that you want to build up this year or it might be a place that allows you to go deeper in something that's your specialization. So you might

want to be a a researcher who takes a particular quantitative research course.

um something like that that you just want to like build up an extra skill to become more of a mixed method researcher for example. So electives are kind of

for example. So electives are kind of the icing on the cake of the core curriculum.

Um few sample electives I just listed here some of the ones that are um that come up throughout the year that are generally pretty popular ones um as we go along. Um they're electives on all

go along. Um they're electives on all sorts of different specialty topics or projectbased courses. Um and so they

projectbased courses. Um and so they really give you a lot of chance to sort of try out something different that you're not getting in the core curriculum.

Overall, this is what the quarter by quarter year looks like. Um we start out with ideation studio and user research in autumn. In winter it's prototyping

in autumn. In winter it's prototyping studio with that user interface software and technology class and capstone planning added on top. Spring quarter we start getting into capstone research

along with that design of interactive systems seminar class. This is where our portfolio class comes in as well. And

then summer is all based on capstone studio. Um you're really preparing for

studio. Um you're really preparing for graduation when you come to summer quarter. This is what our curriculum

quarter. This is what our curriculum looks like. Um it's a pretty um

looks like. Um it's a pretty um well-defined curriculum and I think it gives you a chance to get several loops of practice with projects throughout the

year and also a chance to build that foundation especially in the theory courses to really understand the why behind what you're doing here and how

you're going to be a designer u moving into your careers after this.

We've talked a lot about the curriculum and the like. I think it's worth stepping back a little bit and saying um maybe talking about and answering the question like who's right for MHC? So,

who are we looking for from our applicants in the program? Um for this, I'd encourage um Michelle and Jacob as well to um jump in and any of us can talk about any of these bullets. Um

Jacob or Michelle, if either of you would like to grab a couple of these bullets and see what's going on with these.

>> Go ahead, Michelle.

Michelle, I'm not hearing you.

>> I think Jake, I think we'll we'll take it for now.

>> I'll take I'll take the first one. Um,

so we're looking for people who are curious and thoughtful about people in technology. What does that mean to us?

technology. What does that mean to us?

Um, I think I key on the word curious, the beginning of that. Um, we're

definitely looking for folks who are exploring and wanting to learn more through this year. Uh, we're not looking for folks who are just, um, reiterating what they already know. We think you're

coming here to learn something. And that

curiosity really drives what the the people in this cohort tend to bring with them. I think it's it's thoughtfulness

them. I think it's it's thoughtfulness and curiosity, not just about technology though. Um, we're an HCI program and

though. Um, we're an HCI program and that H part is about humans. So we want people who are interested in learning both about technology and about how

people interact with that technology.

>> Yeah, I can take the second bullet. Um

>> yeah, so um self-directed and driven.

It's probably pretty self-explanatory, but the program is um a fairly intense one and it's a graduate program, so uh you know, we don't spoon feed you everything you might need to know.

That's a little bit more of an undergraduate kind of experience. Um, as

graduate students in projectbased studio style classes, you will be defining the problems you work on as much as addressing problems that you're given.

And um, a lot of it's how much you put in, you'll get out. So the more driven students who go the extra mile often find that they um, have the results at

the end they're most proud of, too. So

it's um, it's an intense program. It's

an exhausting program for a lot of folks. Um but uh as a you know um

folks. Um but uh as a you know um essentially one full year program uh you can kind of push hard and come out of it

with a lot uh to show for it and and then be on your way. So that's part of why we designed it that way so that it's not just um a two-year program that keeps you here kind of longer than you

need to be.

>> Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's absolutely right that this the value of being self-directed as a graduate student, it really can't be unders undersold. Um, this really is a program

undersold. Um, this really is a program where there's going to be a you're going to be very busy, but making the most of it is what you're bringing into the program. Um, and having that that

program. Um, and having that that sensibility can be really helpful. I

think the next two bullets on this list are things that we've already kind of talked about. Um hopefully you

talked about. Um hopefully you understand more about the studio model and or the studio space, the cohort model that we work in. Um that appeals to some people and doesn't appeal to

others. Um as you're looking at

others. Um as you're looking at different programs, you want to have that in mind to say like, okay, would I want to be in these in this space with everyone? Um is that a way that I can

everyone? Um is that a way that I can see myself spending the year? We hope

so. We think it works really nicely, but that's something you want to have in mind is and understand as you're applying for the program. Um and yeah, it's a busy year, one full year. Um it's

a you'll be very busy throughout the year. It's also financially, you know, a

year. It's also financially, you know, a financial cost to take a year off from working and come and do this program.

It's nice that it's just one year of that, but you have to know that coming in. Um we'll talk a little more about

in. Um we'll talk a little more about finances down the road, but it's largely a self-funded program as you're going into it. That's how I'd be expecting um

into it. That's how I'd be expecting um how it's going to line up for you. So

have to be willing to have that as part of your strategy as you're thinking about programs. With the the last couple of points, an impulse towards creation and a sense of

purpose. Um these we found to be really

purpose. Um these we found to be really helpful for students as they're trying to figure out like where their place is in the field, their careers that they're

headed towards and also in how they're approaching this um overall this HCI field. I think an impulse towards

field. I think an impulse towards creation means you're not just looking to learn what has been done, but we looking we're looking for people who are excited about what might be and how we

might take these lessons from the academy and apply them to solve real problems and to think about things that might be improved in the world. So that

impulse towards creation really makes for some curious folks, that curious and thoughtful um classmate that you want.

Um, we think that comes a lot from people who have that impulse towards creation and a sense of purpose. Those are pro your purpose is probably something

that's an evolving um target throughout your life. Um, it's not like we think

your life. Um, it's not like we think you're going to have all the answers already before you come into a program.

But having a a look and a sense of like where I want to go at this moment, what's driving me to move forward? That

can be really helpful as well for making a a compelling applicant to this program. I can add to that last one too

program. I can add to that last one too a little bit. Um the

design is fundamentally interventionist, right? It seeks to take existing

right? It seeks to take existing circumstances and change them into better ones. But in that thinking is a

better ones. But in that thinking is a claim that you know better. I mean if you don't know better then why should you intervene through your design work,

right? And so there's a sort of

right? And so there's a sort of arrogance to that a little bit and there's a presumption that there's a process you can follow to understand what better looks like. And that's why

it's so important to keep humans at the center of the process we follow so that we don't presume that we know better but we understand what is better for people in their terms from their perspective.

That's why the development of empathy and in or user research processes is so important and why we even put the H first in HCI um so that it's focused

first on humans and the technology follows. And so when you talk about your

follows. And so when you talk about your sense of purpose, it it needs to be a sense of purpose that is a purpose that takes on the purpose of others, right?

It's a purpose that serves others interests and purposes, assuming you agree with those. And um that's the the kind of purpose that we're looking for

and that we want to help you develop and enhance as well.

>> Absolutely. Yeah. Well said.

All right. I think next um Michelle, do we have you on the line now?

>> Yes, I am here. I do apologize. I had a little bit of bad internet.

>> Welcome back in. Perfect timing though.

So Michelle Berto will be talking next a little bit about the pieces of the admissions process.

>> Yeah. So absolutely. So in terms of admissions application material, so there have been a few changes this year, but not too many for folks who've been on the website. Um as a reminder, there

is an application fee of $90 US. Um for

context, we are unable to provide at the MHC program um any um application fee waivers directly the program. For some

individuals, if they contact our graduate school, the UDub graduate school, there may be some opportunities for some of our domestic students. But I

would uh if that is something that you're looking for, I would recommend checking out our graduate uh school website. We ask also that you submit

website. We ask also that you submit unofficial transcripts showing a minimum 3.0 O equivalent GPA along um with an in from an institution that is accredited.

Um you should have approximately uh four years. So that would be about a

years. So that would be about a four-year curriculum for folks who might be transferring from um undergrad or um from community college or did um AP or

IB or anything like that. Um know that as long as it's the equivalent of a four-year degree, you're good to go. Um

but if you are in a three a year program, I would recommend reaching out to us in admissions to um make sure that you there are some ways to um with additional certifications to be able to

meet our requirement there. And we do ask only for an official transcript. You

do not need to pay for official transcripts to be sent to the institution unless you are accepted. Um

I would highly recommend doing that just it saves a little bit of money for folks. We also ask for three letters of

folks. We also ask for three letters of recommendation. uh as a practitioner

recommendation. uh as a practitioner program, we value a variety of letters of recommendation. So, while a more

of recommendation. So, while a more traditional graduate school experience might ask for primarily academic letters of recommendation, we really ask for those that best represent you, um

especially for some of our folks who've been a little bit further away from grad school. We understand that getting

school. We understand that getting professors to write your letters of recommendation can be a little challenging. Uh but we recommend a mix,

challenging. Uh but we recommend a mix, you know, and really think about those who can be your best advocates. Um, you

will also be asked to submit a resume or CV. Either format uh or style is fine,

CV. Either format uh or style is fine, but we don't have any specifics on that beyond just having something that shows your body of work. A statement of purpose. Um, the statement of purpose is

purpose. Um, the statement of purpose is a real essential piece of the application process. This really should

application process. This really should be the story of you and a piece of the um application that you should really spend some time with. make sure that

it's well um like well written and also um is sort of the core of of of who you are in this application uh as of this year. So in terms of some changes as

year. So in terms of some changes as well, we now have changed our additional materials from being an optional material to a requirement. So you'll

notice that we don't say portfolio and the reason is is that we do value folks coming from a variety of interdisciplinary backgrounds and we know that for some of you a portfolio is

not your best additional material. It

may be a research paper or it may be um a project you've worked on. I would say the majority of our applicants do submit more traditional I would say well they submit portfolios in general. So there

there is some variety. Typically it is UX. Um, occasionally we get folks who

UX. Um, occasionally we get folks who come from architecture and other backgrounds with different types of portfolios, but that probably is our most standard uh material, but we have absolutely accepted students who've

submitted research papers and the like.

And then the final additional material is a one minute video that's new of this year. We ask for um you to speak a

year. We ask for um you to speak a little bit about one of your projects within your additional materials section. So if it's a portfolio speaking

section. So if it's a portfolio speaking to one project or if it is one project talk to that a little bit. Um we've this is actually a new requirement for us and we've not set too many guidelines in

terms of style or presentation um with a little bit of intentionality. We're also

doing a little bit of learning on this tool and we really asked you to answer the question. Um but you know um that's

the question. Um but you know um that's really you know it's we are intentionally um allowing you all to be able to make that what you will but

really it is about communicating a piece of your additional material.

Excellent.

All right. And then for our international applicants we have some additional requirements. Uh so first you

additional requirements. Uh so first you will need to be able to demonstrate English language proficiency. And

there's a couple of ways you can do that. First, you can submit test scores

that. First, you can submit test scores such as TOEFL, IELTS or Dualingo. Um,

and so that's something that definitely um many of our applicants will do. You

can also uh submit additional forms of proof of English language proficiency including um having attended an institution where the medium of instruction is English. So that includes

um you know having studied in the United States as well as an an institution where the medium of instruction is English. If it is a country, if you have

English. If it is a country, if you have attended an institution where the medium of instruction is in English in a country where English is not the primary language, you'll typically uh ask or request a letter from your institution

just providing and provide that to us as evidence. Um and then the school must be

evidence. Um and then the school must be a 4-year accredited school. Um and then the GPA will be converted by us to a 4.0 scale. Uh we ask that if you have Wes

scale. Uh we ask that if you have Wes applications or any sort of uh conversion that you also we want those original uh transcripts or the unofficial ones like the digital copy is

fine. Uh but we ask that if you're

fine. Uh but we ask that if you're submitting like west documents that is not required and we actually would ask if you're doing that to submit the original ones as well. Uh we really want

those original documents.

Excellent.

All right. And so let's see here uh in terms of cost and finance. Um so just a few reminders that we are a feebased

program. Uh so the estimated tuition per

program. Uh so the estimated tuition per year is about $60,000 um USD. Um what's

nice for some of our international students, it does mean that the cost is pretty is equivalent for all both our domestic and international students as well out of state folks as well. So, the

tuition, we don't get the benefit of having um a reduced uh tuition cost from the state, but that does mean that every student pays the same fee. We also uh would say that we re we anticipate the

living expenses to be about 20 to $30,000 in Seattle. Seattle is not a cheap city and so as you're considering the cost of attending the University of Washington, it is just important to keep

in mind the cost of living here. um that

includes housing and also additional expenses such as uh food and gas. And we

just want to make sure that you're aware of um as you're budgeting and taking into consideration um graduate school in general to just be mindful of those additional costs. We want to make sure

additional costs. We want to make sure that you're successful and able to um be able to cover the cost there. Um most of our students are paying using loans.

While we do have some limited options in terms of scholarships through the admissions process as well as limited student employment, all students I would say in the past

have um typically uh paid for their MHAD experience through student loans or some sort of other external uh funding option.

All right.

And then in terms of our admissions timeline, so the uh application will be closing on January 15th of 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

Pacific Standard Time. Uh so just make sure that your application and all your materials are submitted by then. For the

letters of recommendation, it is important that we get those in um in a timely manner.

All right. And then once our decisions will be out by March 15th. In the past, we've been very very good about hitting that March 15th deadline. Um, and so and usually within that week, um, I've never

I think we almost always get it on March 15th and so we're pretty proud of that accomplishment.

All right. And then final one is on April 15th is your decision deadline.

And so that will be when you'll let us know whether or not you uh want to join us in the MHC community. And this is would be for the folks who receive

initial um offering. If you are a uh applicant who um uh is weight listed, you would have a different timeline, but April 15th would be your final decision date. And you can always reach out to us

date. And you can always reach out to us if you think you need a little additional time.

>> Excellent.

>> All right. Thanks so much, Michelle.

Yeah, >> thank you. Keeping those 15s in mind, January 15th, March 15th, April 15th.

Those are the key deadlines to have or key dates to have in mind in the admissions process here. I want to talk briefly about the other end. So,

admissions tells you about getting into the program and what's needed to get into the program. We've talked about what you'll be doing during the year here, but I also wanted to talk about the other side because this is a

professional degree and we're preparing you for careers in the field. Um, this

isn't so much an academic program that's preparing people for PhD programs down the line or a life in academia. Um,

you're going out into the into the career world as a professional after this program. So, we do a lot during the

this program. So, we do a lot during the year to help with your career development. I'll just talk briefly

development. I'll just talk briefly about this now, but this is something worth having in mind as we go forward.

Um, within the program itself, we provide a lot of resources to help you prepare for that job search and your career launch as you go out the other

side. We hold a series of workshops um

side. We hold a series of workshops um that are especially focused on the nuts and bolts of how to make it through an interview process. We'll break apart all

interview process. We'll break apart all the different stages of the interview process from screening interviews to behavioral interviews to whiteboard challenges or um app critiques and

especially the portfolio presentation.

All those different stages we we have workshops on and practice sessions on.

Um also your materials like your resume and the like. We'll talk through all of those and workshops throughout the year.

Um, in addition to that though, we do a lot of one-on-one counseling with students um because you're all coming at this with different objectives and at different stages of preparation. So,

meeting with um the adviserss in the program is a key part of your career development as we go along. Um, as a as one piece of that that I think is worth mentioning, um, we provide for

international students a lot of assistance as you're getting ready to apply for OPT, um, and your, um, employment authorization to do your work

authorization. Um, Michelle and our team

authorization. Um, Michelle and our team um, is a former DSO, so brings a lot of knowledge for international students as we go along and um, and prepare for

that. Um we also have workshops on

that. Um we also have workshops on things like networking. Um how to talk with how to meet with different folks in industry. Um we organize site visits

industry. Um we organize site visits where we take a group of students to go and talk with folks at different companies and see what what they're experiencing in real life as designers.

Um last year we had visits to companies like Uber and Google and um Blink UX and Starbucks among others. I think those

are most of the ones we went to. Um, a

big part of our resources that we provide as well are our alumni. Um, our

alumni give back a lot to current students. Um, we have an alumni

students. Um, we have an alumni mentoring program that every student has two alumni mentors that they'll work with starting in winter and spring quarter. Um, our alumni often have

quarter. Um, our alumni often have panels that they'll come back and we'll organize panels around different themes.

like say a group of user researchers will come in and talk about life as user researcher in industry or maybe a group from a single company like Google or something like that will come in and

talk about life as designers and researchers within a specific company.

Um those are great places to um both learn from them immediately but also make some connections and start talking to folks down the road. Um we're a small program but we've got over 400 alumni

now. So there are alums stretched around

now. So there are alums stretched around a whole bunch of different companies in the in the area and worldwide. Um beyond

us just briefly want to mention that one of the back background advantages of being in Seattle and at the University of Washington is the location here. Um

the University of Washington is a large school. It has a large career and

school. It has a large career and internship center that offers workshops on different stages of the job search almost every day of the week. Um, it's a big school, so of course a lot of those

are geared towards undergrads, but you can take advantage of those strategically and make use of the job fairs and other workshops and seminars they have. Um, that can be really

they have. Um, that can be really useful. I think being in Seattle is one

useful. I think being in Seattle is one of the big hidden strengths of um, this program and what we have to offer.

Seattle is a great place to be a practitioner in this field. Um the Bay Area perhaps arguably has more people working in this field, but the next best place would be somewhere like Seattle

that just brings together, you know, not just Microsoft and Amazon, but also a large presence in Google. Uh Meta's got a large couple of offices here. a lot of

subsidiary companies that have spun out from the big Amazon and Microsoft um juggernaut in this in town has led to a pretty thriving area of companies and

work both big and small that focus on um fields that you might want to go into.

So being in Seattle, being at the University of Washington and being specifically in this program offer a lot of resources as you're working on your career. just a couple of um outcome

career. just a couple of um outcome slides and then I really want to move on to talk with our students today. So um

our alumni um we got a breakdown of where our alumni are now. About half of the alum are still working in the Seattle area. Um if you add in the Bay

Seattle area. Um if you add in the Bay Area and the rest of the West Coast, we're getting close to about 80% of our alumni live somewhere on the west coast of the US. There's a good contingent

that lives in in the east coast of the US um that are working especially in New York City um and a handful of people working scattered throughout the rest of

the US and about 6% um throughout the rest of the world but most of our alum are here on the west coast. Um that's

that's where a lot of the companies of interest are. So it's not too surprising

interest are. So it's not too surprising there. Um, job titles are a little messy

there. Um, job titles are a little messy in this field, but in general, most of our alum are working at a job title that roughly could be called designer, whether it's product designer, UX

designer, UI designer, a lot of different labels around designer things, but that's about twothirds of our alum.

About 10% of our alum are user researchers. Um, another 10% or so are

researchers. Um, another 10% or so are in what I would call management or leadership roles, and another 14% are kind of harder to categorize what they're working on.

Um, last thing to talk about is hiring speed. Um, I think it's important to

speed. Um, I think it's important to think about, you know, when you're investing a year in in a program like this, um, what can I I be expecting on the other side. So, if you've been

paying attention to this field at all the last few years, there's been a slowdown in hiring in in tech in general, but especially in this field.

and it's worth thinking about, but we've had really good success with our students both over the years and even more recently. Um, our hiring speed, we

more recently. Um, our hiring speed, we look at um when people get hired after graduating. And our overall hiring speed

graduating. And our overall hiring speed for our alumni has been um pretty consistently that by three three months after graduation about twothirds of the

alum were working um in a full-time job working in a position related to their degree here. By 6 months out we're up

degree here. By 6 months out we're up around 90%. But that's the whole last 12

around 90%. But that's the whole last 12 years. Um the last two years things have

years. Um the last two years things have slowed down for sure. Um three years ago things really stopped in hiring. Two

years ago, things were slow. Last year,

we had some good recovery, but we're still trying to get ourselves up to these um traditional sort of overall levels. So, our last full year of grads,

levels. So, our last full year of grads, the 20 people who graduated in August of 2024, um after 3 months, over half of them were employed. That's still

were employed. That's still significantly lower than what our usual average is, but a pretty good outcome um given how slow things have been for a

couple of years. um once we look at more than or by 6 months out we're up over 70% of our alumni finding jobs even in this tighter job market. So I think

that's a tribute to the preparation that you get in a program like this that you're coming out in the market that's a tight market but it's a market where the requirements for hiring are higher now

the bar is higher and we think we're preparing you with for that higher bar.

Um, a little bit of stats for the most recent grads. They've only graduated two

recent grads. They've only graduated two months ago, so we don't have like full details of what happened to the class of 2025 yet. They're out there doing their

2025 yet. They're out there doing their job searches right now. Um, things are looking fairly decent. I'm cautiously

optimistic, but we've got to wait some time before we understand what's going on. We've had people hired at several

on. We've had people hired at several several interesting good companies here.

Um, but it's still too early to really know what's going on. But I think that's important to have a sense of the hiring space speed for any program you're looking at. And we're definitely

looking at. And we're definitely watching um the interesting job market these days to see how that's affecting the field that we're moving into.

That's just a little glimpse on the career side. We can talk more if you

career side. We can talk more if you have questions about that during question and answer, but I'm really interested in not showing slides any longer, but taking some time to uh meet

some current students and hear what they have to say about the program. So, um I would like to stop the slide deck here

and introduce Caleb, Keshka, Meera, and Jai to talk a little bit about what they've been experiencing in the program. Um let me stop the sharing

program. Um let me stop the sharing there. Um we should be able to see

there. Um we should be able to see actual people instead of just the slide deck here. Um welcome in Jay Caleb

deck here. Um welcome in Jay Caleb Kadeska Mera. It's great to see you all

Kadeska Mera. It's great to see you all and um everybody these are current students who started just last month. Um

so they're are veterans of a little over a month now. um it feels like forever in some ways, but it's also um just getting started for them. Um what I'd like to do

to get us started is maybe ask each of you to introduce yourself, give us a sense of where you came from and maybe just a little bit of information about like a year ago when you were putting

together your application. What were you considering? How did you decide that

considering? How did you decide that this is a place you wanted to show up at? So um looking around I see Keshka

at? So um looking around I see Keshka first. So why don't we start with you?

first. So why don't we start with you?

>> Sure. Hi I'm Kaneshka. I'm from India. I

just joined hecid this year. I'm one

month into this course. I have a background in user experience design. I

went to a design school back home and I have a bachelor's in human centered design. Uh coming here I wasn't

design. Uh coming here I wasn't expecting how fast-paced it would be. So

you're on your feet the very first day.

There is no hi, how are you? nothing.

You just get to right to the point from the beginning. Uh in terms of how you

the beginning. Uh in terms of how you can create your application or just in terms of writing your SOP maybe even um like Michelle said, I think you should

just be you be honest. I think for me especially it was just me reflecting on how I like what my journey was going to look like and how I wanted to get there

that sort of helped me um write my sob and in uh and for my portfolio I put it together because I'm a design student I come from that background so I sort of know how to create a portfolio so that

really helped um so yeah that is what I that that's what my journey looks like anything else Matt that I didn't answer >> no that's great thank you >> yes >> awesome Caleb, you're next on my screen,

so we'll go with you, Caleb. Thanks for

the video as well.

>> Oh, yeah, of course. Uh, can y'all hear me pretty easily?

>> You're good.

>> Perfect. Um, so I'm a little biased in that I was actually born in Seattle, but I moved to San Antonio, Texas. Yes,

Texas when I was about four. And then

from there, I studied to be a computer science major. Uh, but I also had a

science major. Uh, but I also had a sociology background. So there's a

sociology background. So there's a little bit of human elements going on within that little jumble of uh majors and minors, but uh on top of that, I also have a creative side where I do

music and a lot of design work. Uh so

I'm kind of like an interdisciplinary uh fiasco going on. But uh that's what really resonated with me uh when I saw

MHC and that the dub community space kind of made it. Uh so it's nice seeing all these different uh cohorts or these

people coming together to make some new inventions, new ideas. Uh so that I I just really enjoyed that. So that's why I picked MHC. Um but as for application

materials, um I would say uh put your whole heart out there. Uh also don't use chat GPT uh to write your whole essay.

We can tell. So uh highly recommend not to do that, but uh write your heart out.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Next up, Mera. Mera, you're on.

>> Can you all hear me? Okay.

>> You're kind of good.

>> All right. M since I and squash mirror forspring. Hello everyone. Oh, I forgot

forspring. Hello everyone. Oh, I forgot one of the last names. Mirror devetcha

forspring. Hello everyone. My name is Mera Devetcha Forspring. I'm a proud enrolled member of the Kitz Indian tribe and a descendant of Nusquali, Clickat, and Kunal tribes. Um, my background, um,

very similar to Caleb, a bit of a just a fiasco of all the different things. I

think of it as you're making spaghetti, you're trying to check if if the noodles are done and ready, and you throw it at the wall, and you see if it sticks. And

so, I come from a big background of there's psychology, sociology, anthropology, indigenous studies, but also, um, screenwriting and film. Um,

and I feel like if any of you guys are coming from like a creative writing background, that is actually going to provide a lot of really transferable skills to this program, anything from

log lines to pitch decks as well as just like story structure, which is absolutely amazing. It's actually

absolutely amazing. It's actually something that was really drawing me towards this program was just all of the interdisiplinary aspects of it that were

just so enticing and seemed like it would be really engaging for me. Um, as

for application materials, um, I think the biggest thing that I had in mind when I was putting together my application, I had two different parts

of it. Um, and one was a bit more rooted

of it. Um, and one was a bit more rooted in my academic background and one was more just in my creative side. uh not a typical portfolio piece, but the biggest

thing I was thinking of as I was looking at it was if I was in admissions right now and I was going through this person's application, how could I make

this as painless as possible? So, I had like a 30 plus page research paper with so many different other aspects to it and I was like, "Wow, I would hate doing

this. I would hate reading through this

this. I would hate reading through this entire thing and taking all the time."

So, I made sure to include a little like page that kind of summarized the main points of this paper just to kind of save people's time and sanity. I'm sure

that they did read through the entire paper, but in case they were running short on time, how could I make it easier for them? And I think that's the biggest part of just being as authentically you as you can, but also

really considering your audience that you're submitting this application to and how best you can just again show yourself in a way that will be um

not necessarily palatable, but like easiest to chew, but still be you, if that makes sense.

>> Can I actually add on to that real quick?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. So when writing your application uh whether this this is for undergrad or for a master's program you I think humans tend to be hyperbolic and want to

express themselves in a way that seems very endearing very uh uh like out of this world. So I recommend reading your

this world. So I recommend reading your essay again a week later to see how it sounds and to see if you agree with it because a lot can change within a week.

Trust me.

>> Absolutely. Yes. I add on to that.

>> Yeah. So, I I resonate with what you're saying because when I first started writing it and versus 50 drafts later, it sounded completely different to me.

So, I agree. Read, reread. It's it's

very helpful.

>> And keep a keep a keep on track those previous iterations of your essay as well because sometimes a previous iteration may sound a bit better than a later one.

>> That's true.

>> Yes. not always the case but >> good thinking definitely I want to bring in next Jay so Jai you'll you many of you will probably be

talking to during the coming months Jai is our admissions ambassador as well as being a current student so she helps us out in all things um about the admissions process here so Jai tell us a

little about yourself welcome in >> hi everyone thank you Matt um for the introduction I'm Jay I have a background in psychology and philosophy with a

concentration on cognitive science and after college I kind of explored um different career paths like everybody in this room. Um I started out in

this room. Um I started out in consulting and then later worked as a behavior therapist. So it's in that role

behavior therapist. So it's in that role as a mental health professional. I saw

firsthand how many resources and technologies are inaccessible or unaffordable for neurodyiverse individuals or children with um

developmental disabilities. So this

developmental disabilities. So this really sparked my interest in human computer interaction. Um I chose image C

computer interaction. Um I chose image C because well there are a lot of reasons there but um I would say that the two main reasons is that first I really like that

it has like a cohort-based model. I

really value close-knitted learning communities. My undergrad was also um in

communities. My undergrad was also um in a small liberal arts college where all of the learnings are happening in like small seminars and this program has the

same collaborative cohort-based field and I love how in group projects I get to work with folks from like very diverse backgrounds like we have people

in like film like Mera um and then career science like Caleb and design Keshka and also um people in mechanical engineering to architecture and of

course social science. Um just love the diversity there. Um and I think it's

diversity there. Um and I think it's definitely helpful from designers perspective to kind of like bring in um people with like different voices and different perspectives to work on the

project. Um, and the second reason I

project. Um, and the second reason I chose MHC is that, um, I love that it has like project based curriculum instead of like very lecture heavy or

just, you know, you sit there and you listen to the teacher. Um, it's very hands-on. Most of the time we spend in

hands-on. Most of the time we spend in the studio. We're like talking to

the studio. We're like talking to people, um, communicating, pitching for our ideas. So, um that learning by doing

our ideas. So, um that learning by doing part fits perfectly with um how I like to learn um application material wise.

Um I feel like I'm going to say the cliche of like doing your research, attending information sessions and exploring the website, talking to current students. I feel like the

current students. I feel like the research part is like underestimated um in the application process because I feel like you can get a lot of like

resources and information from just like talking to people and like from websites. Um kind of what you guys are

websites. Um kind of what you guys are already doing right here. Um, and also make sure that the program has something that you're really excited about and

kind of um, mention that in your personal statement and stay authentic in your application materials, right? Um,

and from from a social science background, I want to like speak directly to the people who have a social science background out there. I was very intimidated when I saw like there are

people who have like design background who has like portfolios that are like shiny and fancy and like a fully responsive personal um website

portfolio. Um but I made my portfolio on

portfolio. Um but I made my portfolio on the site back which made me feel like impostor but um this is an interdisciplinary field and the program

values a lot of like diverse perspective and teamwork. So, don't worry if your

and teamwork. So, don't worry if your portfolio isn't a perfectly polished designer website. And I think what

designer website. And I think what matters most here is what you bring to the table and um don't ever estimate that, underestimate that.

>> That's great. Thank you. Um these are great intros. I would love to hear a

great intros. I would love to hear a little bit about what you've been up to this year so far. Um what kind of things are you working on? What have you found found yourself working on both in the

core classes and electives? Those might

be different for each of you. So, um I'm not going to go around. Um any of you want to speak? Go for it.

>> Yeah, I can go ahead.

>> Um so, currently how this program works is that you have multiple groups happening at the same time. So, I'm trying to juggle all those

time. So, I'm trying to juggle all those groups in my mind, all those different people. Um but what from I can remember

people. Um but what from I can remember currently is uh we are currently researching some uh extended reality

things for a user research project. Uh

and we're just now getting to the phase of actually doing interviews. So that's

currently what I'm working on. It's been

a very long and tumultuous four weeks for this particular project, but now we're getting uh we're getting started.

So it's very nice to see that happen.

>> Awesome. to add to what Caleb said. Um,

in the same class, I'm looking at how productivity uh can help people who sort of have, you know, divergence in terms

of ADHD and how we can help um tweak or change uh productivity tools that are already out there to help them lead a better or have more productive

lifestyle. So, uh what I've learned is

lifestyle. So, uh what I've learned is that when you first make a draft, that's just your first draft. there's so much more to it and we get that sort of feedback from our professors. So I think

I've gone back and forth with uh Christine and Sarah are our user researchers. So Christina has helped us

researchers. So Christina has helped us I think she's helped us re iterate this like five times now and it was due two days ago. So we've been going back and

days ago. So we've been going back and forth with her five times. So that way it's very like it's very on the spot learning and you always learn no matter what you're doing you're always learning.

Cool.

>> Yeah. Um I'm sucking in Caleb with there are so many groups and I definitely I think get really good at coordinating

your calendar um for this program because figuring out times that work with everyone's classes and busy lives are it's definitely a process. Um I'm in

a group project for every single class that I'm in right now and it's it's an experience. Um similarly uh in the same

experience. Um similarly uh in the same class as uh Caleb and Konoska um my group we are currently focusing on some

research studies into um just falsified information um data security um as well as oh what is it like

identity theft online um so we're very excited to be looking into that um I think in my other what am I doing in my other class uh in my elective I'm

actually helping propose and put together a entirely new feature for an app. Uh we chose Instacart and we're

app. Uh we chose Instacart and we're super I can't share too much about the feature that we're developing or trying to figure out. Um but it's very exciting and it's just fun to be taking something that some people use in their everyday

lives and just I don't know if you're walking around, you're using an app and you're like it'd be so much better if it had this and then actually getting to kind of go into that and go through hypothesis and all those different forms

is just so exciting. Um, that's my little ramble.

>> Cool.

>> Um, I kind of want to talk about the final project that I'm working on for my elective, which is visual communications. Um, I don't come from a

communications. Um, I don't come from a design background, so I wanted to pick up some visual and design skills. in

this quarter. Um so for our final project um we're redesigning a website for a local nonprofit organization that

um addresses food insecurity issues in the local community. It's been

personally it's been very challenging to me especially getting used to a lot of design tools and visual theories especially compared to those folks who

have a design background and are already familiar with the tools. Um, but I'm having a lot of fun in this class and it's rewarding because I get to apply

what I learn in books directly to real life projects which feels very purposeful and meaningful.

>> That's awesome. Um, outside of class, how's the cohort experience been? What

have y'all What have you all found?

You've had a month now with each other.

Um, we've talked about what the ideal is of what we think we're putting together, but how has the cohort been together?

How has your experience been this month?

>> Yeah.

>> Surprised you what what surprised you or didn't surprise you?

>> I didn't realize having so many people from different backgrounds would actually put together personalities that are very much alike. Um, I've become friends with a lot of people, like

really close friends with a few people in in this cohort so far. And it helps a lot, especially in Seattle as it's becoming winter and people are staying inside most of the time. Uh, it's good

to have like this group of people to hang out with after class, to uh get a beer with, to uh to do anything after after class that's generally really fun.

Um, especially during winter time. So

>> also I think the first week of classes is when we sort of get our calendar and uh I happen to have two weeks of uh two days of the week that are free and in

the first week I was like whoa I have a like a long weekend Friday Saturday Sunday that doesn't happen it go it we have projects after projects after projects which have meeting after meeting after meeting so there is no gap

even you're working on your weekends as well so try to balance your academic as well as your social life if you can.

Yeah, that is something that was very interesting.

>> Yeah, absolutely. I think I have to second both what Caleb and Keshka are saying. Um I feel like when I came into

saying. Um I feel like when I came into this cohort, I was like, did they match us by like personality or something cuz I just remember coming home from the first day of like our intensive week and

just being like these are the coolest people I've ever met in my entire life.

And I kept rambling about that. Um, but

seriously, these are people in in the cohort, at least to me, are some of the most like interesting and talented and dynamic people I've met. Um, everyone is

so incredibly supportive and dedicated um to this program. Um, but it is really important to have work life balance. The

staff are absolutely wonderful. Again,

applause to Matt and Jacob and and Dukes and Christian and I'm so horrible with names, but I know that there's like Michelle is in there, too, and just amazing. Amazing.

amazing. Amazing.

>> You'll forget Michelle. Oh my gosh, >> I know. I know. I can't remember people's names. But everyone is just

people's names. But everyone is just really really supportive in this program. But it all is also really

program. But it all is also really important to be um be conscious about your schedule. Um, I

think I'm one of the few people in the cohort who is still working, but the only reason I'm able to do that is because my boss is willing to be super

duper flexible with me and was able to let me go down to at maximum 10 hours a week. And that's something where I can

week. And that's something where I can break it up to fit between the time that works for me in my schedule. Um, but if I didn't have that opportunity and if I didn't have again a workplace where

someone was willing to be that flexible and wasn't going to push my time, I would not be able to be working. So, if

you are considering it's Matt was very informative and said anything that exceeds 10 hours is going to be too much and I can fully agree with that. Um, so

yeah, if you have if you're lucky and have an amazing boss like me, shout out Scott Pinkham. Um, who also is a former

Scott Pinkham. Um, who also is a former Udub professor who understands the experience of grad students, um, yeah, the the working thing isn't going to work out, but if you have people that

are willing to let you go down those hours and be flexible, you sort of can do it.

>> Um, I agree with everything that everybody just said. Um, and also a second mirror on how many like amazing people that I have met in this program.

Like everybody was just so like I I love the vibe. Um, and I would say that like

the vibe. Um, and I would say that like like everybody else just mentioned, the pace of the program is definitely fast.

So, um, one of the biggest lessons so far for me is learning to kind of like set boundaries and find a sustainable rhythm. um like you got to work hard but

rhythm. um like you got to work hard but you don't want to burn out right so like you got to make this work style very sustainable um and before joining this

program I was working in the industry so in the industry you like you work 9 to5 and then after work or on the weekends it's your me personal time but it's not

like that in school so kind of like intentionally setting boundaries um having a Saturday off to away from work

and just um enjoy a little life. It's

like definitely something that I'm working on right now. Um but yeah, it's been incredibly engaging and I've grown so much um already.

Everybody's talking about how busy and intense this all is, but I want to give you all a shout out for being um for also organizing a lot of social activities this year. Um it's been noticeable. I don't know if any of you

noticeable. I don't know if any of you want to talk a little bit about like what the cohort has done already this year.

>> Caleb got stuck at the Space Needle.

>> Well, yeah. Yeah. So, okay. Sure. I can

talk about that. Thank you, Matt. I can

talk about it.

>> Um, so there was a night uh a few weeks ago where uh some of the cohort members and I went up to the Space Needle. It

was during nighttime. It was really beautiful, very good experience. We got

to see Reineer to Mount Reineer from very top. Um, but midway through that

very top. Um, but midway through that experience, uh, elevator stopped working. Uh, so we had to climb down

working. Uh, so we had to climb down around 850 steps from the top of the Space Needle to, uh, the bottom, the

base center of it, uh, at like 1000 p.m.

It's very cold, very windy. It was a great experience. Some of the cohort

great experience. Some of the cohort members didn't didn't like it, but I did. It was unique, and that's what I

did. It was unique, and that's what I really enjoyed about it.

>> Bonding. It was a bonding experience.

>> It was bonding experience. Trauma

bonding. Yes.

Yeah, but that was my experience.

I think we should just try and enjoy the Seattle weather while we still have it just because I remember the I think the first week of class second week of class had actually asked us to do a field trip

by ourselves and go anywhere and explore Seattle and we my group decided to go to Brainbridge and it was so beautiful because we got to see Mount Reineer while going and coming back and when you

come back you can see the Seattle skyline alongside Reineer and I think that was like a pinch me goosebumps moment for me because I was like this is really happening. It was very Yeah, that

really happening. It was very Yeah, that was like my highlight of Seattle till now.

>> Yeah. And right now, uh it's obviously it's becoming fall. It's becoming

autumn. Uh a lot of the leaves around campus are turning a bright red or an orange. It's very beautiful.

orange. It's very beautiful.

>> I feel the other day I was like, "Whoa, I didn't even know that was a leaf."

>> I know.

Um, speaking of like leaves and Seattle weather, I think a group of us, a group of the cohort went to like went hiking

last weekend um to a lake. I think like the folks drove for like 3 hours or something like that um to went hiking on the lake and then they had hot pot after

which I'm jealous. Um I was not available for this but um I love the like the photos and videos that they had. So yeah, definitely like a lot of

had. So yeah, definitely like a lot of um bonding like social activities outside of work like we also know each other personally which like definitely makes the group project smoother I would

say.

>> GI you hiked in the snow too right?

>> Was it snowing? Yeah, that's a cool experience.

Yeah, we also Oh, also to note as well when we went to Banebridge, when we were coming back on the ferry, we had the absolutely rare and magical experience of seeing orcas, which was just

absolutely wonderful. Um, love that. But

absolutely wonderful. Um, love that. But

also, don't diss the Seattle rain. It

can actually be really beautiful. And

>> I think one of my favorite things is stepping outside after it's rained and you just breathe in the air and it is just it's an experience unlike any other. I don't even know how to describe

other. I don't even know how to describe it, but it is like the ultimate refresh.

Yeah, refresh. It's it's so refreshing.

Um I'm also part of we have different committees uh as part of the program.

I'm part of the social committee. Um so

far we've had a movie night. We're

coming up with spirit weeks. um dressing

as like unner user personas. Um and coming up on

user personas. Um and coming up on Monday, we will be doing our second monthly birthday celebration. Oh, sorry,

my dog is coming over now. Um but uh we're going to be celebrating everybody whose birthday was occurring in the month of October. And we're super excited about that. Last month for

September, we had it was tiramisu and mango uh macaroons. So very excited about that. actually bake them and good.

about that. actually bake them and good.

So, >> you're not giving yourself.

>> Yeah, >> those are fantastic. By the way, >> you have to make sure to have really good bakers in every cohort.

>> Here, um I want to make sure we have some time for questions. Um this has been great to talk with y'all and hear a little bit. Um we are Yeah, we've still

little bit. Um we are Yeah, we've still got a little bit of time left in this.

Um people have been putting questions in chat. Um, also if you if you have a

chat. Um, also if you if you have a question you want to ask it live, you can just raise your hand and we'll call on you there. I'll ask for help from all of our co-hosts here. If anybody's

noticed a question come by that we can throw out to the group of us. Um, we can start picking away at the questions from chat.

>> Yeah, I'm looking at one right now about uh how many students come from industry versus academia or undergrad from Charlie. I uh I actually came straight

Charlie. I uh I actually came straight from undergrad. Uh I had a little brief

from undergrad. Uh I had a little brief stint uh doing contract work for a higher ed institution but uh myself I I came straight from undergrad. Um I think

the majority of people have some industry experience. Um I don't know if

industry experience. Um I don't know if this is an academic this isn't an academic program. So I don't think

academic program. So I don't think you're going to see many people come from academia besides undergrad.

But I could be wrong. Yeah, I think you're right. The general the very rough

you're right. The general the very rough breakdowns of of sort of cohort experiences um about half of any given cohort we think of as having some work

experience like two years to five years of work experience. So a good solid um job or two after undergrad. That's about

half of the cohort. About 30% of the cohort tends to be pretty closely coming from undergrad. So either directly from

from undergrad. So either directly from undergrad or maybe within a year of that. Um and then the remaining 20ish%

that. Um and then the remaining 20ish% whatever is left of the of the pie um comes with more than five years of work experience. Often those are people who

experience. Often those are people who are pivoting um from maybe a completely different background and are wanting to move into this after that. So that's

kind of the the breakdown. Yeah.

Academia um other than direct from undergrad, not too many coming directly from that. I also have a similar

from that. I also have a similar background to what Kale just said. I

came here with around 10 months of work.

So I used to work as a user experience designer and then I applied for this and I came in. So I wouldn't call myself a fresh undergrad but somewhere there in the middle.

>> That's awesome.

Jordan Love. Jordan, you've got your hand up. Why don't we take a question

hand up. Why don't we take a question from you? Thanks for

from you? Thanks for >> Sure. Thanks. Can you hear me?

>> Sure. Thanks. Can you hear me?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay. Um, I know this kind of feels like an inescapable topic the past couple years, but I'm curious how the program and the curriculum have adapted to generative AI.

>> I would be happy to talk a little. Jake,

do you want to talk a little as well? I

>> I can leave that off. I'll Yeah, I can add a little and then you can say more.

Um so um I'll refer how the programs adapted can be taken a few different ways but um the content of the classes uh is adapting I would say so we're

beginning to add certain assignments to some of the courses I'll have an assignment for example in my uh user interface software and technology class in the winter that has uh essentially

working with generative AI as a partner to build an interactive user experience.

Um so it's it's working its way into various projects and assignments and the courses. Um that's one side of it.

courses. Um that's one side of it.

There's the other side of it is how does how is it affecting how the program itself runs or operates? And that's kind of its own question. Uh Matt may or may

not speak to that, but it's it's going to be something that we continue to um develop over time because AI itself is developing so fast over time. It's not a

single it's not a switch you flick and it's on and you know it's it's off and then it's on. It's it's going to be a progression that probably is progressing

for some time exactly how we um incorporated into the curriculum. We,

you know, there's a there's I'm sure you've heard of human- centered AI and there's certainly an aspect of HCI and design that uh can be focused on AI and

your capstone project for example could have more or less AI in it and you but what however you approach it would still be from a human- centered perspective in

this program. So it um it could be an

this program. So it um it could be an aspect of a project that you do but you're not an AI master student, right?

you're not focused on the AI itself, but you're using AI for a human- centered purpose. So, that'd be the ways that it

purpose. So, that'd be the ways that it it finds itself in the program.

Yeah, I totally agree with that that I think it's incorporated now and it it's still an evolving field, right? Coming

to grasp and coming to terms with how AI is going to change our field and change the way we work. Um, but most every course has somebody talking about the

impact of AI on that subject in there.

Um, we've definitely found that as we reflect back on things, I think that part of what's going to be more and more important is building up that core foundation of understanding why we're

doing what we're doing. Um, you may be able to use AI to like take care of some of the visuals at the end of your design process, but understanding what good design is and what a good question is to

work on, that's something that still needs a lot of the human element and a lot of what you learn in the courses here. I think um we've got a dedicated

here. I think um we've got a dedicated elective that we're offering for the first time next quarter um with a couple of people who have taught seminars for

us on um coming to understand Gen AI more specifically. But um that's the

more specifically. But um that's the first time we've offered a dedicated course and it's as an elective. Um, I

think what you'll see is sort of as Jacob has done in his coming course in winter, um, more of the core curriculum building out pieces within them where

they incorporate like why AI might be a part of this subject matter and how to make use of it. Um, and a lot of capstones definitely have been talking about AI in the last years.

>> Perfect. Thanks so much.

>> Yeah. And I might actually add one more thing, Matt, if you don't mind.

>> Yeah, Michelle.

>> Yeah. Uh I would also say that we've been in conversation with our alumni in different ways. Um so we've had folks

different ways. Um so we've had folks come in to talk with us who graduated from the MHCAD program and are working in an industry that is being impacted by AI. Um they've talked with our um

AI. Um they've talked with our um faculty group and we recently um established alumni council. I know

they're very interested in thinking about how the alumni the MHC alumni can also speak to and address um AI. And you

know what we've been hearing so far and this is just very topline but I think there is you know both a curiosity and of course it is a big industry shift and

I think folks continue to iterate that having good design skills foundational design skills these these core qualities of the program continue to be very relevant and so there there is a lot of

I think um like optimism that there are some things about the program that still continue to be solid and true and we are trying to be adaptive in bringing in thought partners with our alumni.

>> Absolutely.

>> Could I also make a note as well?

>> Sure.

>> I think one of the things that really stuck with me um that I can't remember people's names. I think it was Axel. He

people's names. I think it was Axel. He

is one of our instructors. And in the first week, there was a bit of a talk about Genai. And I think the way that he

about Genai. And I think the way that he put it is that typically AI is only going to get a person about 80% of the way there. Um it's our job to figure out

way there. Um it's our job to figure out ways that we can get things to 100%. Um

and because typically what we'll see with these algorithms is it's only going to be the most generic and common response that we can see. uh we need that individual human input in order to

make um just products and platforms that are truly unique um and are of course human friendly.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

I think that's right.

Um let's bring in Quinn. Quinn, you had a question your hand raised for a while.

Thanks for waiting.

>> Yeah, of course. Thank you to everyone in the panel for such a comprehensive overview. It's been really great. Um, I

overview. It's been really great. Um, I

had a question in terms of application components. I'm sure it's a holistic

components. I'm sure it's a holistic overview, but is there a way that you weigh the statement of purpose versus the portfolio and resume and letters of recommendation? Any insights on how to

recommendation? Any insights on how to capitalize on different components of our application?

Um, I would say basically, of course, we're going to say that everything is super important. We're going to make it

super important. We're going to make it not easy for you that way. Of course,

we're going to say that. Um, I really think that, you know, um, somebody talked earlier about the comp I think Mera was say talking about the components of telling a story. Um, I

would think about your application as a story and to me the entryway into your application is understanding your personal statement and how you how you set forward what you think you're doing

with this year, why you want to come to this particular program and what you'll bring to it. Um, because of that, I think putting together and focusing on that personal statement is a really

important way that you can kind of make the case. We are really open to people

the case. We are really open to people from any background. I hope you've seen some of the diversity and what the current student panel brings.

>> Because of that, um there's not sort of a set thing that we're looking to tick off. I saw somebody asked in questions

off. I saw somebody asked in questions whether we need you to have coding skills or other specific technical skills. For some people that might be

skills. For some people that might be essential, for others, not at all. Um,

so because you can come from so many different directions in here, I think it makes it even more important to put together a compelling argument that makes it easy for the application

readers to understand what you think you're doing with this application that you're giving us.

>> Yeah, that's really helpful. Thank you.

And I think, you know, there there are some like weights in there. Like if you come with more work experience, probably put more attention on your resume and than than on your schoolwork. If you're

coming directly from undergrad, we're going to probably pay less attention to your resume and more to what you've done in school so far. Um, so there's different things that might weigh things differently in each case.

>> I see. The application also depends on context like >> Yeah, definitely.

>> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

>> And I would also say too when you're thinking about your pieces, what can each piece do to complement? I agree

that this idea of the the application is the story of you. The the statement of purpose is this core piece of it. And

then also think strategically how other elements can be an artifact to that story, you know. So if you're spending a lot of time your statement of perh purpose listing just a bunch of accomplishments that's already in your resume, that may not be the most

effective use of that short amount of space. So think about what can the

space. So think about what can the resume uh do to uniquely add to your that story of you? What can your additional material add to that story of you? And so it's about being um

you? And so it's about being um strategic I think in that way. And I

would actually say that's a good strategy for all graduate applications.

Um, and I would also say, um, in terms of folks who maybe are feeling worried about maybe not having enough experience, you are coming into a program to learn. And so I would encourage folks to, you know, speak to

your good qualities and the things that you want to highlight that can make you a great um, addition to the MHC program.

And also if you're coming already as an expert, uh, you know, there's sort of a question of why would you want to come to a program if you already know everything? So, I think there's ways to

everything? So, I think there's ways to speak um to areas of growth and opportunity and how this program can fit that vision. So, I wouldn't necessarily

that vision. So, I wouldn't necessarily shy away from maybe areas that you feel you need to grow in and think more about strategically in your story how the MHC program fits that vision of your

personal growth.

>> That's a great way to think about it.

>> Could I make one little note as well for the application? Um, also I found in my

the application? Um, also I found in my own experience, uh, because there were two parts of my application. I originally was only going

application. I originally was only going to be submitting one part that was just a research paper and some aspects of it.

But even if you maybe had some sort of side project that you did that you think, you don't know if they're really going to want to see this, if it's something that you were passionate about, I think you should include it because you can

have multiple parts uh to your application. Um, and also like they

application. Um, and also like they don't need to be super po like perfectly polished as well. I remember I was looking through um one of parts of my

submission and there was just there was some stuff in there that even in the in the little Google Drive folder it was labeled very rough um by myself. So, if

it's something where you're able to get the idea across and it's something that's really important and authentic to you, even if you're like, "Oh, this sketch isn't super good or I'm not super

great at Figma yet." I at least in my case, I think it was really worth it to still submit.

>> Amazing. Well, thank you for everyone's responses. I wouldn't I wasn't expecting

responses. I wouldn't I wasn't expecting so many responses. It's been really helpful.

>> Also, something that I did was um for people who do have a design background here, maybe. So, I had a project that I

here, maybe. So, I had a project that I couldn't necessarily include in my portfolio. So, what I had done was

portfolio. So, what I had done was usually what people do is they put their link in their resume. I had created another sheet where it said, "Here's a link to my resume and also if you'd like to take a look at another side project

of mine or a project that's live, here's a link to that." So, that is also some way that you can sort of add your projects in for them to see.

And I think it's a good it's a good contrast with Kenishka and Mera because Kenisha if you were coming in saying you know I'm I've got some design experience

we might look at your materials and expect to see some craft skills that if Mera is coming in saying I'm coming in and I'm I'm I bring to this program

these things. Um we might be leaning

these things. Um we might be leaning more on saying well she talked about her storytelling and film making. I'm going

to be looking at that skill. we'll we'll

look at you based on what you've introduced yourself as. So, we might expect some more um design skills if you come in saying, "I've you know, I've

I've done it all. I know the UX side."

>> Yeah, super helpful to know that context is even used within the admissions process. So, thank you for everyone and

process. So, thank you for everyone and your answers. Yeah,

your answers. Yeah, >> I know we're at time, but I wanted to give the panelists a chance if they've looked through chat and they've seen something that looks like just a a

mustwer question, we can probably throw another one out here. Um, before we wrap it up today, I always have a hard time monitoring

chat while doing the presentation stuff.

>> Can I just say one more thing?

>> Sure, Caleb. Uh, if any of you like video games, uh, I highly recommend Seattle in general. There's a lot of video game developers up here. Valve is

a big one up here. Uh, we had a tour with them last year.

>> So, if you'd like to see them up close, >> you know, >> good boy.

>> There's also the Pokemon Company International in Belgium.

>> Pokemon Company.

>> Pokemon Company. And there's Nintendo and Redmond. and uh The Last of Us 2

and Redmond. and uh The Last of Us 2 took place in Seattle and all fun things like that.

>> I used to work at a video game school um uh over in Redmond. And I will say that our pitch used to be that we have 250 different video game and technology companies in the 10 mile radius of Redmond.

>> It It's not DigiPen, right? Is it Digi Pen?

>> It was that was There you go. Yeah.

>> But yes, if you are into video game design, this is a great spot.

Um I saw a question in the chat about um opportunities working with um external um partners in the industry

um about like tangible real world project and the answer is we do have instructors from the industry um so our current instructor in the user research

class Sarah she's like runs her own um consulting business so Um I also know that um she also teaches like usability

studies course I think um and she will bring like external um industry partners to like work with for that course. So um

aside from the capstone um there are definitely opportunities to partner um with external sponsors in our time here.

>> Yeah, I'm glad I'm glad you raised that J because that's um a a big part of our teaching um um cohort every year.

There's a good mixture of academic instructors and folks coming with industry experience and I think that balance works really nicely to give you different perspectives on the same

topic. We often have co-instructors, one

topic. We often have co-instructors, one who's academy and one who's industry. Um

but also many of our academics um are academics sure maybe primarily but they've spent a good amount of time in the industry as well. Um so there's a

lot of leaping back and forth between those two different sides of the fence.

Can I quickly answer another question as well?

>> Sure.

>> Yeah. Uh, one I think it's from Amog and he's talking about how he has a lot of projects from um, work and he can't present it in his portfolio. So I also had a portfolio piece that was under

NDA. So I wasn't able to show it on my

NDA. So I wasn't able to show it on my portfolio. But what you can do is you

portfolio. But what you can do is you can sort of walk them through your process. So your entire portfolio is

process. So your entire portfolio is just you telling a story. So what you can do is you can incorporate your tasks that you did or if you're a researcher or a designer what your what your process looked like because for right

now they're just trying to look at your design thinking and your design process instead of just the results. And of

course you can maybe just put in a link which is password protected or if you want to go into it in depth which as for admissions I'm not sure how it works but uh you can always um they'll probably

email you or you can email them and tell them that you know this is under NDA or you could put it in your portfolio as well. At least for me that's what I did

well. At least for me that's what I did and yeah that would work. You don't have to put it on your portfolio but you can put aspects of your design thinking and your design process.

>> Absolutely. Yeah.

All right. I want to be mindful of time.

Um, everybody, you've been a great audience. I really want to thank our

audience. I really want to thank our panelists for all the insights and time that you've brought here today. Um,

Jacob, Michelle, thanks for coming in and helping to lead this process.

Keshka, Caleb, Meera, Jai, it's been awesome to hear from you all, too, and to hear some of what what's been going on across the hallway here in the

studio. Um, everyone, please reach out

studio. Um, everyone, please reach out to us if you have questions. Check out

our website. Um, the easy place to start if you need to email questions is mhcidw.edu.

mhcidw.edu.

We'll get it from there and we'll be able to answer your questions along the way. And to reiterate what Michelle said

way. And to reiterate what Michelle said earlier, January 15th, that's the name or the date you want to have in your head. Um, applications due. January

head. Um, applications due. January

15th.

>> Sorry everyone.

>> Thanks so much.

>> Um, I'll drop my email address in the chat. I just did, but like the chat goes

chat. I just did, but like the chat goes through very fast. So feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions that were not answered or you just simply want to chat more about the program and my experience here.

>> Thanks, Ji. Yeah,

>> sure.

>> That could be really helpful. Really

good.

Everyone, thank you so much. Have a

great evening, morning, afternoon, wherever this finds you. Take care

everyone.

>> Thank you.

>> Bye.

>> Bye all.

>> Also, if there's any native people, you should apply to this program. We need

more of you. Bye.

>> Good call, Vera. Good call.