What is HCI ?
It is an interdisciplinary branch where we study various methodologies
of planning and designing the interaction between a human(user)
and a computer. On behalf of a computer we study techniques in programming
languages, operating systems, computer graphics, image and vision
processing along with a number of development environments. On the
human side, we learn communication theory, linguistics, social sciences, cognitive
psychology etc.
Does getting into HCI require strong programming background?
No,not exactly. The students are expected to have some basic understanding
of the technical aspect of their work. Some techical courses will
be taught during the program of study. Some areas of HCI require
excellent programming skills like Image and Vision Processing, Natural
Language Processing , Intelligent Software Agents etc, while some
other areas like Cognitive Modelling, Social Computing, Ubiquitous
Computing etc call for good designers.
What kind of job I will be expecting after completion of the course?
Today almost 75% of all the product based software firm have their
own User Experience Group. You can join those companies as an User
Interaction Designer or Web Developer. If you are a programming geek
then you can join a product based software company as a Sotware
Developer. If you are sound at resolving usability issues and good
at social computing you can be appointed as a front-end developer
in a web based company such as a social networking site or a search-engine
site. Apart from this if you converge your research towards computer
graphics and multimedia then you can go for a multimedia company
providing special audio-visual effects. You can also go for a career
in animation industry. If you are very much interested in image
processing and computer vision then apart from private firms you
have opportunities in public sector units like ISRO and DRDO where
challenging problems are being solved in this particular field.
Another very good option is that if you want to be self-independent
then you can go for academics.
Should I go for doctorate study in HCI after completion of post-graduation?
It solely depends on your level of saturation. But it is always recommended
to go for higher studies. Cutting-edge reasearch is being carried
out abroad in this particular field. More you will get involved more
you will explore.
Is financial aid available ?
Yes, financial aid is available in the form of monthly stipend of
Rs. 12400.00 provided by MHRD for GATE qualified students only.
From where can I obtain other useful information regarding HCI?
You can find some information relevant to HCI on
http://hcibib.org/