Course Information
The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) offers courses for credit from 100-introductory level to 800-doctoral level. Courses are offered through our many degree-granting and certificate-granting programs. Students are invited to explore and apply to these programs, or investigate taking one course at a time depending on their needs, interests, and resources.
Below are courses offered as part of HCDE's undergraduate degree, graduate degree and certificate programs, Technical Japanese Program (TJP), and Technical Writing and Editing (TWE) certificate. Each course links to its description in the UW Course Catalog.
Please view the UW Time Schedule for current course listings.
HCDE 100 Introduction to Human Centered Design & Engineering (5)
Topics may include: virtual communities, human-computer interaction, web design, usability testing, visual design, and others. Explores course content through individual and group hands-on projects.
HCDE 231 Introduction to Technical Writing (3)
Principles of organizing, developing, and writing technical information. Report forms and rhetorical patterns common to scientific and technical disciplines. Technical writing conventions such as headings, illustrations, style, and tone. Numerous written assignments required. Required for all engineering majors. Prerequisite: either C LIT 240, both ENGL 109 and ENGL 110, ENGL 111, ENGL 121, ENGL 131, ENGL 182, ENGL 197, ENGL 198, ENGL 199, or ENGL 281.
HCDE 300 Foundations of Human Centered Design & Engineering (5)
Examines principles and practices of human centered design and engineering. Includes overview of conceptual problems in human centered design and engineering, issues related to communicating scientific and technical information to a variety of audiences, and human centered design approaches. Includes attention to social contexts and environments (legal, ethical, cultural).
HCDE 303 Project Management & Computer Supported Collaborative Work (3)
Addresses how to understand and manage communication practices and projects in scientific and technical organizations. Topics include: system design, project design, supporting workflow, communication practices, information structures, and planning. Focus on CMC and CSCW principles and practices. Required of HCDE majors.
HCDE 310 Communication Design & Rationale (5)
Examines major software tools in the context of common human centered design problems. Students practice explaining and justifying design solutions in terms of key features and user characteristics. May include topics such as writing a functional spec and the structure of programming languages.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 313 Introduction to User Research (5)
Introduces user research methods, such as interviews, surveys, usability tests, content analysis, and focus groups. Reviews selecting an appropriate research method, how to conduct research and analyze results, conveying research data in the form of design requirements, and ethics.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 321 Professional Portfolio (2)
Students will participate in a speaker series about HCDE portfolios. Covers recent trends in design and communication portfolios, as well as foundational considerations for portfolio development. Includes guest lectures by faculty and industry professionals, reflection exercises, and workshops. Prerequisite: HCDE 310.
HCDE 333 Advanced Technical Writing and Oral Presentation (4)
Emphasizes the principles of written and oral communication for the engineering workplace. Designs solutions to professional communication problems: technical reports, proposals, correspondence, resumes, and oral presentations. Focuses on needs assessment and designing solutions that call for effective selection and integration of verbal and visual components.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 401 Style & Editing in Scientific and Technical Writing (5)
Covers stylistic strategies within specific professional contexts. Achieving clarity and conciseness; using varied communication structures for emphasis and tone. Includes editorial responsibilities and practice in communicating scientific and technical information; managing collaborative teams; and basic XML. Required of technical communication majors. Prerequisite: HCDE 231. Co-requisite: LING 100 or ENGL 371.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 407 Software User Assistance (5)
Concepts and skills for preparing manuals, online help systems, performance-support systems, and other forms of locally stored and Web-based software user assistance. Includes principles of human-computer interaction, usability evaluation, and the software-development process. Students create both end-user and developer documentation. Prerequisite: HCDE 310.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 411 Information Visualization (5) I&S/VLPA
The design and presentation of digital information. Use of graphics, animation, sound, and other modalities in presenting information to the user. Understanding vision and perception. Methods of presenting complex information to enhance comprehension and analysis. Incorporation of visualization techniques into human-computer interfaces. Prerequisite: HCDE 310.
NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
HCDE 417 Survey of Usability Research Techniques (5)
Introduces usability research methods used in the product-development process; contextual inquiry, surveys and interviews, focus groups, user profiling, usability testing, cognitive walkthroughs, heuristics, and others. Prerequisite: HCDE 313. NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 418 Survey of User Experience Design (5)
Provides a project-based introduction to the user interface design process and is oriented toward practical methods for approaching a design problem. Focuses on developing conceptual designs based on user need. Prerequisite: HCDE 417.
NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 419 Survey of Concepts in Human-Computer Interaction (5)
Studies the social, cognitive, behavioral and contextual aspects of information systems and informational dimensions of the human-computer interface, and other user-centered design concepts. Surveys research literature of human information behavior, as well as ethical standards. Prerequisite: HCDE 310.
HCDE 421 Current Practices in Technical Communications (3)
Covers principles and practices of writing to communicate scientific and technical information to a variety of readers. Teaches how to write for the expert, general scientific and technical reader, manager, and general public.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 437 Web Design & Web Publishing (5) I&S/VLPA
Design principles and skills including navigation, functional design, visual design, and content development. Includes the ongoing process of Web publishing. Addresses societal issues pertaining to the Web and Internet. Students build a website and plan for ongoing Web publishing. Prerequisite: HCDE 310.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 438 Web Technologies (5)
Students are introduced to technical design issues, markup languages, client-side and server-side scripting, and data management technologies. Students will be able to use these technologies at a core level of functionality, and be able to leverage this knowledge either to manage others using these technologies or to expand and extend their abilities with these technologies. Prerequisite: HCDE 310; HCDE 437.
HCDE 455 User Interface Design (4)
Design oriented to cover fundamentals of user interface design; models on human computer interaction, software psychology, input devices, usability, cognitive and perceptual aspects of human-computer interaction, advanced interface, and research methodologies are discussed. Offered: jointly with IND E 455.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 493 Professional Portfolio/Senior Study (5)
Integration of knowledge and skills acquired during major program into one paper or project. Prerequisite: HCDE 418.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 495 Professional Practice/Undergraduate Internship (3–10, 10 max)
Supervised internship in a publications organization approved by the faculty adviser. A minimum of one internship is required of students majoring in technical communication. Credit/no credit only.
HCDE 496 Directed Research in Human Centered Design & Engineering (1–3, max. 10; Current Directed Research Groups)*
Students, working in teams under the supervision of individual faculty members, review relevant literature, pose research questions, design and conduct studies, and present the results in papers prepared either for submission to a professional journal or for presentation at a professional conference. Credit/No Credit only.
Current Directed Research group descriptions
HCDE 497 Study Abroad: Human Centered Design and Engineering (3–5, max. 15)
Upper-division HCDE courses, for which there are no direct University of Washington equivalents, taken through the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering's Study Abroad Program.
HCDE 498 Special Topics (1–5, max. 10)
Special topics in technical communication to be offered occasionally by permanent or visiting faculty members.
HCDE 499 Special Projects (1–5, max. 10)*
Individual undergraduate projects in human centered design & engineering.
The following courses apply to the Master of Science (MS) degree and the User-Centered Design (UCD) and Global Technology & Communication Management (GTCM) graduate certificate programs. Please view the UW Time Schedule to see current course listings.
HCDE 501 Theoretical Foundations of Human Centered Design & Engineering (4)
Theories and research drawn from a variety of fields that inform such topics as the historical and social context of technical communication, the aims of technical discourse, readability, invention and audience, audience analysis, technical style, and graphics. Prerequisite: admission to an engineering master's program or permission of instructor.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 502 Empirical Traditions in Human Centered Design & Engineering (4)
Introduction to empirical traditions that inform research and practice in field of technical communication. Topics include epistemological assumptions underlying empirical research, empirical methods, and survey of results of empirical research on effects of text and visual media on comprehension, recall, and performance. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 505 Computer-Assisted Communication (4)
Explores computer-assisted communication from three perspectives: (1) cultural roles of communication technologies; (2) relationships between communication and information including information technologies in the workplace, academe, and other settings; and (3) application to design including models for audience analysis, task analysis, and cognitive systems engineering. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 509 Writing the Scientific Article (3)
Examination of principles and practice of writing research manuscripts, articles, abstracts, and oral presentations. Detailed examination of scientific publication process includes issues of style, organization, and ethics. Students draft, critique, and revise their own manuscripts and learn to review the manuscripts of others.
HCDE 511 Information Visualization (4)
The design and presentation of digital information. Use of graphics, animation, sound, visualization software, and hypermedia in presenting information to the user. Vision and perception. Methods of presenting complex information to enhance comprehension and analysis. Incorporation of visualization techniques into human-computer interfaces.
NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
HCDE 512 International User Experiences and Communication (4)
Theory, research, and approaches for creating digital media for international audiences. Topics include cultural schemata and contrastive rhetoric, content and text types and corresponding translation and localization strategies, market relevance and adaptation, international user research and usability, international policies and geopolitics, and cross-cultural business management and team work.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 513 Globalization & Localization Management (4)
Globalization and localization business processes. Topics covered include localization challenges for various business sectors and audiences as well as selecting localization software, services, and content; project types and associated start-to-finish processes. The course is scenario-based with an emphasis on human-centered management practices and strategies. Prerequisite: HCDE 512 or instructor permission.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 514 Strategies for International Product Management (4)
Best practices in establishing localization work in technology companies. Facets important to research, planning, and decision-making processes, including use of internal company data, and economic, marketing, and technology factors. Real-life scenarios demonstrate how companies have instituted localization processes given user-centered design practices. Prerequisite: HCDE 512 & 513 or instructor permission.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 515 Ecological Information Systems (4)
Introduction to cognitive work analysis framework. Prepares for active role in design and evaluation of information systems. Familiarization with basic concepts of cognitive systems engineering and practice in field study, data analysis, and transforming field findings into requirements for the design of an information system. Offered: jointly with LIS 515.
HCDE 516 Experimental Research Methods (4)
Introduction to research methods in human centered design and engineering. Students examine the relationship between theory and research, hypothesis testing, experimental designs, modes of observation, sampling, validity, and data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: introductory statistics course.
HCDE 517 Usability Testing (4)
Discusses the human-computer interface (HCI) as the communicative aspect of a computer system. Analyzes usability issues in HCI design, explores design-phase methods of predictability, and introduces evaluative methods of usability testing. Prerequisite: substantial experience with computers and graduate standing, or permission of instructor.
NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 518 User-Centered Design (4)
Explores the user-centered design paradigm from a broad perspective, emphasizing how user research and prototype assessment can be integrated into different phases of the design process. Students learn to think like a user-centered designer and carry out activities that are key to user-centered design. Offered: jointly with IND E 545. NOTE: This course has a lab fee associated with it.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 520 Design and Management of Complex Systems (4)
Emphasizes the role and function of communication as a key to understanding organizational frameworks and managerial practices. Traditional and innovative approaches to viewing and managing technical communication. Roles, responsibilities, impact of technology.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 521 Seminar: Current Issues in Human Centered Design & Engineering (1, max. 2)
Presentations on current issues in human centered design & engineering. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: HCDE graduate student status or permission of instructor. Winter 2012 | Autumn 2011 | Winter 2011 | Autumn 2010 | Winter 2010 | Autumn 2009
HCDE 523 Seminar: Issues in HCDE Scholarship and Professional Activity (1, max. 3)
Exploration of advanced issues in human centered design & engineering scholarship and practice. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: HCDE PhD student status or permission of instructor.
HCDE 534 Designing a Human-Centered Venture (4)
Explores the planning of a new venture related to human-centered design. Examines relevant topics, such as team formation, user and market research, value creation, and the iterative demand planning for a new venture.
HCDE 536 Interaction Design (4)
Investigates advanced topics in the theory and practice of interaction design, using a project-oriented approach. Develops expertise in design, development, and critique of solutions in online and mobile platforms. Examines issues such as interaction theory, requirements and specifications, design language, prototyping, evaluation, and presentation of projects. Prerequisite: HCDE 518.
HCDE 537 User-Centered Web Design (5)
Theory and practice of the user-centered web development process. Principles and processes for documenting and implementing various development stages, including requirements analysis, user needs analysis, information architecture, prototyping, mockups, and production.
HCDE 593 Capstone (4)
Capstone design experience. Integration of knowledge and skills acquired during program into one project.
HCDE 596 Directed Research in Human Centered Design & Engineering (1–3, max. 10; Current Directed Research Groups)*
Students, working in teams under the supervision of individual faculty members, review relevant literature, pose research questions, design and conduct studies, and present the results in papers prepared either for submission to a professional journal or for presentation at a professional conference. Credit/No Credit only. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Research group descriptions
HCDE 598 Special Topics (1–5, max. 6)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
HCDE 599 Special Projects (1–5, max. 5)*
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate advisor or committee chair.
HCDE 601 Internship (2–10, max. 10)*
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate advisor.
HCDE 700 Master's Thesis*
Prerequisite: permission of thesis adviser.
PhD students may take up to two MS-level courses. To do so, you must contact the Director of Student Services with your request. Please view the UW Time Schedule for current course listings.
HCDE 523 Seminar: Issues in HCDE Scholarship and Professional Activity (1, max. 3)
Exploration of advanced issues in human centered design & engineering scholarship and practice. Credit/no credit only. Prerequisite: HCDE PhD student status or permission of instructor.
HCDE 541 Grant Writing for Career Development (4)
This course introduces the steps of compiling a grant proposal, with an emphasis on increasing research fluency. Provides hands-on experience with communicating research topics for the purpose of applying for grant support.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 542 Theoretical Foundations in Human Centered Design & Engineering (4)
Examination of theories that inform work in human centered design and engineering, focusing particularly on communication and interaction design theories. Topics include complexities of communication as it is configured in different theoretical frameworks, implications of these different configurations, and why these differences matter to people engaged in professional practice/research.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 543 Empirical Traditions in Human Centered Design & Engineering (4)
Introduction to empirical traditions that inform research and practice in field of human centered design and engineering. Topics include epistemological assumptions underlying empirical research, empirical methods, and survey of results of empirical research on effects of text and visual media on comprehension, recall, and performance.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 544 Research Methods I (4)
Introduction to experimental research methods in human centered design and engineering. Examines the relationship between theory and research, hypothesis testing, experimental designs, modes of observation, sampling, validity, and data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: introductory statistics course.
HCDE 545 Research Methods II (4)
Provides hands-on experience with qualitative research methods and focuses on how ethnographic fieldwork methods, such as interviewing and participant observation, are used in human-computer interaction. Students undertake an intensive research project at a field site collecting and analyzing data.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 546 Design Thinking (4)
Introduction to how design is enacted within disciplines, exploring commonalities and differences in design practices. Survey of empirical studies of design practices and approaches.
HCDE 547 Academic Development Seminar (1, max. 10)
Helps students develop a range of academic research and professional competencies.
HCDE 548 Advanced Topics in Human Centered Design & Engineering (4, max. 20)
Studies of emerging areas and specialized topics in Human Centered Design and Engineering.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 596 Directed Research in Human Centered Design & Engineering (1–3, max. 10; Current Directed Research Groups)
Students, working in teams under the supervision of individual faculty members, review relevant literature, pose research questions, design and conduct studies, and present the results in papers prepared either for submission to a professional journal or for presentation at a professional conference. Credit/No Credit only. Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
Current Directed Research group descriptions
HCDE 598 Special Topics (1–5, max. 6)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
HCDE 599 Special Projects (1–5, max. 5)*
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate adviser or committee chair.
HCDE 601 Internship (2–10, max. 10)*
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate Advisor.
HCDE 800 Doctoral Dissertation (1–10, max. 30)*
*see Variable Credit Registration policy
Additional Doctoral Electives
For more information about these electives, please contact the Director of Student Services.
HCDE 510 Information Design (4)
Examination of the design principles and procedures underlying the creation of both print and electronic information presentations. Topics include: print vs. electronic media, designing for the page and screen, information topologies, and hypermedia. Seminar includes a design project.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 511 Information Visualization (4)
The design and presentation of digital information. Use of graphics, animation, sound, visualization software, and hypermedia in presenting information to the user. Vision and perception. Methods of presenting complex information to enhance comprehension and analysis. Incorporation of visualization techniques into human-computer interfaces.
HCDE 518 User-Centered Design (4)
Explores the user-centered design paradigm from a broad perspective, emphasizing how user research and prototype assessment can be integrated into different phases of the design process. Students learn to think like a user-centered designer and carry out activities that are key to user-centered design. Offered: jointly with IND E 545.
HCDE 520 Design and Management of Complex Information and Communication Systems (4)
Emphasizes the role and function of communication as a key to understanding organizational frameworks and managerial practices. Traditional and innovative approaches to viewing and managing technical communication. Roles, responsibilities, impact of technology.
Additional Course Information
For more information about the Technical Japanese Program (TJP), visit the TJP website.
HCDE 461 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions I (5) VLPA
Strengthens knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and applies this to basic technical business communication situations. Covers cultural concepts underlying these situations. Reviews authentic materials on technology-related topics. Teaches skills to analyze sentence structure for accurate interpretation. Lab work required. Placement test before admission.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 462 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions II (5) VLPA
Covers the functional/situational conversation skills necessary in technical and business communication situations, plus the cultural concepts underlying these situations. Reviews skills (such as prediction) for more effective reading and improves skills for analyzing complex sentence structure. Additional grammar, vocabulary, and kanji are introduced. Lab work required. Prerequisite: HCDE 461.
HCDE 463 Japanese for Technical and Business Professions III (5) VLPA
Covers the functional/situational conversation skills necessary in technical and business communication situations, plus the cultural concepts underlying these situations. Further improves skills introduced in previous courses and reviews skills for understanding inter-sentence structure. Additional grammar, vocabulary, and kanji introduced. Lab work required. Prerequisite: HCDE 462.
HCDE 495 Professional Practice/Undergraduate Internship (3–10, 10 max)
Supervised internship in a publications organization approved by the faculty adviser. A minimum of one internship is required of students majoring in technical communication. Credit/no credit only.
Internship Website
HCDE 561 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions I (4)
Focuses on reading skills (e.g., sight reading, vocabulary, grasping main ideas) and familiarizes students with Japanese news media sites and Web reading tools. Students also develop the oral communication skills necessary for giving technical and business reports and the writing skills for business emails. Prerequisite: HCDE 463.
Additional Course Information
HCDE 562 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions II (4)
Focuses on developing reading speed. Students read more extensively, expand their technical/business vocabulary, and further improve skills for grasping main ideas quickly. Students also improve oral skills for report-giving and discussion and writing skills for business emails and reports. Prerequisite: HCDE 561.
HCDE 563 Advanced Japanese for Technical and Business Professions III (4)
Integrates the reading, oral, and writing skills acquired through the first-year and second-year technical/business Japanese sequences. Students work on research projects, give formal presentations, and submit project reports. Substantial individual readings are involved as well as individual conferences with the instructor on readings and report drafts. Prerequisite: HCDE 562.
HCDE 601 Internship (2–10, max. 10)*
Written report required. Prerequisite: permission of graduate advisor.
The following courses apply to the Technical Writing & Editing (TWE) certificate program. Please view the UW Time Schedule for current course listings.
HCDE 421 Current Practices in Technical Communication (3)
Principles and practices of writing to communicate scientific and technical information to a variety of readers. Participants learn to write for the expert, general scientific and technical reader, manager and general public.
HCDE 422 Style in Technical Communication (3)
Principles and practices of writing publication-ready American English writing for global audiences. Participants learn to write for the expert, general scientific and technical reader, manager and general public.
HCDE 423 Technical Editing and Document Development (3)
Editorial practices and responsibilities in communication of scientific and technical information. Covers the editor's role as an editor of documents, a collaborator in document development, and a manager of publication projects and groups.
Winter 2010 syllabus (.docx)
HCDE 424 Authoring and Production Tools in Technical Communication (4)
Introduction to popular tools used by TC professionals. Students examine the tools' functionality, the types of design activities supported, and techniques for designing effective solutions. Project-driven course project will teach students how to transform unformatted content, using these tools, into a polished set of documents in multiple formats.
HCDE 426 Software User Assistance (3)
Covers how to write effective documentation for a variety of software users, from end-users to developers. Students produce a complete documentation set for a software product or service using the most appropriate delivery mechanisms for the content and the audience.
HCDE 427 Visual Design in Technical Communication (4)
Covers the editorial role in the preparation of text and visual materials, both print and online, for production. Students learn the editor's responsibilities and prerogatives as they relate to those of other professionals in the production phase of the publication's field.