User-Centered Design Certificate

The User-Centered Design (UCD) Certificate is an evening graduate-level program in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) for students who want to explore a wide range of issues in usability and user-centered design.

Application Deadlines

  • Autumn: Applications are due August 12
  • Winter: Applications are due November 14
  • Spring/Summer: Applications are due February 10

How to Apply

Applications are accepted to start each quarter: autumn, winter, and spring. HCDE offers the UCD certificate program in conjunction with UW Professional & Continuing Education, who manages the application submission process. Please visit their site to apply for admission.

Additionally, we encourage UCD students to apply for Graduate Non-Matriculated (GNM) status concurrently with the certificate program. This allows students to receive transferable graduate credits while completing the certificate. Students can transfer up to 12 UCD credits into our MS program with GNM status.

Curriculum

Participants complete four courses to earn the Certificate. These three courses are required of all students:

  • HCDE 517—Usability Testing
  • HCDE 518—User-Centered Design
  • HCDE 521—Seminar: Current Issues in HCDE

In addition, students complete a fourth course from the following selection:

  • HCDE 511—Visual Communication
  • HCDE 537—User-Centered Web Design

Autumn Quarter

HCDE 518, User-Centered Design: This course will explore 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 will learn to think like a user-centered designer and to carry out activities that are key to user-centered design.

Winter Quarter

Both courses must be taken.

HCDE 517, Usability Testing: Introduction to usability testing as part of a user-centered product-development process. The hands-on step-by-step discussion of test design is augmented by a discussion of current theory and strategy.

HCDE 521, Current Issues in Human Centered Design & Engineering: This seminar course consists of presentations on current issues in HCDE. These presentations are also streamed over the web.

Choose one of the following electives below:

Spring Quarter

HCDE 511, Visual Communication: Use of visuals in print and electronic media. Topics include vision, attention and perception, semiotics, depiction, information graphics, icons, typography, and principles of page and screen design.

Summer Quarter

HCDE 537, User-Centered Web Design: 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. This course also includes a lab, in addition to the main lecture section.

Tuition and Fees

Per Credit: $615
Registration Fee: $35
Certificate Program Fee: $50

(Variable): Quarterly student technology fee is $23 for a four-credit course and $29 for a five-credit course.

For more information on tuition and fees, please visit PCE's UCD Certificate page.

About the 2011–12 Instructors

Professor Cecilia Aragon, HCDE 511, studies how technology and visual interfaces mediate distributed scientific collaboration, and the use of visual interfaces for collaborative exploration of very large scientific data sets.

Sabina Alteras-Honig, HCDE 517, is a user experience researcher at Microsoft. She possesses 17 years of industry experience and leadership in successfully applying human factors and usability principles to UI design, development, evaluation, task analysis and work process improvement.

Sean Bolan, HCDE 511, has practiced visual communication design for over 20 years in England, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA. His research is focused on visual literacy, information visualization, semiotic theory, perception and cognition. He has been teaching design for 15 years and also teaches in the Division of Design.

Professor Judy Ramey, HCDE 517, has primary research interests in user research methods and the mobile user experience. She has taught 517 for many years and is the Director of the Laboratory for Usability Testing and Evaluation (LUTE).

Tom Satwicz, HCDE 517, is a user experience researcher at Blink Interactive. He has 12 years experience researching interaction, learning, and technology use across contexts such as homes, schools, and workplaces.

Professor Mark Zachry, HCDE 517, recently received the HCDE Innovator Award for Teaching and Learning. He has research interests in HCI, workplace studies, communication design in organizations, and rhetoric of technology.

Doug Pyle, HCDE 518, has been a user experience professional for many years. He started the user research group for microsoft.com, MSDN, TechNet, and Microsoft Press. He has also worked for Google as well as the Microsoft Robotics startup group.

Professor Julie Kientz, HCDE 518, has research interests in HCI, ubiquitous computing, and health informatics. She studies how novel computing applications can address important issues in health and education.

Skip Walter, HCDE 518, has years of experience in executive management and consulting, software engineering, product development, technology mergers and acquisitions, and designing, architecting, producing, and delivering software solutions for industry.

Suzanne Boyd, HCDE 537, is Founder & Principal Consultant of Anthro-Tech, Inc.—a user-centered design consultancy focused on government agencies, nonprofits and organizations with a social-impact mission.