CMU Students launch HCI Ideas Podcast and Cards
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Four Carnegie Mellon University undergraduate students took on a special project this summer to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII).
After reading hundreds of research papers and sifting through 3 decades of influential projects by HCII authors, the students set the objective for their unique summer project. Their research project would be a meta one – a reflection of the piles of existing research, but presented in a new way.
Although the field of human-computer interaction is known for being broad, they curated HCII researchers’ work into thoughtful categories and shared some highlights of each area in an approachable way. Then, the students paired up to build three deliverables: a podcast, a set of collectible cards, and a website.
The podcast, HCI Ideas, launched at the end of August. Student hosts Evelyn Lui (Information Systems, 2027) and Samanvita Singhania (Computer Science, 2027) host faculty guests from the HCII and chat with them about their unique paths, research interests, and thoughts about the future of HCI. Episodes are about 30 minutes long, and the 10 episodes will be released weekly. Several episodes are already available.
Their set of collectible cards highlights complex research topics in a tangible and compact way. Students Airla Fan (Architecture & HCI, 2026) and Jennie Wei (Design, 2027) designed the custom deck of cards that showcases more than 50 HCII research papers. One set of cards is currently on display in the CMU Coulter Welcome Center, located on the ground floor of the Tepper Quad.
A digital version of the 30 Years of Big Ideas Cards is also available on their website. Nested into 8 color-coded folders, the 2-sided cards are grouped by the following research categories: new interactions, design research, education technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, social computing, accessibility & ethics, and safety & privacy.
The team of CMU Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship (SURA) students was advised by Dan Saffer, assistant professor of the practice.
Visit hcii30.com to celebrate some of the HCII’s biggest ideas over the past 3 decades.
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Dan Saffer