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Human Centered Design and Engineering

College of Engineering

Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) undergraduate students learn design and engineering processes to solve problems through a deep understanding of people and their contexts. Students in the HCDE Bachelor of Science program graduate with an engineering degree and a strong foundation in designing user experiences and interfaces, creating information visualizations, conducting user research, designing for the web and building web technologies. Upon graduation, students find jobs as user experience (UX) researchers and designers, multimedia and web developers, usability engineers, interface designers and information architects at technology companies.

Major category: Capacity-constrained

Curricular options: Data Science

Topic(s): Arts, Humanities and Design, Computing, Engineering

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Degree requirements

Applicant type

Applicant type

Freshmen can apply to the UW to begin autumn quarter or winter quarter (U.S. applicants only)

Read more about applying to the UW as a freshman, including details for programs that provide high school students with college credit (like Running Start).

The primary pathway to Human Centered Design and Engineering is through Direct to College admission to the College of Engineering. If you want to major in this or any major within the College of Engineering, be sure to list it as your first-choice major on the freshman application.

Quarters of general admission to UW: autumn / winter (U.S. applicants only) / spring / summer

Preparation for the major is a factor in transfer admission.

  • Use the information below to help you prepare for this degree
  • Visit MyPlan to run a degree audit.
  • Use the UW Equivalency Guide to find out how courses taken at a Washington state community or technical college will transfer to the UW.
  • UW college and school graduation requirements

Department admission information

Please contact the department for details about the application process.

This major is capacity-constrained. Completion of prerequisites does not guarantee admission.
  • Transfer students must submit two separate applications: one to the Office of Admissions and one to Human Centered Design & Engineering.
  • To be eligible to apply, you must have a 2.0 (“C” grade) minimum GPA in each prerequisite course and a 2.5 cumulative GPA in all the prerequisites. These are minimums; the actual GPA of those admitted is much higher.
  • All courses must be completed prior to the April 5 application deadline.

Read more about applying to the UW as a transfer student.

Courses required for the major:

  • 5 credits English Composition

10 credits from:

  • MATH 120 NSc RSN – Precalculus
  • MATH 124 NSc RSN – Calculus with Analytic Geometry I
  • MATH 125 NSc – Calculus with Analytic Geometry II
  • MATH 126 NSc – Calculus with Analytic Geometry III

One course from:

  • STAT 220 NSc RSN – Statistical Reasoning
  • STAT 221 NSc RSN – Statistical Concepts and Methods for the Social Sciences
  • STAT 290 NSc – Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics
  • STAT 311 NSc RSN – Elements of Statistical Methods
  • QMETH 201 NSc RSN – Introduction to Statistical Methods
  • Q SCI 381 NSc RSN – Introduction to Probably and Statistics
  • EDPSY 490 NSc RSN – Basic Educational Statistics
  • IND E 315 NSc – Probability and Statistics for Engineers

Three courses from:

  • BIOL 118 NSc – Survey of Physiology
  • BIOL 180 NSc – Introductory Biology
  • BIOL 200 NSc – Introductory Biology
  • BIOL 220 NSc – Introductory Biology
  • CHEM 142 NSc RSN – General Chemistry
  • CHEM 152 NSc RSN – General Chemistry
  • CHEM 162 NW QSR – General Chemistry
  • PHYS 114 NSc – General Physics
  • PHYS 115 NSc – Heat, Fluids and Electricity and Magnetism
  • PHYS 116 NSc – Waves, Optics, and Nuclei
  • PHYS 121 NSc RSN – Mechanics
  • PHYS 122 NSc – Electromagnetism
  • PHYS 123 NSc – Waves, Light, and Heat
  • PSYCH 202 NSc – Biopsychology

One course from:

  • CSE 121 NSc RSN – Introduction to Computer Programming I
  • CSE 122 NSc RSN – Introduction to Computer Programming II
  • CSE 123 NSc RSN – Introduction to Computer Programming III
  • CSE 142 NSc RSN – Computer Programming I
  • CSE 160 NSc RSN – Data Programming

Entering transfer information:

Total undergraduates: 205
Total from Washington community colleges: 15

Entering transfer GPA (from WA community colleges):

3.75 – 4.00: 7
3.50 – 3.74: <5
3.25 – 3.49: <5
3.00 – 3.24: <5
2.75 – 2.99: <5
2.50 – 2.74: <5
2.49 and below: <5

NOTES:

    The HCDE Department is preparing to make changes to their curriculum in order to seek ABET accreditation. These changes will impact applicants applying to the HCDE major in autumn 2026 or later. Please visit the department’s website for more information.

Career outcomes

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