M.S. / Ph.D ICT track
ICT track of the Informatics concentration

The Department of Informatics enjoys an international reputation for its research and education on the human and social dimensions of computer system design and use. There are two principal strands to this work.

The first concerns the interaction between people and computers, including novel forms of interactive experience beyond traditional desktop computing.

The second concerns the role that computer systems can play in collaborative work between individuals, groups, and organizations.

Examples of topics that ICT faculty address include: adoption and diffusion of collaborative technologies; software architectures for user-adaptive systems; universal access to interactive systems; design principles for information visualization; and new patterns of computer-mediated work such as virtual teams.

The approach used places equal emphasis on three areas of investigation – empirical, theoretical, and technical. The empirical work involves studying technology in use, using both laboratory techniques and fieldwork investigations of real-world settings.

The theoretical work employs and develops analytic understandings of the relationships among technology, people, organizations, and social settings.

Finally, in the technical work, ICT faculty address new models and technologies for interaction with and collaboration through technology. Students in the ICT program gain a thorough grounding in all three areas.

The cornerstone of this approach is to study real use of technology, as it occurs in real-world settings. ICT faculty believe that the success or failure of technology depends on how people can fit that technology into real practice, balancing technical, cognitive, social, and cultural dimensions.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, ICT research and education aims at a deeper understanding of interaction with and collaboration through technology, and at exploiting these insights for the design of better systems.

» ICT track requirements