Market Analysis of Undergraduate Degrees Related to Human Factors,HCI,and UX

Abstract

In December 2023, a search for undergraduate degrees related to HCI, UX, and human factors was conducted. Once a program was located, data was collected about the degree title, degree type, the program URL, the number of credits required, the home school or college of the program, and the terminology used in the marketing copy. Seventy degrees were found, with enormously varying titles. Of those, 46% contained the word “design,” and 39% contained “interactive” or “interaction.” Other terms such as “computing” (21%) and “human” (19%) were less prevalent, with “user experience” or “UX” in only 14%. When examining the home school or college that hosted the degree program, it was found at 24% of programs lived in design-focused units. The next highest category of host was Liberal Arts and Humanities (21%). These results may inform other human factors-related programs as they grow.

Objectives

While the historical dynamics of the disciplines of human factors, human-computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) have been documented from multiple perspectives, these fields have historically remained the province of graduate study. However, the growing number of related undergraduate degree programs in recent years suggests that a survey of the current degree marketplace might be useful.

Approach

In December 2023, a search for undergraduate degrees related to HCI, UX, and human factors was conducted. Methods including searching Google using the disciplinary terms combined with “bachelor’s” alongside exploring lists of degrees aggregated by sites such as BachelorsPortal.com. Once a program was located, data was collected about the degree title, degree type, the program URL, the number of credits required, the home school or college of the program, and the terminology used in the marketing copy.

Findings

Seventy degrees were found, with enormously varying titles. Of those, 46% contained the word “Design,” and 39% contained “interactive” or “interaction.” Other terms such as “computing” (21%) and “human” (19%) were less prevalent, with “user experience” or “UX” in only 14%. Only 10% of degrees were called “human-computer interaction.”

Of the 70 programs, 56% offered B.S. degrees, 29% offered B.A. degrees, and 16% offered M.F.A. degrees. Also, when considering the number of credits required, 64% of the programs were standard 120-credit degrees, while 13% required more than 120 credits, and 17% required fewer, being typically concentration areas within a broader major.

When examining the home school or college that hosted the degree program, it was found at 24% of programs lived in design-focused organizations such as a College of Design. The next highest category of host was Liberal Arts and Humanities (21%). The third largest category of host (19%) included organizations focused on informatics, or information technology, or was an iSchool.

Each school’s degree website contained a list of jobs titles that graduates of that degree might hold, as well as marketing text like “Make technology more meaningful, accessible, and delightful through exceptional interaction design” (https://www.cca.edu/design/ixd/). These lists of jobs and blocks of text were aggregated and given to ChatGPT 4o in May 2024 for analysis of common themes using the prompt, “Can you tell me the top themes from the text? What careers are most frequently mentioned? What are the attributes of employees that are most frequently mentioned?” The initial output was superficial, but after requesting a more detailed analysis, the top themes were similar to the degree titles as described above. The primary attributes of employees included:

• Human-centered design skills

• Technical proficiency

• UX focus

These three skills areas reflect the key axes of human factors and HCI. You need design skills that keep the user in mind, technical (and ideally engineering) skills, and a focus on user experience. It is often difficult to find all of these skills in one person, but that is what we ASPIRE to at HFES.

Takeaways

With degree titles ranging from Human Systems Engineering, to Technology, Art & Design, to Interaction Design, to Engineering Psychology, to Immersive Media, this analysis might shed light on trends in the marketing of undergraduate degrees related to human factors, HCI, and UX.