With AI tools becoming part of everyday IT work, I'm curious about what professionals are seeing in their actual jobs.

Are technical skills alone still enough to grow in IT, or are problem-solving, communication, and understanding business needs becoming just as important?

For those already working in the industry, what skills have made the biggest difference in your career?

https://www.nanodwarf.io/research

Hey everyone,

A colleague and I have been working on Thumbview, a VS Code extension that provides an alternate view of your workspace where project files are represented by thumbnails and arranged in a spatial overview.

Instead of looking through a file tree or a list of tabs, you can leverage the power of human spatial memory with the help of visual landmarks to navigate your code base.

We are recruiting participants for an academic study at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) to see when and how developers use Thumbview in their daily tasks. Participants will install the extension and enable telemetry for a two-week period. At the end of the period, participants will be reminded to fill out an exit questionnaire, followed by an optional exit interview. If you are interested and would like to participate please fill out the consent form and demographics questionnaire here: 

https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/K8BSJNS 

If you’re not interested in participating but you’d still like to help, or you just want to try out the extension, here are some other links:
Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Thumbview.thumbview&ssr=false#overview 
Issues & feedback repo: https://github.com/jjoseph357/thumbview-issues 

Any feedback on the extension is appreciated!

Privacy note: Participation is strictly opt-in. Telemetry never inspects or sends code, file names, folder paths, or search terms. It only records anonymous navigation timings (like seconds to select a file or grid clicks). You can opt out or delete your data at any time.

found a bunch on speed and accuracy for voice interfaces. way less on whether people are okay doing it in public or in shared spaces, which seems like the bigger deal.

and is there anything between talking out loud and unlocking a phone, opening an app, hunting for the control. that gap feels huge to me.

maybe it's a thing and i just don't know the term. papers or case studies welcome, even old ones.

what should i be reading?

I’m currently pursuing a PhD at a European university ranked outside the top 500, focusing on generative AI personas and their evaluation. I expect to defend in June 2027.
Alongside my PhD, I’ve maintained a well-paying industry career. I have seven published first-author papers, including publications in reputable HCI journals and conferences such as CHI, along with several other coauthored publications and manuscripts under review. I’ve directly led my first-author research, handling almost every major part of the process.
My goal is to secure a postdoc at a leading HCI lab, ideally among the top labs in Europe or the UK. I’m willing to take a reasonable pay cut, but I don’t want to give up a good industry career for a position with limited prospects.
My main concern is whether my university’s ranking or my mixed academic-industry background will hold me back despite my publication record. I’ve worked extremely hard over the past few years to build both careers, and while I genuinely enjoy research and intend to continue regardless, I’d also like to build a stronger academic profile and gain recognition for my work.
If a full-time postdoc at a leading institution isn’t feasible, I’m also considering a part-time postdoc or research affiliation while continuing my industry work in Finland.
How competitive would my profile be for leading HCI labs? Does the reputation of my PhD institution matter significantly, and what should I focus on before graduating?

I'm applying to PhD programs for Fall 2027 in HCI and Information Science as a mixed-methods researcher, with no coding background. All of the programs that I am applying to are highly competitive. I want to learn if anyone knows of any schools that might be a safe backup. I know PhD admissions are highly selective and dependent on faculty research interests, but I wanted to see if someone is aware of such program options that might be easier to get into.

I'm in my last year of my Canadian biology undergraduate and I'm looking to pivot into HCI/product design. I have two UX roles in the clubs I am in and have non-design or HCI related undergraduate research experience (thesis). I'm worried that because of my background it will be hard for me to get roles in the field as a lot of them ask for undergrad/masters in HCI or something adjacent.

Should I:
1. Do a HCI masters, likely in the US
2. Do a 2 year CS undergrad program at my school and specialize in HCI/UX as they offer co-op
3. Build my skills and portfolio outside of school and try applying to jobs without further education

If you have any advice or other suggestions, please feel free to let me know!

Hi everyone!

I'll be attending and presenting at UIST 2026 in Detroit and am currently looking for someone to share hotel accommodation with during the conference, from November 2 (check-in) to November 6 (check-out).

I'm still exploring hotels near the conference venue, Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.

If you're also attending UIST 2026 and looking for a roommate, or have already booked a hotel room and are open to sharing, I'd be happy to connect and discuss options.

Feel free to comment or DM me. Thanks!

ok so voice is fine for small stuff, right. Skip a song, change a setting, whatever. If your hands are full or you're alone in the car it's great. But then you're on a train or at a friend's place and saying "set it to 68" out loud is just weird, and private stuff is a no. Anything that needs to be exact is annoying too.

Anyone know of research on when people actually go for voice over touch. I found a bunch on speed and accuracy but way less on whether people feel okay doing it around others, which feels like the bigger deal. And is there anything in between, like something quieter than talking but faster than unlocking your phone and opening an app and hunting for the right control. That gap feels huge. Maybe it's a thing and I just don't know what it's called.

I recently discovered that there really isn't any proper tools for finding out user intent after you've launched a project, not enough applications or tool covered the atomic level interaction of human computer interaction, sure they give you location, and all the basic stats like Google Analytics or Semrush... but they do not go deeper, so I made a tool that saves thousands... one line of code, for automatic HCI analysis.

https://aimirror.dev

i have noticed tha sometimes apps changes things that were already working perfectly fine, for example - buttons get moved , setting get buried or a simple task takes 3-4 extra steps

what is that UX experience that made you wonder , why did this happen.

Hey guys! I am applying to the University of Washington’s HCDE PhD Program. Any ideas on how to make my applications stand out? I have an undergraduate degree in HCI, as well as my Master’s in user experience, and about 5 years of FAANG experience doing a combination of user research and human factors work.

the agents handles the browsers , filters, buttons adn everything else which is reliable to majority of people then people will still need to understand how traditional interfaces work ?

I’m trying to switch into UX/UI from a different academic background, but I don’t have much professional experience and I’m currently struggling to get a job.

I’m considering doing a Master’s in UX/HCI/Interaction Design abroad, but I’m unsure if that makes sense given my background and lack of experience.

For people who’ve been in a similar situation:

• Am I likely to be eligible for these programs?
• Is a Master’s a good route for a career switch, or should I keep trying to enter the field without one?
• What would you do in my situation?

Would really appreciate honest advice, especially from people who switched careers or studied UX/HCI abroad.

I’m trying to apply for the HCI programs in America for next year (fall 2027). I was born in, and still live in China, with English as my 2nd language. Not being able to visit the campuses or connect with much people due to my language barrier, I was hoping if there were any students in this forum that had been accepted already that would be willing to help me out in my personal statement (mainly read over it and give critiques), and give advice and info about the programs. The specific programs I’m interested are:
-NYU IDM
-NYU ITP
-UPENN IPD
-SVA design for social innovation
-PRATT IXD
-UW MSTI
-UW HCDE
-UMICH MSI
-PARSONS strategic design and management

Thank you!

Hi everyone, I’m Ruggiero, a CS student working on a research project about human-computer interaction and AI.

I’ve been thinking about something that bothers me with many current AI interfaces: they generally either wait for you to explicitly ask for help, or increasingly try to take over the task.

I wanted to explore a middle ground.

I built QUIET, a small interactive prototype where the assistant observes what you’re doing and can choose how much to intervene:

• stay silent
• point you toward something
• explain / teach you
• do the task for you

The interesting part isn’t really whether AI can perform these actions. It already can.

The question I’m exploring is:

What if the AI’s job was not just to decide what to do, but when and how much to intervene?

The prototype is intentionally not AI-powered yet. All four scenarios are scripted. I’m trying to test the interaction model first, before building the underlying AI system.

You can try it here:

https://quiet-hci.pages.dev

I’d really like feedback from people interested in HCI:

• Does this interaction model feel natural?
• Would these interventions feel helpful or annoying?
• When would you want the AI to teach you instead of doing something for you?
• Does the idea still make sense knowing that the current prototype isn’t actually AI-powered?

I’m especially interested in criticism. If you think this is just another form of Clippy / an agent / contextual help, I’d also like to hear why.

For reference I am a senior (graduating may 2027). I've been looking into HCI masters programs and am considering applying for fall 2027. I have a portfolio and I have done a few personal projects. I also have been a research assistant on 2 HCI related projects. However, I have not had any luck getting an internship yet. I'm not sure if I'll even be able to land a full time role after graduation.

I want to pursue a masters to hopefully gain more skills and possibly more experience (masters internships). Is it worth it to pursue a masters in my case, or would it be more beneficial to try to enter the job market first or pivot completely?

Hello all, I graduated with a Bachelor's in CS last year (2025) in Pakistan. I have a solid gpa, and have been working as a software engineer for the past year.
This year I plan to apply to masters programs for Fall 2027 intake. I really enjoy design and just creating in general. I did not do research as such in univeristy, but I was part of a project which has a paper published (not the author)

Here are the universities I have shortlisted so far. My aim is good schools, that also might give me funding/taships. I have currently picked 4 from US and 4 from Canada.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

🍪 Study on Cookie Banner User Experience

You’ve likely encountered cookie banners while browsing the web!

We are conducting a brief survey (experiment) to understand users' actual experiences with them.

⏱ Estimated time: Approx. 5 minutes

https://cookie-cookie1.netlify.app/

It is set to Korean, so translation is needed.

cookie #cookie banner #Experience

Please, i nedd you help 😭😭

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to pursue a Master’s in HCI in the US and I’m trying to decide between Spring 2028 and Fall 2028.

My background:
Graduated in May 2026
CGPA: 7.98/10
Tier-2 college in India
No professional work experience
Interested in HCI/UI/UX
Currently building my UX portfolio and projects
I’m considering using the time before applying to improve my portfolio and gain some relevant experience.

For people who have applied to or are currently studying HCI/UX in the US:

How different are the Fall and Spring intakes for HCI programs?
Are there significantly fewer HCI programs available for Spring?
Does starting in Spring affect internships, course selection, networking, or recruiting?
With my academic background and no work experience, would waiting for Fall 2028 give me a meaningful opportunity to strengthen my profile?
What would you recommend focusing on during the additional time: UX projects, internships, research, portfolio, SOP, etc.?
I’d especially appreciate responses from HCI students or applicants who have experienced either intake.
Thanks!

Applying to MHCI+D at UW and dont even know where to begin for the portfolio and what it should look like. Two of the projects Im most proud of was done in an internship and my full time job. ALL the material for the full time job is proprietary and i dont have access. Same with the internship. How do i work around this?

Hi so im a 3rd year graphic design student but i actually never wanted to be a graphic designer i wanted to go in fine arts but since that had little to no scope here i chose gd instead. Now im trying to figure out what to do after clg since the whole ai thing i hv no desire to remain a graphic designer i want to get a masters in a field which get me a high paying job in and out of India. So my brother was suggesting HCI ( human computer interaction) or service design or ui/ux.

I just want a good paying (little creative) job so I can chill and paint in my own free time.

If anyone has any suggestions or information on this subject pls let me know because im very very confused....