Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) @ EPFL
Human-centered technology research at EPFL spans a range of areas, including human-AI interaction, security & privacy, education, health, development, safe & responsible AI, participatory AI, robotics, design, digital humanities, assistive technologies, and more.
Explore our research labs & centers, courses, PhD programs, and community events.
Courses
This course introduces core ideas and methods in the interdisciplinary field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). We will explore how we can design human-centered systems that are useful, usable, and beneficial to people in real-world contexts.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/human-computer-interaction-CS-213
The course will present students with a view of self-organization technologies set in a long-term historical perspective, extending from their roots in ancients principles of democracy and governance, up to recent high-tech innovation such as social networking, e-voting, blockchains, and delegative democracy.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/technologies-for-democratic-society-CS-234
Software’s growing importance increases engineers’ responsibility to integrate ethical concerns in the design and development process. This course teaches students concrete strategies for responsible software engineering, focusing on identifying ethical issues and mitigating risks to minimize harms.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/responsible-software-CS-290
This course teaches the basic techniques, methodologies, and practical skills required to draw meaningful insights from a variety of data, with the help of common software tools from the data science world (pandas, scikit-learn, etc.)
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/applied-data-analysis-CS-401
Using a human-centered and transdisciplinary approach, this course applies a structured design process to develop creative and viable propositions benefiting both society and the economy.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/design-in-innovation-creation-for-adoption-MGT-406
How can we turn digital technologies and data into meaningful user experiences? How can we face societal issues raised by digital evolution? This course proposes an immersion in design research, user centered creativity and UX/UI psychology, through project based learning.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/design-research-for-digital-innovation-DH-411
This course addresses the design and evaluation of technologies that aim to augment and amplify
human cognitive capabilities. The course covers the design and evaluation of systems intended to
augment individual and group decision-making, learning, creative problem-solving, and more.
This course aims to present and discuss various game design methodologies that can be used to analyze and create projects based on interactivity and player engagement. It gives students the opportunity of engaging with the medium of (video) games – its limits and potentials – to widen their toolset.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/game-design-prototyping-DH-414
Computer environments such as educational games, interactive simulations, and web services provide large amounts of data, which can be analyzed and serve as a basis for adaptation. This course will cover the core methods of user modeling and personalization, with a focus on educational data.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/machine-learning-for-behavioral-data-CS-421
Safeguarding security, privacy, and online safety are critical sociotechnical challenges that require integrating computing and social science. This course introduces fundamentals of human-centered computer security and privacy while drawing on novel research about emerging threats to online safety.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/human-centered-security-and-privacy-CS-464
This course teaches students to design, build and rigorously evaluate trustworthy, representative and contextually appropriate AI systems for high-stakes decision-making in global health and humanitarian response.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/ai-for-global-health-CS-467
This course focuses on goal-directed design and interaction design, two subjects treated in depth in the Cooper book (see reference below). To practice these two methods, we propose a design challenge, which is further divided into mini-projects evenly spaced throughout the semester.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/interaction-design-CS-486
As we move towards an AI economy, the success of new products, systems and services depend increasingly on the excellence of personal experience. This course introduces students to the notion and practice of experience design following a hands-on, studio-based approach.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/experience-design-CS-489
The course integrates concepts from media studies, machine learning, multimedia, and network science to characterize social practices and analyze content in platforms like Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Students will learn methods to understand socio-technical phenomena in social media.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/computational-social-media-DH-500
This course teaches basic knowledge on haptic devices, force feedback and mechanical man-machine interfaces. Lectures are about 40 %, the rest is hands-on practical work with the “haptic paddle”, a complete mechanical device with full laptop control interface. Realization of project in groups of 2.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/fr/haptic-human-robot-interfaces-MICRO-553
This course equips PhD students with user research methods to connect their doctoral work with society through hands-on, project-based learning. The practical skills and theory learnt are applicable at every stage of the PhD and for future careers in academia or industry.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/fr/doing-research-with-and-for-people-design-research-methods-for-science-and-technology-ENG-655
This seminar course covers the interdisciplinary field of machine learning for education. By reading, reviewing, and presenting research papers from recent venues, students will become familiar with core issues and techniques in the field.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/topics-in-machine-learning-for-education-CS-702
This is a seminar course. By reading and discussing an introductory book as well as research papers about computational social science, students will become familiar with core issues and techniques in the field.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/topics-in-computational-social-science-topicss-CS-727
This course introduces the core concepts and methodologies of Digital Humanities, integrating both theoretical and practical perspectives. Students learn to work with large-scale cultural datasets, acquiring the tools and techniques required for their processing, analysis, and interpretation.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/foundations-of-digital-humanities-DH-405
This course explores and practices some of the fundamental tools of designing for sustainability with a focus on the sustainability, desirability, and economic viability of solutions.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/design-for-sustainability-i-HUM-397
Students will learn the core concepts and techniques of network analysis with emphasis on causal inference. Theory and application will be balanced, with students working directly with network data throughout the course.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/causal-inference-MGT-416
This teaching combines cultural (particularly in literary or artistic fields), social and scientific approaches to consider the issues, perspectives and problems raised by the hybridization of humans and machines.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/humans-machines-HUM-416
This teaching combines cultural (particularly in literary or artistic fields), social and scientific approaches to consider the issues, perspectives and problems raised by the hybridization of humans and machines.
https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/humans-machines-ii-HUM-463