HC-Hive

Tommy Ottolin interviews Rob MacDonald, a new '23 graduate from the Psychology track, in this episode of the HC-Hi! Rob discusses how UX and ethics have been focal points throughout his diversified career path, and he shares what aspects that make up his favorite teams.

HC-Hi! is an interview series showcasing the eclectic personalities of the Georgia Tech M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program. Each episode, a podcast team member chats with a fellow classmate about their projects and passions within and beyond the program.

Madeleine Paulsen sits down with Lydia Burns, LMC class of 2024, in this episode of the HC-Hi! Lydia shares how she got to GT with her advertising background, her mission to learn all aspects of UX, and a hot take about Adobe vs. Figma.

HC-Hi! is an interview series showcasing the eclectic personalities of the Georgia Tech M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program. Each episode, a podcast team member chats with a fellow classmate about their projects and passions within and beyond the program.

Inclusion can be at the forefront of UX design processes, but UX teams do not always reflect that value through having a diverse team. 5 MS-HCI students and alumni discuss their professional experiences as women of color in this episode. Our hosts and guests share stories of making space for themselves and others while teaching us that their perspective is powerful.

Credits:

- Hosts: Tymirra Smith and Lakshmi Seelam

- Guests: Monet Spells, Hannan Abdi, Maria Paula Lengua-Espejo

- Production & Edits: Madeleine Paulsen, Tyler Norman, Tommy Ottolin

- Logo: Vanessa Lin, Stacy Lee

Stacy Lee chats with Sejal Sarkar, a Pyschology student graduating in May 2023, in this episode of the HC-Hi! Sejal explains how her background as a therapist helps and challenges her work as a UX researcher and the value and authenticity of Headspace.

HC-Hi! is an interview series showcasing the eclectic personalities of the Georgia Tech M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program. Each episode, a podcast team member chats with a fellow classmate about their projects and passions within and beyond the program.

While it may be easy to refer to the UX world as synonymous with the world of Human-Computer Interaction, this episode highlights a population that is excluded by that comparison: animals. Melody Jackson, the Animal-Centered Computing lab director, along with two HCI students who worked in that lab, Josh Terry and Cole Anderson, discuss the curious world of researching and designing for animals. They share a variety of projects and findings that help illustrate how UX frameworks are applicable but differ when used in this field of research.

Credits:

- Hosts: Madeleine Paulsen and Taylor Scavo

- Guests: Melody Jackson, Cole Anderson, Josh Terry

- Production & Edits: Tyler Norman, Tommy Ottolin, Madeleine Paulsen

- Logo: Vanessa Lin, Stacy Lee

Stacy Lee kicks off the HC-Hi! interview series with Tommy Ottolin, an Interactive Computing student in the class of 2023. Tommy shares his opinions about and experiences with AI-generated art, pursuing your curiosities, and the music industry.

HC-Hi! is an interview series showcasing the eclectic personalities of the Georgia Tech M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program. Each episode, a podcast team member chats with a fellow classmate about their projects and passions within and beyond the program.

Credits:

- Host: Stacy Lee

- Guest: Tommy Ottolin

- Production and Edits: Stacy Lee, Tyler Norman, Tommy Ottolin

- Logo: Vanessa Lin, Stacy Lee

The Great Resignation is an economic and lifestyle trend in which professionals across industries left their jobs in masses. Whether it was layoffs induced by COVID-19, shifting wages and costs of living, dissatisfaction, or something else, the working world shifted, and we changed. Taylor and Madeleine sit down with three people who navigated the Great Resignation to look back on lessons learned and share hopes for the future.

Credits:

- Hosts: Taylor Scavo and Madeleine Paulsen

- Guests: Rachael Lund, Ruvinee Senadheera, Justin Mckay

- Production and Edits: Tyler Norman, Tommy Ottolin

- Logo: Haley Dabbs, Madeleine Paulsen

Send in a voice message to the team! https://anchor.fm/gt-hc-hive/messages

The practice of HCI requires much energy, empathy, and creativity. Creative burnout unfortunately is an expectation in our world, and each of us has different prevention methods and remedies to deal with these feelings. Taylor and Austin sit down with a few members of the podcast team, Sharon, Stacy, and Tyler, to learn about how creative burnout manifests in their lives.

Credits:

- Hosts: Taylor Scavo and Austin Peete

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips, Tyler Norman, Stacy Lee

- Logo: Haley Dabbs, Madeleine Paulsen

Send in a voice message to the team! https://anchor.fm/gt-hc-hive/messages

The After Dark you've been waiting for. Ngoc and Harshali chat with Dr. Henneman, director of the MSHCI program at Georgia Tech, and hear about his experience with prospective students, transforming the program, and of course, Hot Takes. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Harshali Wadge 

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

HCI has roots in old school technology, often funded and researched by the government. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali hang out with recent graduate Jack to talk about his experiences of working for NASA and the unique challenges of working in the public sector.

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

In HCI, you always have stakeholders - collaborators, peers, managers, reports, users, and even competitors. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Jill and Grace to hear their experiences of working in collaborative environments and how to conquer spaces with differing interests. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Harshali Wadge and Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

We love data, here at the HC Hive. But as data has grown, so have its ethical implications. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Yash, Ellen, and Conor to discuss emerging discussions in data ethics. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

Stories are at the heart of user experiences - from the setting, to the conflict, to the technological resolution. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali hang out with Kyle, David, and Ines to discuss how we can become effective storytellers in HCI, and why it's an important skill to build. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

Augmented and Virtual Reality tech is all the rage these days. Ngoc and Harshali chat with Morgan to talk about the nuances of building AR/VR projects, gatekeeping in this space, and inclusion. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

What's the difference between art and design? In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Rhea and Sue about inspiration, art education, and how their artistic backgrounds help them in HCI and UX. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Austin Peete, Taylor Scavo, Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music: Teddy Robinson - Rich Boys (ft. Steffen Yoshiki & DOT.KAI)

- Teddy's YouTube

To end the miniseries on job hunting, Ngoc and Harshali chat with the rest of the podcast team about rejection - how it feels, how to cope, and how to not lose hope in what can seem like an endless battle. Tune in for some great wisdom from Sav, Austin, Taylor, and Matthew!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music: A.Valley - "Kankoku Nori"

Ngoc, Harshali, and Whitney chat with Taylor from the podcast team to break down exactly what goes into a UX researcher interview. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music: DOT.KAI - Buri Buri

Design interviews are herculean tasks. This episode, Ngoc and Harshali talk to Nektar and Vicky about to battle all the different parts of the design interview process, and share some hot takes on the craziness of design challenges. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music: Aki Ella - 'Hug'

HCI is more than just UX design and research! In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Varnit and Matt about how to prepare for engineering interviews, within and outside of HCI. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips and Harshali Wadge

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music Feature: 'Maybe I Would' - a.DOT & kiddiegoggles

Resumes and portfolios are the essentials when job hunting. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Joshua, Victoria, and Aditi to learn about what makes great resumes and portfolios for UX designers and researchers. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music Feature: "Show You Who I Am" - AJ John - https://bit.ly/3u9XCt7

If career fairs are weird, following up can be weirder. Ngoc and Harshali sit down fellow students Monica, Phoebe, and Kenneth to hear their tips and tricks for networking and maintaining connections.  

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music Feature: "Thass God" - Kaptivated. https://kaptivatedmusic.com/,

Career fairs can be a lot. A lot of emotions, a lot of weird stories, a lot of strange interactions. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali kick off Season 3 with a chat with fellow podcast team member, Austin and swap stories about career fairs. Tune in for a candid and wild conversation about one of professional life's greatest tragedies. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Music Feature: "We Saw Snow" - Evin ft Lymeriq. 

In the final episode of the season, Ngoc and Harshali sit back down with Hannah, Tushar, and Gabriel to look back on the semester and hear some new hot takes. Tune in for a fun conversation about lessons learned, remote learning, and meetings!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

It's easy to think UX and HCI only apply to software, but ultimately, humans interact in the physical world. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali sit down with Noah, Tim, and Prabodh to talk about physical prototyping, and the wild, wild west of building tangible technology. Tune in to hear a great conversation about the unique challenges (and joys!) of building physical objects. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Harshali Wadge, Ngoc Tran, and Savannah Phillips 

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

How does culture affect how we study and understand HCI? In this episode, hosts Ngoc and Harshali chat with Eileen, Jae, and Niharika about their experiences of being international students in the U.S. and studying HCI at Georgia Tech. Tune in for an incredible conversation about the challenges of being an international student, valuable advice for prospective students, a terrible hot takes question, and Ngoc's frustrations with vending machines. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Harshali Wadge and Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

If you've been listening to the Hive, you know that Ngoc and Harshali love data. This episode, they sit down with Arpit and Chao to discuss data visualization, and how HCI can help users understand the data-rich world we live in today. This episode gets deep, and we somehow discuss evolution, philosophy, and pie charts all in one go!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: Bad Bat! by Sue Reon Kim and Nora Petran (link: https://norapetran.bandcamp.com/album/bad-bat)

In this Holiday Special episode, Ngoc and Harshali spill all the behind-the-scenes tea about how the Hive is produced! Tune in for some festive cheer!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Harshali Wadge and Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

Besides the obvious health crisis, buzzwords and poor communication are other pandemics afflicting the workplace today! Hosts Ngoc and Harshali chat with Olivia, Kevin, and Jordan - all 2nd year students in the MSHCI program - to talk about the value of strong communication skills. Tune in to hear about some specific techniques, skills, and as always, hot takes. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: "40mph" - a.DOT and kiddiegoggles

This episode, Ngoc and Harshali discuss mental health with fellow students Talia, Yago, and Lu. Together, guests share their stories of dealing with stress and insecurity in HCI and grad school. Tune in for a candid discussion about this very important topic!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Ngoc Tran

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: Midnight Sun by Gurudutt Perichetla (Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/3TRhky1eQOYKa4ZUx5TyoV) 

When someone says 'UX', the first thing many people think about is design. In this episode, Ngoc and Harshali chat with Benton, Kelsie, and Varun, HCI students with degrees in industrial design, to get to the bottom of some big design questions! Tune in for a fun conversation about studio culture and why screens are the worst. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: "Falling" - Mintiest: https://soundcloud.com/mintiest/tracks

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Golino and Rachel Feinberg, alumni of the MSHCI program at Georgia Tech. Matt and Rachel share their story of turning their masters project into a startup, working as a team, and launching the beta of their new app, ZenVR. Tune in to learn about how these HCI experts turned into entrepreneurs to bring meditation and technology together in one amazing product.  Check out www.zenvrapp.com to learn more about this project and sign up for the Beta! Credits: - Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge - Production and Edits: Ngoc Tran - Logo: Olivia Hughes - Featured Music: "Untitled" by Yeesh (Instagram: yeesh.jpg)

According to Temple Grandin, "engineering is easy - it's the people problems that are hard." But what happens when three engineers enter a field where the focus is solving human-centered problems? In this episode, guests Anushri, Kevin, and Jay join hosts Ngoc and Harshali to chat about transitioning from engineering to the multidisciplinary world of HCI. Together, the three shed light on their pivot toward UX and HCI, as well as skills they leveraged from their backgrounds. Tune in for a fun conversation, enlightening advice, and some hot takes. 

Disclaimer: We recorded remotely with each person in different environments. We're experimenting and will always aim to make every episode better than the last!

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: "Maria" - Kyle Kohlheyer (Check out his music here: https://open.spotify.com/track/05YJvJnzkVb6zs3jVnYb4W?si=Q5aokzn5Q_OD08-m9bDLOg)

Ever wondered what makes a great video game? This episode, hosts Ngoc and Harshali sit down with fellow HCI students, Ryan, Stephanie, and Aditya, to hear about their thoughts on video game design. All avid gamers, the three guests shine light on how HCI intersects with game design, coursework at Georgia Tech, and spill some tea on terrible game UX. 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: "Devon" - Sue Reon Kim (Check out her EP here: https://suereonkim.bandcamp.com/album/oorideuren) 

In this episode, hosts Ngoc and Harshali travel into the wild west of research, in all its various forms. Many people think of UX research as a single type of work, but it's actually a wonderful medley of methodology, data, empathy, business processes, and puzzles. Guests Sonam, Tiffany, and Anjali shed some light on the complexity of studying humans, the skills you need, and some great pieces of advice. Listen for a great (and very nerdy) conversation! 

Credits:

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: "Vice City" - Gurudutt Perichetla 

This week, hosts Ngoc and Harshali sit down with Sav, Taylor, and Austin - other members of the podcast team - to discuss imposter syndrome and the unique challenges of fitting into the HCI world. Touching on HCI, UX, and grad school, the podcast team shares personal stories of how they've experienced imposter syndrome, as well as their strategies for overcoming it. Tune in for a great (and candid) conversation!

Disclaimer: We recorded remotely with each person in different environments. We're experimenting and will always aim to make every episode better than the last! 

Credits: 

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: a.DOT (Austin Peete)

Inclusive design is often mentioned in the HCI community, but what does inclusive design actually entail? How should we incorporate it in our work? This week, guest Hannan talks about the difference between universal and inclusive design, how it's used in the user-centered design process well (or not well), and what she'd like to redesign if she had the chance. She joins hosts Ngoc and Harshali to discuss designing with everyone in mind, along with what we can do better as designers, researchers, engineers, and anything in between. 

Disclaimer: We recorded remotely with each person in different environments. We're experimenting and will always aim to make every episode better than the last! 

Credits: 

- Host(s): Ngoc Tran, Harshali Wadge

- Production and Edits: Savannah Phillips

- Logo: Olivia Hughes

- Featured Music: Will Foody

What does a completely virtual, remote internship look like? Guests Yiming, Kunal, and Shelby join hosts Ngoc and Harshali to chat about their experiences interning this summer. They discuss the trials and triumphs with working from home, finding creative ways to connect with teammates, and achieving that great work/life balance during Covid-19. 

Note: Yiming was a Product Design Intern at VMWare, Kunal was a UX Design Intern at Nutanix, and Shelby was a Product Design Intern at U.S. Air Force Detachment 12: Kessel Run. 

Disclaimer: We recorded remotely with each person in different environments. We're experimenting and will always aim to make every episode better than the last! 

Logo made by Olivia Hughes. 

And we're back! Guests Tushar Gupta, Hannah Tam, and Gabriel Britain kick off the first episode by discussing their thoughts on the upcoming semester. From exciting class projects to personal goals (e.g. hitting the gym, picking up hobbies), they join hosts Ngoc and Harshali to talk about transitioning from "work mode" to "school mode", as well as sharing advice for students joining the program. 

Disclaimer: This is the first time we recorded remotely with each person in different environments. We're experimenting and will always aim to make every episode better than the last! 

Logo made by Olivia Hughes. 

This season on the HC-Hive, hosts Ngoc and Harshali explore various topics related to UX, HCI, and what it's like being a graduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology. 

In this episode, host Su chats with Dr. Carrie Bruce and Rishma Mendhekar about inclusive design and accessibility. 

Host: Su Fang

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

In this episode, host Su joins Dr. Amy Bruckman, a professor at Georgia Tech best known for her pioneering research in the fields of online communities and the learning sciences. They discuss several topics, from the evolution of social computing and content moderation to understanding how grassroots groups use technology. 

CW: Suicide (7:00-8:20) - mentioned while Dr. Bruckman discusses her role as a r/gatech moderator.

Host: Su Fang

Production and Edits: Su Fang

In this episode, host Su chats with Nandita Gupta and Avinandan Basu about the Aware Home, a focused research program at Georgia Tech. The goal of the Aware Home Research Initiative (AHRI) is to develop requisite technologies to create a home environment that can perceive and assist its occupants. 

Host: Su Fang

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

This week on the HC-Hive, Jordan chats with Ryan Rumsey, CEO and Founder of Second Wave Dive, about how designers can work better with their business-minded partners.  They talk about Ryan's extensive background as a designer across many different companies and firms, how designers can utilize their existing skill-set to better understand their business partners, and how to develop a common language of design and business in cross-team work.   

Host: Jordan Chen 

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

On this episode, Su talks with Dr. Rosa Arriaga, Associate Chair of Graduate Affairs in the School of Interactive Computing, about her work as a research scientist in the field of design for mobile healthcare.  They discuss how individuals from different backgrounds can apply their skill-sets to interdisciplinary design work, how her background in cognitive science helped lead to her current work in developing means for maintaining a continuum of care, and how she approaches advising MS-HCI students in project work.

Host: Su Fang

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

On this episode, we talk with Jason Paul, an alum of the GT MS-HCI program and a current UX Designer at State Farm.  We discuss how he decided to pursue a career in HCI, the importance of effective communication skills as an HCI professional, and being an advocate for the importance of HCI work within cross-disciplinary teams. 

Host: Jordan Chen

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

In this episode, we interview two students about their summer internships doing user research. Su Fang shares her experience working at Verizon Media in Sunnyvale, CA and Courtney Allen speaks more about her work at GrubHub in Chicago, IL. 

Host: Jordan Chen

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen

On this episode, we talk with GT students Shelly Chen, Isabel Newsome, and Hiroo Aoyama about their experience working as Product Design Interns at Facebook.  We discuss the process of landing a design internship and how design work is done at Facebook over the course of a summer internship. 

Host: Jordan Chen

Production and Edits: Jordan Chen