The HC-Hive is a podcast produced by students of the MSHCI program aimed at expanding exposure to the diversity of HCI work. Students interview people of interest in the field of HCI on topics ranging from the various career paths in HCI to groundbreaking research and initiatives in the field.

If you would like to reach out to the producers of the show to suggest topics of interest or to ask questions about the show, please email gthchive@gmail.com. We want to hear from you on how we can improve the listening experience of the show for our listeners.

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Recent Episodes:

[HC-Hi Episode 2] - "The Antichrist of Guided Meditation" with Sejal Sarkar

Jan 21, 2023

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.

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

[Season 4] HC-Hive: Ep. 3 - Helpful and Hungry Like the Wolf

Nov 7, 2022

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.

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

[HC-Hi Episode 1] - "O-LO-GO?" with Tommy Ottolin

Oct 7, 2022

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.

The 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.

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

[Season 4] The HC-Hive: Ep. 2 - Resigned, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Not Yours)

May 20, 2022

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.

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

[Season 4] The HC-Hive: Ep. 1 - Burn Baby, Burn

March 31, 2022

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.

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

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 14 - After Dark: Director's Tell All

July 11, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 13 - SpaceUX

June 10, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 12 - Stakeholders Are Forever

June 3, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 11 - Data and Order

May 17, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 10 - Lost in Translation

May 1, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 9 - Straight Outta Reality

April 22, 2021

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.

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 8 - Potrait of a Designer on Fire

April 15, 2021

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.

- Teddy's YouTube

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 7 - They're Just Not That Into You

April 2, 2021

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!

 

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 6 - The Girl Who Played with Insights

March 29, 2021

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

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 5 - The Girl Who Designed the Hornet's Nest

March 19, 2021

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.

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 4 - The Girl with the Coding Interview

March 11, 2021

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.

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 3 - The Imitation Game: Resumes and Portfolios

March 4, 2021

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.

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 2 - The Social Networking

February 23, 2021

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.

 

[Season 3] The HC-Hive: Ep. 1 - The Good, The Bad, and The Weird of Career Fairs

February 1, 2021

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.

 

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Season 2:

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 15 - #IYKYKIYDY: Semester Wrap-up

January 11, 2021

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!

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 14 - Les Tangibles (Physical Prototyping and Design)

January 7, 2021

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.

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 13 - UX Without Borders

January 1, 2021

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.

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 12 - The Devil Wears Data (Data Viz)

December 22, 2020

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!

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 11 - The Lexicon of Disruptive UX Synchronization

December 22, 2020

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.

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 10 - A Beautiful Mind: Importance of Mental Health

December 16, 2020

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!

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 9 - Silver Linings Sketchbook (Industrial Design)

December 8, 2020

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.

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep 8 - Zen and the Art of Startup Maintenance (Alumni Spotlight)

November 29, 2020

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 master's 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!

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 7 - UX Machina (Engineering to HCI)

November 16, 2020

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.

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 6 - Legends of UX (Game Design)

November 4, 2020

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.   

 

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 5 - 50 Shades of Research

October 27, 2020

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!  

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 4 - Keeping Up Appearances (Impostor Syndrome)

October 14, 2020

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! 

 

After Dark: UX Research

October 5, 2020

Along with regular programming, hosts Ngoc and Harshali have a late-night conversation about UX Research and share their thoughts on anything from affinity mapping to portfolios to personality traits needed for HCI.

 

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep. 3 - The Design of Everybody's Things (Inclusive Design)

September 25, 2020

Inclusive design is often mentioned in the HCI community, but what does inclusive design actually entail? How should we incorporate it into 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! 

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep 2 - Six Feet Apart (Remote UX)

September 14, 2020

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 of 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!

 

[Season 2] The HC-Hive: Ep 1 - First Day of the Rest of Your Grad Life

August 26, 2020

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!

 

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Season 1:

 

[Season 1] Episode 8 - Dr. Carrie Bruce & Rishma Mendhekar

April 25, 2020

MSHCI professor Dr. Carrie Bruce and MS-HCI student Rishma Mendhekar offer their perspectives and thoughts on questions they are asked by our podcast interviewer.

 

[Season 1] Episode 7 - Dr. Amy Bruckman on Online Communities

April 7, 2020

MSHCI professor, Dr. Amy Bruckman offers some insight into the evolution and current state of online communities.

 

[Season 1] Episode 6 - Nandita Gupta & Avinandan Basu on the Aware Home

March 27, 2020

MSHCI students Nandita Gupta and Avinandan Basu talk about their experience working on the Georgia Tech smart home project, "Aware Home".

 

[Season 1] Episode 5 - Ryan Rumsey on Working with Business Partners as a Designer

February 27, 2020

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.

 

[Season 1] Episode 4 - Dr. Rosa Arriaga

February 20, 2020

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 MSHCI students in project work.

 

[Season 1] Episode 3 - Design Education & Cross-Disciplinary HCI Work

October 26, 2019

This week, I talk with Jason Paul (MSHCI, Class of 2019) about how he decided to pursue HCI as a career, the importance of effective communication skills as an HCI professional, and being an advocate for the importance of HCI work in cross-disciplinary teams.

 

[Season 1] Episode 2 - User Research Internships

October 4, 2019

This week on the HC-Hive, I talk to second-year MSHCI students Su Fang and Courtney Allen about their experiences as User Research Interns this summer at Verizon Media and Grubhub respectively. We discuss how they landed their internships, how the process of finding user research internships compares to UX design internships, what user research work looks like at companies of different sizes, and the lessons they learned over the summer.

 

[Season 1] Episode 1 - Design Internships at Facebook

September 21, 2019

On this episode, I talk with Shelly Xi 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.

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