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Human-Centered Design Minor

The human-centered design (HCD) minor is focused on the process of innovation for addressing human needs, and offers a creative discipline that can be applied to a wide range of fields.

Quick Facts

Total courses: 6
Structure: Foundation + Methods + Design
Open to: Any Dartmouth major
Director: Professor Peter Robbie
Minimum GPA: 2.0 in minor courses

In partnership with:

How the Minor Works

Six courses in three stages—a foundation, a set of methods from the social sciences, and a concentration of design electives chosen from across the university. At least one Section 2 course must be from outside your major department.

Section 1—DESIGN FOUNDATION

One required course

Section 2—ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS AND PSYCHOLOGY

Choose two across departments

Section 3—DESIGN ELECTIVES

Choose three in your concentration

Required Courses

Please note that some courses may require prerequisites in addition to those noted. Check with Dartmouth's undergraduate registrar for exact requirements.

Unless otherwise prohibited, prerequisites may be taken under the non-recording option. Any course being used to satisfy major or minor requirements beyond the prerequisites may not be taken under the non-recording option.

Section 1—Design Foundation

ENGS 12: Design Thinking
It is recommended that students take ENGS 12 first.
Section 2—Ethnographic Methods and Psychology

Choose two courses from the following, with one course from outside of the student's major department:
ANTH 3: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 18: Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology
ENGS 15.07: Research Methods for Human-Centered Design
GEOG 11: Qualitative Methods and the Research Process in Geography
PSYC 22: Learning
PSYC 23: Social Psychology
PSYC 28: Cognitive Psychology
PSYC 38: Cognitive Neuroscience
PSYC 43: Emotion
PSYC 50.02: Decision Making
PSYC 51.11 Thinking
PSYC 53.10: Social and Affective Motivations in Decision-Making
PSYC 53.12: The Behavior of Groups
PSYC 53.13: Social Neuroscience
SOCY 11: Research Methods
Students majoring in Cognitive Science, Cultural Anthropology, Neuroscience, Psychology, and Sociology may substitute an additional course from Section 3 in place of a second course from Section 2.
Section 3—Design Electives

Choose three courses from the following:
COSC 23.01: Augmented and Virtual Reality Design
COSC 25.01: Intro to UI/UX Design I
COSC 25.02: Intro to UI/UX Design II
COSC 27: Projects in Digital Arts
COSC 28: Advanced Projects in Digital Arts
COSC 29.06: Digital Tangible User Interfaces
COSC 63.01: Augmented and Virtual Reality Development
COSC 67: Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction
COSC 89.34: Human-Centered Generative AI
ENGS 15.01: Senior Design Challenge I
ENGS 15.02: Senior Design Challenge II
ENGS 15.09: Design Ethics
ENGS 15.11: Design & Education
ENGS 15.12: Design & Entrepreneurship
ENGS 18: System Dynamics in Policy Design and Analysis
ENGS 19.01: Future of Energy Systems
ENGS 21: Introduction to Engineering
ENGS 44: Sustainable Design
FILM 51: Game Design
PBPL 43/ ECON 77: Social Entrepreneurship
SART 65: Architecture I
SART 66: Architecture II
When possible, it is recommended that students complete the course under Section 1 and at least one course under Section 2 before taking courses under Section 3.

How to Declare

Declaring the HCD minor takes three steps, including a meeting with Professor Peter Robbie. You can start any term once you've completed ENGS 12 and at least one Section 2 course.

01

COMPLETE THE WORKSHEET

Fill out the Human-Centered Design Minor Student Worksheet, listing the six courses you plan to take across Sections 1, 2, and 3.

02

MEET WITH PROFESSOR ROBBIE

Submit the worksheet to Professor Peter Robbie and meet to discuss your path and confirm which Section 2 course is from outside your major.

03

ENTER YOUR PLAN ON DARTWORKS

Once approved, enter your HCD minor plan on Dartworks. You're in. Declare whenever you're ready. The minor does not require an application.

A Few Things to Know

No course may be used for both a major and a minor, although a course may used to as a prerequisite to the other or a prerequisite to both.
Satisfactory completion of the minor requires a grade point average of 2.0 in the courses beyond the prerequisites suitable for satisfying the minor.
No courses other than those used as prerequisites to the minor may be taken under the non-recording option.
No more than one transfer course may be used for the minor.
All engineering majors: Only ENGS courses numbered below 20 may be counted toward the minor. Otherwise, courses taken for the major cannot be used to satisfy requirements of the minor.

Student Testimonials

Students discuss the benefits of adding Human-Centered Design (HCD) to their Dartmouth education.

Human-Centered Design at Dartmouth

The six-course HCD minor—Dartmouth's most popular minor—gives students the tools, mindset, and framework for creative problem-solving that integrates the human perspective at every step to develop products, systems, and experiences that generate positive change.