Human Systems Integration
About Human Systems Integration
Are you interested in how people interact with technology? Would you like to apply your interest to the design of better products, from mobile devices to video games? If so, then the Minor in Human Systems Integration (HSI) might be appropriate. HSI is a rapidly growing field with many career opportunities. HSI professionals work in industry (e.g., Google, Apple), medicine and healthcare (e.g., Kaiser), and government (e.g., NASA, US Military, NHTSA, FAA).
HSI involves the analysis, design, and assessment of human interactions with complex socio-technical systems and products (e.g., aircraft, spacecraft, mobile devices, web sites). HSI professionals study the capabilities and limitations of people using complex systems and apply this knowledge to develop human-centered systems and products optimized to human capabilities. These optimizations may increase system efficiency, reliability, usability, and safety; as well as minimizing human error. HSI research and application can save lives and money as well as reduce stress, frustration, accidents, and injuries.
This minor introduces students to an interdisciplinary science and practice that will help them work in cross-functional teams. Declaring this minor will show employers and graduate programs that you have completed initial training in the field and could provide a competitive advantage.
The core minor topics include general psychology, human cognition, basic statistics, and an introduction to Human Factors. The electives will allow you to tailor the minor to your academic and career interests. The minor requires 15-17 units in addition to the required preparatory courses. At least 12 of the required or elective units in the minor must be separate and distinct from the units used for your major program. Separate from those 12 units, the six "preparation for the minor" units (PSYC 1, statistics) are not restricted from double-counting with your major or another minor.
Curriculum
Examples of possible career pathways in HSI (may require additional education/training/experience)
- Aviation safety
- Cybersecurity
- Human-computer interaction
- Management of HSI
- Industrial design
- Industrial and systems engineering
- Product design
- User experience
- Usability testing
- Video game design
Affiliated Labs
- Feria Vision Lab
- VECTR Lab
Declaring the Minor or questions about the minor?
Contact our Psychology Advisors
Adding this minor as a lower division student is easy (lots of room to plan); as an upper division student you'll need to show us how it fits in with your educational plan.
- All changes of Major and Minor are done by the advisor, we do not use the .pdf change of major/minor forms.
- You can run a "what if" degree progress report in My91ÁÔÆæ MyAcademics to see what outstanding requirements for graduation with a Psychology major or minor would be. You should also let the advisor know if there are any possible courses taken elsewhere that are not included in the 'what if' report as meeting a psychology requirement.
