First Time’s the Charm

I had to select courses to register for in the Winter semester of 2016. One of them, DHCS, caught my eye but I was a bit hesitant to register for it. My friends had to persuade me to take DHCS instead of another course just so that we could form a group to do the course project! When I attended the first lecture of DHCS, I knew I would love the course. I was not proven wrong. The assignments were enjoyable, though challenging. I learned the design process that is followed in order to create usable interfaces. I faced obstacles and jumped high over them. My interest in HCI increased tremendously.

The course had a showcase event to present our final project to a team of judges. This showcase was a unique experience for me since we were expected to not only present the mobile app but to market our mobile app to the judges. The teams went all out in this final presentation and it was heartening to see the effort we all put.

When I registered for DHCS on the cold December night, little did I know that I was registering for much more than a course. Taught by PK, the course was everything an HCI student could dream of. I continued my association with PK over the Summer through an internship.

I worked with Niharika Sachdeva on analyzing Policing and OSM. Niharika Ma’am is an amazing mentor. I learned several new techniques and analysed several papers as research for my project. Her feedback was insightful and aided me in making my project more streamlined. She asked several questions to which I had no answer. This made me read about the concepts behind my work. In the process, I learned several new things.

Another highlight was meeting all the Precogers, as we call ourselves. (Yes, I am a Precoger now!) The amount of intelligence in the room tangibly increases when all the Precogers are together. We have several interactive sessions where everyone gets together and talks about their project or any new ideas they have had. The insights provided by the Precogers give a fresh perspective to the problem we are working on. This system of feedback ensures we stay on the top of our game.

To be a part of PreCog is to be inspired. I have loved my journey here so far and I look forward to several more memorable experiences.