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University of Washington Information School

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Informatics

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Informatics Focus Areas

  1. Programs
  2. Informatics
  3. Focus Areas
  4. Informatics Focus Areas

The Informatics curriculum includes a rich set of focus areas:

  • Data Science
  • Health & Well-Being
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Information Architecture
  • Information Assurance and Cybersecurity
  • Information Management
  • Information & Society
  • Software Development

These are not credentials or degrees; rather, they represent academic fields and communities of practice represented in our curriculum and our faculty’s expertise. Use focus areas to help discover new interests; to find courses aligned with your interests; to connect with students with similar interests; to understand the different kinds of expertise in the school; and to connect to the many intersecting careers connected to each.

Data Science

Data Science is an emerging interdisciplinary field that works to extract knowledge or insight from data. It combines fields such as information science, computer science, statistics, design, and social science.

Our faculty teach many courses on data science, including:

  • INFO 201 Foundational Skills for Data Science teaches technical skills for working with data.
  • INFO 270 Data Reasoning in a Digital World teaches skills for reasoning about data with skepticism and expertise.
  • INFO 300 Research Methods teaches methods for rigorously gathering and interpreting data to answer questions.
  • INFO 330 Databases and Data Modeling teaches how to use databases to store and retrieve data.
  • INFO 362 Visual Information Design teaches how to communicate data visually.
  • INFO 370 Core Methods in Data Science teaches technical and statistical skills for describing, analyzing, classifying and making predictions from data.
  • INFO 371 Advanced Methods in Data Science teaches supervised and unsupervised machine learning and experimental techniques for causal inference.
  • INFO 430 Database Design & Management teaches database theory, architecture and optimization.
  • INFO 478 Population Health Informatics teaches how to use data to reason about health at the population level.
  • INFO 498 Data Justice teaches social, ethical and justice concerns in the gathering and use of data in society.

There are also numerous data science courses taught across campus, all of which complement the courses above. You can also pursue research and capstone opportunities in data science with our many faculty experts. These courses are also good preparation for the UW Master's in Data Science and for the many kinds of entry-level careers in data science. See our careers page for more details.

Health & Well-Being

Information is a critical part of health and wellness. This includes using information to advance health sciences in fields like biology, medicine, health, and bioinformatics, but also using information in health care organizations to ensure high quality care. And we all use information to care for our own health and wellness.

Informatics has partnered with the department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education (BIME) department in UW Medicine to offer a series of courses about these topics:

  • BIME 300 Transformational Technologies for Biology, Medicine, and Health: This is the foundational course for the Health & Well-Being option, teaching all of the ways in which information is tied to biology, medicine, and health.
  • BIME 435 Informatics in Healthcare teaches the specific ways that information is used in health care.
  • INFO 468 Designing for Personal Health & Wellness discusses how an individual's health experiences are shaped by information and how to design interfaces to ensure health and wellness.
  • INFO 478 Population Health Informatics discusses the use of data to monitor and ensure population health.

The courses above, along with the many capstone and research opportunities for working in health and wellness, are great preparation for a Master's in Biomedical Informatics and careers in biomedical and health informatics. See our careers page for more details.

In partnership with the School of Medicine, you may also declare a “transcriptable degree option” in Biomedical & Health Informatics. Complete 11-15 credits of the BHI electives above, in addition to BIME 300, and you can have this phrase added to your transcript. Work with Student Services to declare this before graduation.

Human-Computer Interaction

The academic field of human-computer interaction (HCI) strives to make information and computing useful, usable and accessible to all. Courses explore the design, construction and evaluation of interactive technologies for use by individuals, groups and organizations, and the social implications of these systems. This work encompasses user interfaces, accessibility concerns, new design techniques, and methods for interactive systems and collaboration. Coursework also examines the values implicit in the design and development of technology.

iSchool courses include:

  • INFO 300 Research Methods
  • INFO 360 Design Methods
  • INFO 362 Visual Information Design 
  • INFO 365 Mobile Application Design
  • INFO 380 Information Systems Analysis and Design
  • INFO 463 Input and Interaction 
  • INFO 464 Value Sensitive Design
  • INFO 465 Technology, Time and Design
  • INFO 466 Moral Reasoning and Interaction Design
  • INFO 474 Interactive Information Visualization

Research and capstone projects are also a great place to explore this focus area. These courses are strong preparation for a Master's in Human-Centered Design & Engineering, Master's in Human-Computer Interaction + Design, or Master of Design. They also prepare you for entry-level positions in interaction design, product design, product management, user experience design, and user experience research. See our careers page for more details.

Information Architecture 

Information Architecture (IA) is a crucial component in the development of successful websites, software, intranets, and online communities. The field analyzes information and its presentation using logic, organization, and domain knowledge to help people find information through searching, browsing and recommendations. Courses in this focus area develop skills for organizing and labeling information for improved navigation and search. You will build frameworks to effectively collect, store and deliver information. You will also learn to design the databases and content stores that drive complex and interactive websites, including the navigation, content layout, personalization and transactional features of the site.

Courses include:

  • INFO 330 Databases and Data Modeling
  • INFO 331 Introduction to Information Architecture
  • INFO 430 Database Design & Management
  • INFO 431 Metadata Design
  • INFO 433 Content Strategy in Information Architecture

Research and Capstone projects are also great ways to explore this focus area. These courses are great preparation for careers in information architecture, interaction design and user experience design. See our careers page for more details.

Information Assurance and Cybersecurity

The field of Information Assurance and Cybersecurity involves creating and managing safe and secure information systems. It is crucial for organizations public and private, large and small. Courses in this focus area teach how to create, deploy, use, and manage systems that preserve individual and organizational privacy and security.

Courses include:

  • INFO 310 Information Assurance and Cybersecurity
  • INFO 312 Enterprise Risk Management
  • INFO 314 Computer Networks and Distributed Applications
  • INFO 415 Emerging Topics in Information Assurance and Cybersecurity

You can also take courses on computer security in CSE on the UW Seattle campus, in CSS on the UW Bothell campus, and in T INFO at the UW Tacoma campus. Research and Capstone projects are also a great place to explore this focus area. These courses are a strong preparation for entry level careers in information assurance and cybersecurity. See our careers page for more details.

Information Management

Information management is the practice of organizing, analyzing, and managing information to identify and address information problems, transform large datasets into useful insights, and lead information projects, especially in organizations.

Courses include:

  • INFO 380 Information Systems analysis and design
  • INFO 386 Professionalism in Informatics
  • INFO 481 Project Management in Informatics

Research and capstone projects are also a great place to explore this focus area.

These courses are strong preparation for our Master's in Information Management and for careers as project managers and information leadership positions. See our careers page for more details.

Information and Society

Many disciplines examine the interaction between information, technology and society, including philosophy, sociology, anthropology, communication, economics, history, gender, race and ethnic studies, and of course, information science. Our faculty span these fields and more, and teach many courses that examine ethics, morality, policy, gender, race, justice and politics from an information perspective.

Courses include:

  • INFO 102 Gender and Information Technology
  • INFO 200 Intellectual Foundations of Information
  • INFO 350 Information Ethics and Policy
  • INFO 402 Gender, Race, and Information Technology
  • INFO 464 Value Sensitive Design
  • INFO 466 Moral Reasoning and Interaction Design
  • INFO 498 North American Indigenous Ways of Knowing
  • INFO 498 Data Ethics
  • INFO 498 The Record of Us All
  • INFO 498 Technology, Freedom, and Justice

These courses are strong preparation for graduate studies in information science, as well as numerous careers that intersect with policy and design, including those in data privacy, data management and government. See our careers page for more details.

Software Development

Building software for accessing, storing and creating information technology is a central part of our modern world. Whereas computer science largely focuses on algorithms, data structures and programming languages broadly, our courses specifically focus on the development of software-based information technologies, including core architectures for client-side and server side development on the internet, database design, data visualization and information security.

Courses include:

  • INFO 310 Information Assurance and Cybersecurity
  • INFO 314 Computer Networks and Distributed Applications
  • INFO 330 Databases and Data Modeling
  • INFO 340 Client-Side Development
  • INFO 430 Database Design and Management
  • INFO 441 Server-Side Development
  • INFO 442 Cooperative Software Development
  • INFO 443 Software Architecture for Interactive Systems
  • INFO 448 Mobile Development: Android
  • INFO 449 Mobile Development: iOS
  • INFO 474 Interactive Information Visualization

These courses are strong preparation for entry-level software engineering positions as well as graduate degrees in computer science. See our careers page for more details.

Resources:

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News

Illustration of a light shining on documents shaped in the form of city buildings

Researchers shed light on city governments' data

Wednesday, January 18, 2023
The idea grew out of a disagreement. Eva Maxfield Brown was an undergraduate student six years ago at the Information School. She was paying close attention to a controversial issue before the Seattle City Council to allow a new NBA arena...
Read more
Julius Cecilia

Informatics student inspired to improve health care

Monday, January 9, 2023
Julius Cecilia has found it hard to watch his sister, who has life-threatening food allergies, end up in the hospital repeatedly. He wanted to find a way to make life easier for her and for other people who suffer from similar...
Read more

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