Previous to being at CMU, I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, specializing in Artificial Intelligence. I actually started my undergraduate career in math and life sciences, eventually switching into a Toxicology specialist; but I was never one to stick to really specialized and focused fields. When I found out that our school offered a degree in Artificial Intelligence, I immediately jumped at the opportunity (even though the only background in computer science I had was a course I took in the beginning of high school). The program was a mix of computer science, psychology, philosophy, and linguistics, and while it took three summer school sessions to catch up on required courses, it seemed to be a perfect mix of disciplines.
I realized halfway through my program that the problem with my degree in A.I. was that it never really allowed me to solve the larger problems at hand. I could write programs that, sure, could give solutions to mazes, or play Othello with you, but what greater impact did this have in the larger sense? I wanted to solve bigger problems... I've always been one to want to solve problems. Any kind of problem. Math problems, science problems, friends' problems... in fact, I'm sure some people are annoyed by the fact that I seem to always want to solve everything. But I'm good at solving problems... surely there was some way I could channel that into my career?
As fate would have it, during my third year in undergrad when I started panicking slightly about what would happen if I ever had to get a job as a programmer, I came across the opportunity that would eventually lead me to CMU. It came as a complete accident. I worked at the Cognitive Development lab at my university, and my lab coordinator suggested I apply for a national grant to work on one of their projects for the summer. Somehow, she lost the information and application for the grant, and directed me instead to an internship opportunity funded by the Pittsburgh Science of Learning center (PSLC). I was offered an internship, and headed to CMU that summer to work with Vincent Aleven on enhancing the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT), a project sponsored by the PSLC.
That summer I ended up studying the CTAT, redesigned the interface and system, and wrote a design document that detailed the changes needed to make the tools easier to use. While Vincent was my main mentor for the project, he brought in Shelley Evenson, the director of graduate studies at the School of Design to oversee my work with design research and the actual designing of the interface. Near the end of the internship, Shelley mentioned that I should check out the Interaction Design Masters program. So I did.
"Great interaction design creates the potential for compelling experiences... Our model of designing for interaction involves multi-disciplinary teams engaged in the planning, conception, design, implementation, and support of products, services, and systems that meet human needs and desire." What better way to solve problems than to design for human experience?
With this new option in front of me, I began exploring more in my final year of undergrad. I took two human-computer interaction courses (the closest thing my university had to interaction design), and took a couple more psychology courses on human behaviour. I was accepted into the Masters program, and haven't looked back since.
I don't ever regret doing an undergrad in A.I. I am still able to use the logic I learned in solving computer science problems; after all, design isn't all about making things pretty. And besides, it doesn't hurt to have a programming background when you're prototyping things in Flash ;)
I am very thankful to have met Shelley that summer. I am also equally thankful that I didn't do anything too ridiculous that might have turned her away from recommending me for the Masters program. It all worked out in the end; Shelley is now my Masters thesis project advisor ;)