CS 3205

Don’t let the bad reviews scare you off. Yes, this class is a lot of work and you’ll need to invest real time, but it’s genuinely worth it. The course is well-structured, and Professor Panagiotis is clearly passionate about HCI, you can tell he put a lot of thought into the lectures, assignments, and overall flow of the semester.
If you actually engage with the material (instead of obsessing over every point), you’ll learn a ton and your grade will reflect the effort you put in. The emphasis on user-centered thinking, discussion, and reflection pushed me to think more critically about design decisions and about how technology impacts real people, not just “what looks good” or “what’s easiest to build.”
I also appreciated that the assignments felt purposeful rather than busywork. They helped connect concepts to real-world design and product decisions, and they improved how I approach problem framing, user needs, and trade-offs. Overall, this was one of the most engaging and valuable classes I took this term. If you’re willing to put in the time and you care about learning HCI in a meaningful way, I’d strongly recommend taking it.

Honestly, I think the bad reviews for this class are just from people who expected the wrong thing. If you’re looking for a standard coding class, yeah, you might be annoyed. But if you’re actually interested in building products, software engineering, or UX, this class is super valuable.

It feels a lot more like real-world startup or consulting work, you have to actually justify why you’re building something instead of just grinding out code/work. You can absolutely still code a ton for your prototype if you want to, but it has to be focused on what the user actually needs.

The course is essentially a semester long project so pick something you’re actually excited about. If you choose something you’d genuinely want to see exist, the work stops feeling like "busywork" and feels more like working on a startup or side project.

The professor is also incredibly kind and understanding. If you communicate with him and put in the effort, he notices and is very fair. He’s also really approachable if you ever get stuck.

This course is very different from what many of the older reviews describe. The structure and teaching style have evolved a lot, and the class now offers a genuinely valuable introduction to UX design for anyone interested in UI/UX or broader human centered design, whether you are a CS student or coming from another discipline.

The content focuses on the full UX cycle and gives you a hands-on understanding of how real design work happens. Most of the assignments are team based, which means you spend a lot of time collaborating in a way that feels close to industry practice. The workload can be a bit higher than some traditional CS classes, but most of that time goes into meaningful and creative work rather than rigid coding tasks. You also get to choose project topics that genuinely interest you, so the experience feels personal and engaging. Students with an art or media background will find plenty of room for creativity, but you absolutely do not need one to succeed.

As for the professor, the older reviews do not reflect the current reality at all. He is warm, enthusiastic, and very approachable, and he brings a playful energy that makes the class enjoyable. The claims of personal negativity in past comments simply do not match how he teaches now. He is supportive, helpful, and genuinely invested in students’ growth.

Overall, if you are interested in UX design or want a class that blends creativity with structured problem solving, this course is a great choice.

#tCFfall25

I am a TA for this course, and I have to say there are a lot of misconceptions about the class. This course is all about DESIGN, not coding or implementation (you'd take software engineering for that). Hence, there is a heavy emphasis and how we design software that is human friendly and actually fulfills a need in society. The semester long project goes through the phases of design development, and yes, in the real world that means documentation, sketching, ideation, etc. It is definitely much more creative and engaging than any other CS course I've ever taken before. The readings I agree are long and even as a TA the textbook can be quite dense, so I would say looking at the key points and then delving deeper as needed is the best technique. The professor himself is strict but fair - as long as he sees you're putting in a genuine effort and participate in class fully, you should be fine.

Professor and lecture:
Professor Panagiotis is just not a very engaging professor. It also doesn’t help that room Rice 130 just swallows up his voice. He is disorganized and often makes mistakes on due dates and due times. There are times when the quizzes are not open when they need to be. He also gets due dates confused, or he will still have due dates from last semester in slides for the current semester. Some assignments don't have "hard" due dates (i.e. the various journal entries) but that wasn't communicated well to us. He is also not very flexible and grades harshly.

Update: He is also a terriable person. My friends and I somehow continue to have terrible experiences interacting with him even after the semester ends. He does not care about students. I do not want to speak more on this here, but he really have no regards about ethnics and being a good person.

Course:
I find the course content quite interesting, particularly because of my pre-existing interest in UX/UI design. I appreciate the opportunity to delve deeper into the UX design cycle. However, despite these positive aspects, I must say that this class has been my least enjoyable experience at UVA.

Almost all assignment deadlines were set at noon rather than midnight. This makes it challenging for students like me with morning classes to make final revisions on the due date. The workload for this class is substantial, consuming well over 12 hours per week on individual assignments, readings, quizzes, and group projects. Unfortunately, my group experience was less than ideal, with only a few members actively contributing, leaving most of the work to me and one other person. We hesitated to address this with the professor, as we doubted any effective intervention. Even if action were taken, we anticipated a generic request for increased contributions from non-participating group members who lack comprehension of the course material. This means that I will need to put in extra effort to either edit or rework what they have "contributed."

Moreover, many assignments are unrelated to the course material, such as the journals that we are required to write and course reflection essays. Reducing these tasks would alleviate the stress associated with the already demanding workload, especially when grouped with uncooperative group members. The TAs lack sufficient knowledge and occasionally provide incorrect information. The professor needs to address his communication issues with the TAs.

Project grading is strict, and there are often undisclosed requirements in project descriptions. For instance, in Phase 3, we discovered a critical requirement about addressing breakpoints only by reading feedback from a previous semester’s graded project.

---

If you lack a genuine passion for HCI or UX design, avoid taking this course. The experience is going to be challenging, particularly if you end up in a bad group. If you are determined to enroll, consider not taking another demanding or time-consuming course during the same semester. Be prepared to dedicate extensive hours of work if you are aiming for an A.

#tCFF23

I was worried about this class because of all of these poor reviews, but was convinced to take it as someone who wishes to go into UI/UX. Overall I'd probably say that these reviews are a little harsh, but they aren't unwarranted. Most of UVA's CS department is back-end based, and I think this class surprises these people who are so involved in the code. The class is definitely what you put into it, as it is a lot of work, but you can get good general information about UI/UX and the process. You're able to be more creative with a technology side which is nice. You also get a good project done for the portfolio which is also pretty cool.

That all said, for a design class many people agree with me that this class is poorly designed. Each phase of the project has this long list of requirements and there are things not on the rubric that are still graded and it is overall quite confusing. You're practically forced to go to office hours which are inconvenient for those of us with evening commitments. He also asks you to essentially read the entire textbook which is kind of insane, but the quizzes aren't bad and you don't really need the textbook for the class as his slides are basically all from the textbook itself. There's also always something a little crazy that he does that might make you doubt your choices up to this point. All this is quite disappointing and I do wish UVA had better design course options.

People say a lot of negative things about the professor, and maybe he's changed but he also isn't too bad. It worried me at first when he said in the first class that he is old and from another country and will say things that we disagree with, but nothing too worrisome happened in that regard which could have just been luck. He's generally a friendly guy and tries to get energetic class participation. However, I heard he wasn't the happiest about a student who publicly stated that the class was poorly designed. I digress.

Overall if you are genuinely interested in design, you should probably take this class. It isn't hard to get an A or A-, and you'll get a good project under your belt. You just have to be ready for all the crazy curveballs thrown your way.

TL;DR: Not as bad as everyone says, but not the best. If you want to go into UI/UX this class would benefit you but be prepared.

#tCFF23

Do not take this class. I made the horrible mistake of taking this class my spring semester of my first year at UVA. Let's just say there is a reason this class has a small waitlist. I know computer science majors need electives and registration sucks. However, do not take Panagiotis. The lectures teach you nothing. He claims that "cultural differences" ie. him being Greek is why people do not like him. The truth is that he is just a dick. He will nitpick your submissions, pair you in groups intentionally but not take any responsibility when your group members do not do anything and at the end of the year when you try and discuss group issues, he will gaslight you by saying concerns should have been raised BEFORE the end of the year (I raised concerns like 5 times).

Do not take this class. This professor is a terrible teacher (and a shitty researcher too). How this person ever became a tenured professor will forever be a stain on UVA.

The class is structured around a semester-long group project. The professor uses CATME to form the teams at the beginning of the semester, and it takes into account factors like schedule availability and how much effort and time you want to put toward the coursework. I got a really good team, and it absolutely made the class. Most people had alright teams, but you definitely need to be prepared to put the time into the project. It is a really big undertaking, but you absolutely get out what you put in. If you really try to learn the material and create a meaningful project, then you get a great final product that you can add to your portfolio. I would definitely say that this class was one of the most fulfilling experiences during my entire time at UVA, and I was so glad that I stuck with it. The deadlines are pretty strict, but honestly they work really well because they keep you on track during such a large and long project. I've found that people have a lot of negative things to say about this class, but I honestly think if you go into it with the right mindset (interested in learning and working with HCI, instead of just trying to get easy elective credit), you'll find that this was one of your favorite classes in your college career. There were also weekly quizzes, but they were less really short (< 10 minutes), and were usually word-for-word from the lecture slides or textbook.

The who and why of taking this class:
ONLY, and I really mean ONLY, take this class if you are VERY interested in learning about HCI and UX. Genuinely, stop reading reviews for this class and pick another one if you're not passionate about learning about UX and HCI. Not UI and pretty front end, but fundamental UX principles. UX/HCI in this class is taught in a boring way, through a wordy textbook. This class delves into the nitty gritty of HCI and UX. Think of it more about learning how to do research than learning how to do UI/UX, because honestly, you'll spend over 3/4 of your time outside of class doing research. This makes the class a massive time sink. On the level of the hardest CS classes, if not more. The prof makes this very clear in the first few classes, which is why the drop rate is so high. Listen to his advice and drop the class if you aren't prepared to basically make it your life for the entire semester.

Importance of your group:
Your entire grade is basically dependent on your group. I had a very good group and everyone was willing to meet multiple times a week to work on the project. If nobody in your group is taking initiative and you have even the slightest sense that others won't contribute, drop the class. Seriously, it isn't worth it and I recommend trying next semester for a new group.

Good things about the class:
You learn a lot of UX research skills. UX research is an entire career path, and this class (if you contribute to your group's work) gives you a very solid project for a portfolio if you want to go down that career path. It's a genuinely solid class if you like UX/HCI, and it's the only option at UVA to get your toes wet in the field.

Bad things about the class:
All the other reviews sum up the prof's behavior pretty well. One of my group members went to office hours to discuss a grading issue we had, which was because there was inconsistency between his slides and what he actually said in class, and he wouldn't budge. He gets very annoyed when discussing stuff like that, and he just thinks he's right no matter what. Grading is very harsh.
The class is an absolute truckload of work. Like 4x more than CS 3240 (where you had to develop an entire app!), in this class, you do that amount of work in one phase (there are 4 phases). You have multiple presentations/showcases, extremely lengthy reports, prep for exams, frequent quizzes, mandatory attendance (for quiz passwords), and so much more.
The exams are complete crap and honestly should not be required. They're based on memorizing crap in the textbook and are annoying because even if you know UX and HCI, you won't do well on the exam just because you didn't read a footnote in the textbook.
The prof also just isn't that up to date with UX/UI trends and tech, making the class feel outdated.
I don't really remember how much time this class takes outside of class, but it'll almost certainly be the most out of any class you've taken at UVA by an order of magnitude, especially if you're aiming for an A.

My take as someone knowledgeable about UX and UI:
I wish UVA had more classes that teach front-end dev and design. Good software is only good if it's usable, and it's often overlooked by CS majors. It's a shame this is the only class offered because its poor structure and teaching style makes it one of the least appealing electives in the department. Only take this class if you're willing to put in the work and if you find this stuff really interesting. I found it worth the struggle, but most won't.

This is by far the worst course I have ever taken at UVA. It is very disappointing, as the actual topic is very interesting and should be very useful in real world scenarios.

However, Professor Apostolellis doesn't seem to display any particular level of care for the topic, nor does he seem to care for the students at all. He has a very strict "I am right, you are wrong" policy and is not open to discussion about any topic beyond what you agree with him on. He doesn't even seem to communicate well with the TAs, who frequently supplied information contradictory to what he would later say. His feedback on every assignment is not at all constructive, simply saying "this was wrong" in as many different ways as he could without explaining what specifically is wrong, what the correct answer is, or why the correct answer is correct. His rubrics are always incredibly vague, to the point that I'd say many of them are intentionally misleading. The textbook is also completely useless, which he cites numerous times as having the "correct information" despite often contradicting it in his own lectures. Even if he didn't contradict it, though, it's a very poor educational tool. It amounts to telling you "this is this, because it is." In hindsight, perhaps that's fitting for a textbook assigned by Apostolellis.

The only thing this class is good for is wasting paper. I highly recommend you seek out another elective.