CMU MHCI Sticky Note Counter

Every Year, A Mountain of Ideas

Modeled estimates · ~58 students/cohort · 3 sticky-note-heavy courses per year

Every time we use sticky notes in class, or cover a wall doing affinity diagrams, I can't help but wonder — how many sticky notes have been used across the entirety of this program? So I built this: not an official count, but an estimation observatory. A love letter to the humble sticky note, and to every MHCI cohort that covered the studio walls with them.

— @Rabiat Sadiq · MHCI 2025–2026

📐 About the model & data sources

These are modeled estimates, not official CMU counts. No public source lists exact sticky-note usage or year-by-year MHCI enrollment. This model is built from:

Cohort sizes: HCII states "1,000+ graduates" since founding → ~40/yr long-run avg. A 2024–25 HCI program guide lists recent CMU MHCI cohorts at ~58. Pre-2015 cohorts estimated 38–54 (inferred, not confirmed). ⚠️ Update pending: @Rabiat Sadiq to confirm with program coordinator.

Per-student estimate (~1,100/year): 3 confirmed courses (05-660, 05-661, 05-671/672) × ~3 affinity/ideation sessions × "one fact per sticky note" method (documented in MHCI/METALS capstone reports) = ~840 studio notes. Plus +30% for personal use — dorm rooms, late-night sessions, user interview prep, apartment walls — a well-known part of MHCI culture.

COVID timeline: CMU went remote Mar 11–19, 2020 (provost mandate). Physical studio use = ~0 from that date. Personal use dropped sharply too (students went home). Jan 2022: return to mostly in-person.

hcii.cmu.edu/academics/mhci/curriculum
cmu.edu/leadership/the-provost/campus-comms/2020/2020-03-19.html
dvividconsultant.com — 2024–25 HCI program guide
anthonyteo.com/blog — 2025 MHCI admission analysis
russellcornwell.com — 2012 GE Healthcare MHCI capstone report
metals.hcii.cmu.edu — METALS affinity diagramming documentation

To improve accuracy: get official HCII enrollment data + count notes in a live studio session.