David Socha, Associate Professor

A fellow Husky, Dr. Socha received his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington. He also received his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin and M.S. in Computer Science from the UW.

He has worked in a variety of software organizations as a programmer, architect, manager, teacher, ScrumMaster, product designer, change agent, and agile coach. His interests have consistently been on how to effectively design software and human systems, with the focus on the human and social aspects of software development.

“I am a pragmatist. A collaborator. An optimist. I look for simple solutions that address underlying design forces.”

Research

My primary research is about better understanding how software developers collaborate on their actual work in their actual place of work (“in the wild”). To do this, my team uses interaction analysis to analyze videos of software developers collaborating in the wild. For more information, see my website.

My secondary research is on software design, and using techniques such as human centered design to gain insights about human computer interactions with software systems.

Education

University of Washington
Seattle, WA

  • Ph.D. Computer Science & Engineering
  • M.S. Computer Science

University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

  • B.S. Zoology

Contact

Location:
UW1-260V

Phone:
425-352-3721

Email:
socha@uw.edu

Website

Courses Taught

  • CSS 350: Management Principles for Computing Professionals
  • CSS 360: Software Engineering
  • CSS 370: Analysis and Design
  • CSS 390: Software Engineering Studio
  • CSS 490: Software Testing
  • CSS 490/590: Collaboration in the Workplace: Using Video Analysis to Study Collaboration among Professional Software Developers
  • CSS 506: Software Development Processes
  • CSS 507: Software Modeling Techniques
  • CSS 508: Software Testing and Quality
  • CSS 566: Software Management
  • CSS 572: Evidence Based Design
  • CSS 595: Capstone Project I
  • CSS 596: Capstone Project II