Some Thoughts on M0 Reading Exercise for Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction

Some Thoughts on M0 Reading Exercise

for

Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction

link to the article: http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/human_computer_interaction_hci.html

my conclusion on this introductory text was that HCI started from filing gaps in technology to make it more usable; but it grew and evolved in time to the point much deeper and broader that its original roots predicted.

I can summarize its journey in the past ~35 years in three conceptual/practical phases:

-phase one; the first sparks: I would put anything happened before and in the first years of "software crisis" in this group. in this time HCI had a small role in the whole picture and it was used as a complementary tool to add something to the existing technology(software or hardware). HCI is not a part of the design and development cycle yet. I would call it an additive role.

very first example is simple user manuals and documentation and later example is adding some graphics to the previously total textual contents.

-phase two emergence of the field: in this phase HCI enters the production cycle of the technology and fulfills some editing role. It means that perhaps HCI is somehow considered in design and development but not in a very deep manner. it is used in revision and verification. the subject technology may change and edited based on it.

-phase three , present and future: I will put the task-artifact cycle in this phase: co-evolution of needs and responses, importance of looking ahead and limitation of our prediction. HCI is a part of design and development and not only fulfills the existing needs, but also shapes the needs and looks into the future and predicts it. this can be very risky since we are not only observing the flow of event but also changing it simultaneously, and prediction is such circumstances may not be as simple as it seems.

HCI now is moving towards finding and filling gaps in human needs as an individual and as a society. Predicting and shaping the future of technology and its role in human/society's life is also a big part of current HCI.