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History of HCI

Pre-HCI

There is no sole inventor of the concept of HCI. This was a combined effort of different scientists, engineers, and designers alike to make their products and services more user-friendly.

Software Psychology

Software psychology was the first ideology that emerged in the 1970s pre-HCI. Its aim was to understand how interactive systems could be more understandable, and to encourage developers to think about how humans use things. This emerged in the 1970s, when technology was in the very early stages of being utilized.

At the time, this form of HCI followed the Waterfall methodology of development, which is completing one thing after another chronologically. It also tried to do research to examine the effectiveness of of usability that the designed system had. Eventually, due to tech projects taking less time to complete, Waterfall was not as suitable of a method any longer. Furthermore, nowadays we have different frameworks like Agile. In addition, the research done during this period did not follow the best data collection practices, with the researchers having little knowledge about the users as well as creating tests for the users that were too drastic in comparison to the actual design.

A diagram of the Waterfall methodology. — The Waterfall methodology. While still sometimes used in certain business practices, aspects of the Agile methology are widely incorporated as well. Image courtesy of usemotion.com.

Iterative Development

Iterative development was developed after software psychology, as a result of the slowly dying Waterfall method. It examined what was difficult about the Waterfall method, and what could be done to change it. This originated in the 1970s after Software Psychology. The realization made during this period was that to understand what does and does not work, designers must design first. This then led to iterative designing, which is still implemented today.

The four pillars of Agile. — While the Agile methodology wasn't invented until 2001, Iterative Development has similar concepts. Image courtesy of usemotion.com.

User Models

User models was a methodology that was concerned with addressing the reasons for why humans interact with things. Starting in the 1980s, it paved the way for practices that are still used in tech to this day. The implementation of User Models brought with it the creation of of user-interface metaphors, like tabs in a browser or a manila folder for a digital file folder. This was invented because many people at the time thought of technology as the new version or extension of the analog version like they were used to.

HCI establishment

HCI emerged as usable technology started becoming something to consider for designers. As more humans encountered technology within their daily lives, the way usability was approached as a problem changed over time.

Former White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes typing on a computer in 1985. — Former White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes typing on a computer on July 25th, 1985. Courtesy of the National Archives.

HCI today

While initially a lot of HCI centered around the physical mechanisms of how to use technology, with the rise of the internet and the GUI (Graphical User Interface), software and web design has become the main focus nowadays. With the current rise in AI usage, this field will continue to change, whether it is by utilizing AI to design or by introducing an AI tool to use within the application or website.