A Moving Target—The Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction

Definitions: HCI, CHI, HF&E, IT, IS, LIS
HCI is often used narrowly to refer to work in the discipline of an author or instructor. I define it very broadly to
cover major threads of research in four disciplines: human factors, information systems, computer science, and
library & information science. Later, I elaborate on differences in the use of simple terms that make the relevant
literatures difficult to explore. Here I explain how several key disciplinary labels are used. CHI (computer -human
Interaction) here has a narrower focus than HCI; CHI is associated mainly with computer science, the Association
for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group (ACM SIGCHI), and the latter's annual CHI conference. I use
human factors and ergonomics interchangeably and refer to the discipline as HF&E. (Some writers define erg onomics
more narrowly around hardware.) The Human Factors Society (HFS) became the Human Factors and
Ergonomics Society (HFES) in 1992. IS (information systems) refers to the management discipline that has also
been labeled data processing (DP) and management information systems (MIS). I follow comm on parlance in
referring to organizational information systems specialists as IT professionals or IT pros. LIS (library and info rmation
science) represents an old field with a new digital incarnation that includes important HCI research. With
IS taken, I do not abbreviate information science, a discipline that increasingly goes by simply 'information,' as in
"Information School" or "School of Information."
Conventions: Moore's Law and Inflation
A challenge in interpreting past events and the literature is to keep in mind the radical differences in what a typical
computer was from one decade to the next. We are familiar with Moore's law, but not with its many subtle
effects. To some extent, conceptual development can be detached from hardware, but the evolving course of
research and development cannot. Because we do not reason well about supralinear or exponential growth, we
often failed to anticipate how rapidly change would come, and when it came we did not realize the role of the
underlying technology. Moore's law specifies the number of transistors on an integrated circuit, but it is useful to
consider the broader range of phenomena that exhibit exponential growth. Narrowly defined, Moore's law may
soon be revoked, but broadly defined this is unlikely. The health of the technology industry is tied to ongoing
hardware innovation. This provides the motivation and resources to continue, perhaps through novel materials
and cooling techniques, three-dimensional architectures, optical computing, more effective parallelism, or other
means. Do not underestimate human ingenuity when so much is at stake. There is also great opportunity for innovation
and increased efficiency in software. Finally, there is a tendency in the literature to state costs in terms
of dollars at the time of the events described, although one dollar when the first commercial computers appeared
was equivalent to ten dollars today. I have converted prices, costs and grant funding to U.S. dollars as of 2012.
HUMAN-TOOL INTERACTION AND INFORMATION
PROCESSING AT THE DAWN OF COMPUTING
In the century prior to the advent of the first digital computers, advances in technology gave rise to two fields of research
that later contributed to human-computer interaction. One focused on making the human use of tools more
efficient, the other on ways to represent and distribute information more effectively.
Origins of Human Factors
Frederick Taylor (1911) employed technologies and methods developed in the late 19th century—photography,
moving pictures, and statistical analysis—to improve work practices by reducing performance time. Time-andmotion
studies were applied to assembly-line manufacturing and other manual tasks. Despite the uneasiness with
“Taylorism” reflected in Charlie Chaplin’s popular satire Modern Times, scientists and engineers continued working
to boost efficiency and productivity using this approach.
Lillian Gilbreth (1914) and her husband Frank were the first engineers to combine psychology and scientific
management. Lillian Gilbreth focused more holistically than Taylor on efficiency and worker experience; some consider
her the founder of modern Human Factors. Her PhD was the first degree awarded in industrial psychology.
She went on to advise five U.S. presidents and became the first woman inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.
World War I and World War II accelerated efforts to match people to jobs, train them, and design equipment that
could be more easily mastered. Engineering psychology was born during World War II after simple flaws in the design
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