3 ms·

In those earlier days was there a concept of “UX?” Or even “UI?” - the only thing I’ve come across is “human to machine design” but that’s a vague role/title. I

In those earlier days was there a concept of “UX?” Or even “UI?” - the only thing I’ve come across is “human to machine design” but that’s a vague role/title. It seems that anyone working on software from my ignorant perspective was expected to also know what we call “information architecture / UI / ux” today, to some extent anyway? Any insight you can shed here on the history / context? When did software even start getting associated with “designers?” Also what did you find most disappointing that isn’t around but was back then? What was a surprising failure / surprising success? Thanks for taking the time. From my “historical diving” and personal experience; I’m most surprised that almost all computer form factors and software used today was “engineered” at Parc, even down to the UI/ux. Then surprised Forth didn’t win out as a language but I guess it didn’t get popular for whatever reason. Then similarly to Parc it’s weird how much of the engineering powering the engineering is bell labs.

DonHopkins 3y ago
There is ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction), but Ben Shneiderman made it a point to name his lab HCIL (Human Computer Interaction Lab), to put Humans BEFORE Computers! ;) The term "interface designer" has degenerated into describing people who are merely shallow cargo cult fashion oriented graphic designers, and never heard of nor care passionately about important topics like Fitts's Law, Hick's law, steering law, power law of practice, keystroke level model, GOMS model, human processor model, working memory, human factors, interaction design, direct manipulation, cognitive psychology, ergonomics, accessibility, anthropometry, ethnology, information architecture, user research, usability testing, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke-level_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke-level_model https://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/INST631/KSM.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/INST631/KSM.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_processor_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_processor_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Human.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Human.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/goldenrules.html https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/goldenrules.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_interface https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Direct.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Direct.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1975Cognitive.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1975Cognitive.... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264042374_Handbook_of_Human_Factors_and_Ergonomics_Fourth_Edition https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264042374_Handbook_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-testing-101/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-testing-101/
- pyinstallwoes 3y ago
  I 100% agree with you and felt the same nuances with my experience in the industry from the late 90s to a few years ago. Given the knowledge was more silo'd before the internet, how did one come to learn these things? Was it specific universities? Specific companies? Was there any mentoring? Who did you look up to for UI along your journey?

DonHopkins 3y ago

There is ACM SIGCHI (Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction), but Ben Shneiderman made it a point to name his lab HCIL (Human Computer Interaction Lab), to put Humans BEFORE Computers! ;) The term "interface designer" has degenerated into describing people who are merely shallow cargo cult fashion oriented graphic designers, and never heard of nor care passionately about important topics like Fitts's Law, Hick's law, steering law, power law of practice, keystroke level model, GOMS model, human processor model, working memory, human factors, interaction design, direct manipulation, cognitive psychology, ergonomics, accessibility, anthropometry, ethnology, information architecture, user research, usability testing, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steering_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law_of_practice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke-level_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke-level_model https://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/INST631/KSM.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/INST631/KSM.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_processor_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_processor_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Human.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Human.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/goldenrules.html https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/goldenrules.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_manipulation_interface https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation https://www.nngroup.com/articles/direct-manipulation https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Direct.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1983Direct.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1975Cognitive.pdf https://www.cs.umd.edu/~ben/papers/Shneiderman1975Cognitive.... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264042374_Handbook_of_Human_Factors_and_Ergonomics_Fourth_Edition https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264042374_Handbook_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability_testing https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-testing-101/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-testing-101/

pyinstallwoes 3y ago
I 100% agree with you and felt the same nuances with my experience in the industry from the late 90s to a few years ago. Given the knowledge was more silo'd before the internet, how did one come to learn these things? Was it specific universities? Specific companies? Was there any mentoring? Who did you look up to for UI along your journey?