I am still a university student, coming from the more technical Management Information Systems field. During my studies we learned about what can be considered the predecessor to IxD: "traditional" Human Computer Interaction, with its roots in Computer and Cognitive Science. The more I read and learn about IxD, by reading books, blogs and following discussion among experts like here at IxDA, it seems to me more and more that IxD is actually nothing more than HCI reinvented by designers. I don't want to reduce the value of IxD practicioners with a background in (visual) design, since proper design thinking and a "designer's eye" are crucial to create the engaging and pleasent interfaces that we have come to love nowadays. *But* it seems to me that almost all theoretical and practical considerations that are not directly related to visual design have been approached decades before by HCI practicioners. I may be completely wrong - still no practical work experience - but if even the pro's like Jared Spool here say it... Maybe the fragmentation of labels/terms under which the different specialized fields were known is a reason for their contribution been "forgotten". I personally had no idea that there is actually a special term for "User Assistence", and probably many others had no idea also. A lot of the really groundbraking work for HCI was done under the term "Human Factors" or "Software Ergonomics", and about Navigation under "Information Retrieval", just to state some other examples. If there is no authorative list stating the names under which research relating to HCI / IxD has been done, and what each area was concerned with, it is very difficult for new practicioners to actually find something that has already been done. Maybe if such a list would be created, it would help people to find such "forgotten" wisdom.
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