What is human-computer interaction? It's a field of study that involves designing computer interfaces for improving the lives of human beings. If that sounds important, it is. If that sounds challenging, it is. People who are interested in human-computer interaction can come from many fields of study, including computer science, psychology, industrial design, linguistics, sociology, and library science. The idea is that if we are going to design interfaces for people, we need to include all of the various fields that study people!

When was the field of human-computer interaction created?. This depends on which event is being used to define the founding of the field. The first book that was clearly on the topic of human-computer interaction was Ben Shneiderman's book "Software Psychology," published in 1980. At the time, the idea of software psychology was a radical notion, although now, it's accepted. The first conference that clearly focused on human-computer interaction was held in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1982, focusing on human factors in computing systems. This conference was the father of the current ACM SIGCHI conferences. In fact, CHI 2007 claims that it celebrates the 25th year of human-computer interaction, and it is referring to that original conference in Gathersburg, Maryland

There are a fair number of web sites that are useful on the topic of HCI:

• SIGCHI web site. This is the web presence of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction, where information on CHI and related conferences, as well as publications, can be found. If you are wondering why some people call it HCI and some people call it CHI, the original founders of SIGCHI felt that "CHI" was easier to pronounce than "HCI".
• HCI Bibliography. The HCI Bibliography is a searchable database that includes most of the journals and conference proceedings and books in the field of human-computer interaction. For any type of search, it is the first place that you want to go. The HCIBIB does not provide full-text of articles, but it does have links to many of the full-text articles on other sites (including the ACM Digital Library), assuming that your university or organization pays for access to these articles (note to Towson Students: Towson has access to all full-text articles with links in the HCIBIB).
• OK-Cancel. OK-Cancel is a comic strip about the field of HCI and usability engineering. Usally funny, sometimes confusing, sometimes an inside joke, it's worth a quick look.
• HCI Resource Network. The HCI Resource Network has a lot of job listings in the area of Human-Computer Interaction, around the USA and around the world. If you want to get a sense of what type of job you could get in the field of HCI, this is a great place to look!
• The Usability Professionals Association is an organization of practitioners in usability. Their 2008 conference will be held in Baltimore, and they have a list of open usability jobs on their web site.
• The HCI International Conference Series. HCI International is one of the larger HCI Conferences that is not affiliated with ACM SIGCHI. It is held in odd-numbered years (2001,2003,2005, etc...)
• Photo History of CHI. This is a site that provides a photo history of many of the events in the first 20 years of HCI. Note that it does not include any pictures since 2001.

Last updated October 20, 2007