Human-Centered Alphabet Soup: Approaches to Systems Development from Related Disciplines

There are several different technical disciplines focused on improving the systems that humans use, creating an ‘alphabet soup’ of acronyms to stay abreast of. While they all build upon a common emphasis of developing systems around their users, there are differences (both perceived and real) across disciplines such as Human Factors Engineering (HFE), Human Systems Integration (HSI), Human Computer Interaction (HCI), User Experience (UX), and Design Thinking (DT). A panel discussed what each of these disciplines are (and what they are not), when and how they get involved in system development, their philosophies and methods for system development, and where they share common interests. Panelists were asked philosophical, practical, and scenario-based questions, before opening the floor to the audience.