History of UX Design

      In comparison to other design and technology feilds, the entire concept of User experience design is still quite fresh and ever-changing. UX design, as a field, is known as a conceptual design discipline and originates from human factors and ergonomics; this field focusing mainly on the interaction of human users and machines, as well as the contextual environments to design systems that articulates and focuses on the experience the user has. As the demand and usage of computers in the workplace (and now at home) grew rapidly, starting mainly in the 1990s, user experience became increasingly important and interesting to designers.₄ The term “user experience" actually came about by Donald Norman, a professor and researcher in cognitive science, design, and usability. He brought the term to a wider audience and it has developed more and more ever since.

      Currently, within the experience design community, a debate is ongoing about its focus and direction. Donald Norman plays a large part in this debate and believes that if designers view people solely as consumers, users, and customers, there is a hefty risk in weakening the effectiveness of their design.₂