The Planets & Theories of HCI
Why study theory? Aren’t the Internet and technology in general changing faster than academics can keep up? Sometimes it can seem that way. Each new technology, social network and ground-breaking app challenges our conceptions of what is possible and force us to rethink the relationship between technology and society. What benefits can theory provide that endure through time?
We believe there are more enduring patterns here than are at first apparent. Every computer-mediated interaction has precedents in the pre-Internet era. With a little adaptation, the theories and methodologies that sociologists, psychologists, designers, philosophers, communication theorists, and others used back then are surprisingly useful today.
We envision these theories as the planets of a solar system: solid and enduring, yet constantly moving and evolving—places to touch down amid the vastness of possibility. Some of these bodies have satellites, some have orbits that intersect, but each attempts to bring some order to the HCI universe.
These planets (theories and methodologies) tend to fall into one of several camps:
- The gaseous planets are high-level, often philosophical frameworks that apply to many subjects of study, but which often require extra work to ground in “the facts” or to produce specific design considerations; and
- The solid planets offer more practical models or approaches, often originating in the social sciences, which tell us “all this has happened before, all of it will happen again”.
Humans and Technology 