A simplified history of UX

From an article in UX magazine:
... let’s take a quick look back to see how this new discipline fits into a simplified history of user experience:

  • Human-computer interaction is about paying attention to people and their relationship with computing.
  • Information architecture is about making things findable.
  • Interaction design is about making things usable.
  • Content strategy is about making things meaningful.
  • Experience design is about making things seamless.
  • Persuasive design is about making things influential.
  • The trend goes towards deeper meanings and bigger impacts.

Chart of relationship of user research, interaction design, and persuasive design along an impact continuum

As the design discipline gets better at the basics of understanding and enabling behavior, it moves towards creating meaningful impacts by influencing behavior. But this influence must be built on top of successes in the more basic elements of UX such as good research and seamless usability.
This points to design as not merely being about aesthetics and veneer, but about designing with a purpose, an outcome in mind. It suggests that design decisions should be made with a deeper understanding of human behavior.

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