In this episode of The Future Of – Jakob and Marc join Jeff to discuss the history of UX, the present state of affairs, and future trends that will shape the field in the next 30 years.
The field of UX has rapidly evolved in the past four decades, and it's growing exponentially. When Jakob Nielson started in 1983, he estimated there were around 1000 people who did UX, and today there are over two million. Nielson estimates that there will be approximately 100 million UX professionals by 2050.
In this episode of The Future of, Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., seminal UX practitioner and co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group, and the multitalented Marc Wallace, UX Director at Fresh Consulting, join Jeff to discuss the history of UX, the present state of affairs, and future trends that will shape the field in the next 30 years.
They cover:
- [00:14:56] In 1983, there were maybe 1000 UX practitioners, and today there are around 2 million. The origins of what would be considered UX today can be traced back to Bell Labs in the 1950s, with the development of the touch-tone telephone.
- [00:17:33] Jakob gives two definitions of UX. The short version – to make computers and technology easy to use. The slightly longer version – it’s centered around the user experience. He says, “we are always testing the user, not testing you.” The concept behind UX falls in line with debugging and refining products.
- [00:31:03] What will change in the next 20-30 years? Jakob predicts there will be 200 million UX professionals across the globe. While core methodologies will stay the same, design principles will evolve as user interfaces become more immersive.
- [00:39:26] The future of computing will make human interaction with interfaces more natural. More human elements, like the sense of smell, will be incorporated into UX design. Accessibility will continue to be a top priority as the population ages.
If you’re interested in the UX, tune into this episode of “The Future Of”, a Podcast by Fresh Consulting.
- The field of UX has exploded in the last 40 years, and it’s growing exponentially. Listen to the story of how it started and where it’s going.
And connect with Jakob Nielson and Marc Wallace here:
Jakob:
Marc:
About the Show
“The Future Of” is a podcast by Fresh Consulting & hosted by Jeff Dance, where we discuss and learn about the future of different industries, markets, and technology verticals. Together we’ll chat with leaders and experts in the field and discuss how we can shape the future human experience.