It isn't surprising that Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary area. Understanding and engineering meaningful interactions between human and computers requires leveraging and integrating lots of different knowledge about humans and about computing. But it was never a given that HCI would adopt and pursue a particularly ambitious conception of interdisciplinarity as a core value and practice. Indeed, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, this was an intentional and cultivated achievement. However, in specific ways, one could argue that interdisciplinarity is trending down in HCI. But why? In this talk, I examine aspects of interdisciplinarity in HCI, including both achievements and challenges. I think more interdisciplinarity is better, and that we can only achieve it deliberately.

John M. Carroll is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining Penn State, he was the founding Director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) at Virginia Tech and the Head of the Department of Computer Science at VT. Widely recognized for his foundational contributions to the field of HCI, Carroll developed the minimalism framework for instructional design, advanced scenario-based design, and co-created the influential task–artifact framework, shaping the theoretical, methodological, and educational foundations of HCI that continue to guide the discipline today.