Sam Spicer
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Enjoyed this one but have been pondering to bring into words my thoughts on it.

Mind you, I got my MS in HCI in 2002 and started as an IA that year. That said, I’ve seen a few different “ages…”

First, I don’t know if I would have called 2010–2017 the Golden Age, I think that is yet to come. If anything, perhaps “Adolescence” or “Teenage Years.” We were cool, no one really knew what we thought or could do. There were high expectations but it took so little to please stakeholders that what they thought was amazing, we thought was simple. (I’m being dramatic to a point, so excuse the sweeping statements.) 2000–2010 would be characterized as childhood in my world view, but I’ll save that for another time…

Second, the scope and sweep of “UX” here is too broad. Including everything from UI to research, and from copywriting to strategy. Absolutely, all of these, and more, have a strong stake in UX but where some are established, others are still gaining hold.

No, I think the Golden Age of UX is still to come. Where we’re not freshly minted and joyful to have matured to the “big kids table” of business. When UX, and by extension the user, has a more intrinsic and established role in mature business goals, that’s when we’ll be golden. Of course, by then, will UX even stand alone as a separate entity or simply be another aspect of business DNA. Who knows? Time will tell. Either way, the core goals of UX will be far more elevated that they were at their outset.

    Sam Spicer

    Written by

    Senior Director, Experience Design @ Abundant Health Acquisitions (Aha!)