E-Commerce and its Impact on Future HCI Work

Abstract

Increasing focus on e-commerce will change the way we look at human-computer interface design. In particular, we will need to be more customer-centric – in addition to being user-centric – and incorporate both usability and business objectives in our designs. Our designs will need to consider the end-to-end customer experience rather than focusing simply on the functional objectives of the application itself. The customer experience itself will determine how the users/customers view the company itself in terms of a viable and trustworthy brand on an off the Internet. To achieve these goals, we will need to address some fundamental issues related to the ART (Access, Relationship, and Trust) of designing interfaces. Although our profession is well suited for this role because of our user-centric roots, the onus will be on us to step up to the challenge and own the end-to-end customer experience.