Fields of study that underlie the work of interaction designers

Until relatively recently, most interaction designers did not go to school,…major in, and earn a degree in interaction design.…Many of us have varied and diverse backgrounds, and we often gravitated to the…field because our skills, experience, knowledge, and interests prepared us to…think about interaction design from different perspectives.…We may have worked in libraries, been graphic designers, written code, or even…managed projects, but we all found ourselves thinking about interaction design,…and helping solve design challenges, with many of the documents and methods just discussed.…

Today's formal educational programs, and professional conferences and seminars,…recognize the importance of a broad base of skills and knowledge,…and offer opportunities for a wide range of training.…As working designers, we need to pursue ongoing training and development.…We need to balance the benefits of knowledge across a broad range of topics,…with the value of a deep and more narrow area of expertise.…