While many are exploring the promising possibilities of integrating technology into the humanities in what is known as the “digital humanities,” a different relationship between IT and the humanities is also emerging, yet frequently overlooked: the generative contributions of the humanities to information- and technology-related research. Reflecting on nearly two decades of experience as researchers in human-computer interaction (HCI) and design, we explicate how humanistic contributions have shaped computer science and engineering. We survey humanistic contributions to user experience (UX), critical and speculative design, emancipatory approaches to computing,
the “design thinking” movement, and critical-humanistic interventions into cogsci and engineering research paradigms. We argue that all these contributions are informed by humanistic epistemologies and methodological rigor, and moreover that they reflect humanistic contributions to society as they are traditionally understood. Yet these contributions are not always as visible as they might be, and cooperation between the humanities and human-computer interaction research is often hindered by disciplinary language games. In an era of disciplinary realignments, we stress the importance of asserting our shared humanistic approaches and values, while doing so in an open-ended and epistemologically pluralistic way—one that invites “walking alongside,” rather than competing with design, engineering, information and social scientific disciplines.
