HCI is a multi-disciplinary field that incorporates knowledge from other areas such as computer science, AI, anthropology, ergonomics, linguistics, philosophy, art, sociology, design, psychology, engineering and physiology. There are many economic reasons to provide high levels of HCI on a product including ease of learning, which minimizes training time for employees and provides a competitive advantage over other software vendors. HCI is a relatively new discipline and is constantly evolving as it involves people.
There are many definitions for HCI. They range from "a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use" to "the study of people, computer technology and the ways these influence each other" to "designing computer systems that support people so they can carry out their activities productively and safely."
Companies are favouring processes more now as they allow knowledge to be transferred between different projects and provide a method of analyzing the success or failure of a project. The first phase in the six-phase approach to the development cycle is the information-gathering phase. This entails getting all the facts necessary to begin a project (budget, mission goals, standards, resources, etc.). The second phase is the Strategy phase where the best way to address the goals and expectations of the users is determined (Identify the problem, figure out solutions, define the concept and scope, etc.). The third phase is Prototyping. The product and concepts are tested in this phase and refined. It involves doing design comps, the actual building and testing of the prototype, creating the final architecture plan and outlining the production specifications. The fourth phase of the project is the Implementation phase where all the planning and building is carried out. The fifth phase is the Launch phase and involves the quality assurance (testing) and marketing (selling) of the product. The sixth and final phase is the maintenance phase where new features are thought up and incorporated into the design, which later goes through it's own mini launch (testing and marketing).