It is amazing how interaction design and UX design have grown and been recognized these last couple of decades. It has made a great difference to the field and the benefit of many users. This development has been so fast and radical that it has made it difficult to see what is eventually missing. So, looking at the field today I think it is safe to argue that there are aspects of IX and UX that is in need of being strengthened, both in academia and practice. I will here only mention a few.
1. There is a lack of systems thinking in contemporary IX and UX design. This is the overall and most important aspect.
2. There seems to be a lack of curiosity and interest in new technologies. The extraordinary outburst of new forms of technology that shifts interaction away from traditional screen-based interactions opens up for new creative designs. However, the field does not seem to take advantage.
2. UX is still focused on personal applications while organizational applications are not treated with the same attention. We all use simple and easy to use apps on our smartphones and on our laptops. It is amazing how these applications have developed into beautiful and efficient tools that support our everyday lives. But when we move into the world of workers in all kinds of organizations, the systems, and the interfaces commonly look like they are decades old. They are hard to learn and use, inefficient, ugly, etc. It is obvious that the complexity of these systems is way beyond what we see with personal support apps. They require intimate knowledge about the organization, its structure, logistics, information flow, and needs, etc. And again systems thinking!
Of course, I am not providing any evidence for my claims above. Personally, I find that looking at commonly used textbooks in the field supports my observations.
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