One of my favourite modules at University was Human Computer Interaction 1 & 2. It was taught very well by Dr. Russel Beale and was fun and interesting. I learnt a lot from that module especially in terms of the human aspect of designing a system and web sites.
However, one thing I have found is that in the business I work in, HCI tends to be put on the back burner. It's usually not seen to be as important as the core functionality of the system and seen as 'cosmetic'.
I find it quite frustrating that basic concepts such as good colour schemes, affordances and metaphors are not taken into consideration when designing systems. Usually decisions for look and feel are made by the client, but there tends not to be a usability expert on either side to say 'hold on a second, we shouldn't do it like this because that page will look noisy' or 'the buttons shouldn't be arranged as 'Cancel' 'OK' as when people hit enter on most systems they are expecting it to click 'OK' and not 'Cancel'.
Other things we tend to lack is that (apart from UAT) we don't have end users directly involved with using the system iteratively as it is progressing. Techniques like Cognitive Walkthroughs would provide us with a fantastic insight into how we can make systems more user friendly.
Usability studies are usually based around human psychology and human perception and if the system layout doesn't meet the user's expectation then they will be reluctant to use it or they will not use the functionality to it's fullest.
Finally, I know the IT and business world isn't as black and white as this and text book answers cannot always be used due to other constraints. My goal is to try and incoporate HCI and Usability practices wherever possible.
Some Links to Usability Sites:
Neilsen's Usability Heuristics
Usability First
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