The next time you hinge open that notebook PC and smile at a feature
that makes it easier to use, give a thought to Bill Moggridge, who
passed away Saturday from cancer at the age of 69. The pioneering
designer invented the modern clamshell design seen in all modern
laptops, and is also viewed as the father of human interaction software
design.
The Compass Computer he designed for Grid Systems with
the screen folded over the keyboard appeared in 1981, flew on the space
shuttle, and inspired virtually every notebook design since.
Perhaps more importantly, when he tried to use the machine himself,
Moggridge was exasperated with the difficulty and decided to take the
human factor into account for software design. To that end, he engaged
experts from fields like graphics design and psychology, and tried to
"build empathy for the consumer into the product," according to former
partner, Professor David Kelly. The pair merged their design firms to
form Ideo in 1991, and
worked with clients like Apple, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble,
designing products like the first Macintosh mouse and Palm V handheld
along the way.
In 2010, Moggridge became the director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt
Museum in New York, and was a recipient of that institution's lifetime
achievement award. He also won the Prince Philip Designer's Prize, the
longest running award of its type in the UK, given for "a design career
which has upheld the highest standards and broken new ground." See why
that's true by going to Cooper-Hewitt's tribute video, right after
break.
Monday, September 10, 2012
William Moggridge
9:35 AM
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