Ada Lovelace was essentially the first ever computer programmer.
She, in her poetic, scientific playfulness, wrote the earliest form of programming, envisioning a concept that reached beyond the Difference Engine’s original use case. Charles Babbage designed it for solving numerical equations. Lovelace foresaw its potential to manipulate any kind of information.
Lillian Gilbreth, on the other hand, was arguably the pioneer of human factors.
Her unique insights on psychology led to an in-depth redesign of work practices, integrating the human into the system. In contrast, Frederick Taylor, her contemporary in scientific management, saw efficiency as purely a question of time and labor, neglecting the human experience that Gilbreth made central.
Now, these are only generalizations of the most notable things Lovelace and Gilbreth have done in their lifetime.
These exceptional women, among many others, have groundbreaking contributions that were overshadowed by works of men. Lovelace and Gilbreth, in particular, set the stage for the technological world that we know today. They walked this Earth at a time when it wasn’t ready to acknowledge them. Gender was more like a criterion that can or can not immediately disqualify a person from participating in academia and the professional world.
First and foremost: I think it’s important to address that there are probably so many design histories out there by women that remain untold, exactly because of how the world viewed (or views) gender and how society actively discriminated (or discriminates) against it.
Second: We are born into the Digital Age, so while the technology we deal with on a daily basis is actually mind-boggling, we are so used to it that we rarely ask of its origins. Knowing who did what is one thing, but knowing how and why is another.
There are the likes of Bill Moggridge and Steve Jobs— the likes of men— who are often well-regarded in the design world. They are names that appear again and again in classrooms. But, as a woman myself, I ask if there is anyone like me out there…
Every single person who has contributed to the living, breathing being that is Interaction Design has a captivating story to tell. Even then, current pedagogies stick their name to a lecture deck and call it a day. I found that, upon reading a more narrative or chronological look into these people, I can have a more profound understanding of the motivations behind why something exists.
Women are obviously no exception to this. They shouldn’t be in the first place.
And why is it important to know who these women are?
I believe there is no other way to empathize— our core mission as designers— than to hear more stories especially from marginalized voices. When we approach our shared history with curiosity and love for all, we begin to close the gaps in information that still persist today. In doing so, we not only honor everyone’s humanity, but also expand our own capacity to design with care, sensitivity, and imagination. These values are what motivated Lovelace and Gilbreth after all, and from then on created something so radical. Their narratives remind us that Interaction Design is not simply a technical discipline, but a human one, shaped by visionaries who understood large, complex systems and the people who live within.