When we talk about the history of Interaction Design, it’s easy to think only about computers and screens. But Ada Lovelace and Lillian Gilbreth show us that IxD has always been bigger than that. Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage in the 1800s and basically wrote the first computer program. What’s cool is that she imagined computers could do way more than math—she thought they could work with music, text, and even creative ideas. That kind of vision is exactly what designers need: to look past what technology is and think about what it could be.
Gilbreth, on the other hand, focused on people. She studied how workers moved, how they got tired, and how design could make their lives easier. She’s the one who came up with the kitchen “work triangle,” and she even helped design tools for people with disabilities. Long before computers, she was already practicing what we’d now call user-centered design.
Together, Lovelace and Gilbreth show us two sides of IxD history—dreaming big about the future, and caring about the actual humans using the tools. Both are still super important for how we design today.