Author: Hannah Wang

Computer History Museum Visit

What was your impression of the CHM? What did you learn that hadn't been covered in class? What was your favorite fact or object and why? I really enjoyed my visit to the Computer History Museum. It had a very professional feel,...

GUI

The Next Step for GUI Design

How has the graphical user interface changed since the early Macintosh / Windows days? What has stayed the same? What needs to be improved now that technology has improved? Since the early days of Macintosh and Windows, the...

xerox star

The Legacy of Xerox Star

How did the Xerox Star change the direction of computing? In my opinion, before the Star, computers were made for professional computer users. They were familiar with specialized computer languages and systems. The Star’s...

mid-century innovations

The Demo That Opened The World of Interaction Design

Why was the demo by Douglas Engelbart and the team at SRI so important? In Douglas Engelbart’s demo, many of the things he showed have become part of our world today. For example, the mouse is now widely used everywhere. He...

fitts law

Knowing the Rules is Breaking the Rules

When I need to design an interactive software, the Gestalt principles and Fitts’s Law are very useful tools to help guide my design. They can be used to check whether my design is user-friendly. At first, I felt confused about...

manifestos

Art, World, Individuals

What might we learn from the different art movements that emerged in the early 20th century? The early twentieth century was a time of huge change—wars, the Industrial Revolution, new technologies, and new art forms popping up...

lovelace & gilbreth

IXD Pioneers: Lovelace & Gilbreth

Why are Ada Lovelace and Lillian Gilbreth important to know about for IXD History? Ada Lovelace and Lillian Gilbreth both played important roles as pioneers in the history of computers and industrial design. Their research has a...