Photo: cherylish / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Alan Cooper is a quiet giant of the digital age, and as an editor steeped in how products communicate, I hold him in real esteem. Dubbed the Father of Visual Basic, he shaped tools millions used, but his deeper legacy is intellectual: About Face became the bible of interaction design, and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum dared to ask why technology so often frustrates us. A San Francisco native born in 1952, he championed human-centered design before it was fashionable. Every time an interface simply makes sense, a little of Cooper's philosophy is at work, unseen but everywhere. That kind of invisible influence impresses me most.
Overview
Alan Cooper (born June 3, 1952) is an American software designer and programmer. Widely recognized as the "Father of Visual Basic", Cooper is also known for his books About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Alan Cooper
- Name (Japanese)
- アラン・クーパー
- Reading
- あらん・くーぱー
- Born
- June 3, 1952 (age 74)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Dragon
- Origin
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- computer scientist / writer / software developer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design | — |
6. Links
Computer scientist — see all → · Writer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.