Why you should know who Larry Tesler was April 24, 1945 – February 16, 2020
Larry was a computer scientist who focused on human–computer interaction. His groundbreaking work helped create modern customer and user experiences with technology and always with people in mind. His body of work is enormous. It includes the invention of the cut-and paste computer function, the first word processor with a graphical user interface and Tesler’s law, otherwise known as the law of conservation of complexity. Tesler stated that “for any system there is a certain amount of complexity which cannot be reduced.”
He worked at Xerox PARC and then joined Apple Computer working with Steve Jobs. After that he was hired by Amazon and worked with Jeff Bezos as vice president of shopping experience. If you previewed a book on Amazon, you have experienced one of Tesler’s original works.
After being with a couple more businesses, he became an independent consultant helping Silicon Valley companies design and develop user experiences. That was what he was doing when I had the pleasure of interviewing him with my coauthor Sean Van Tyne for the “Customer Experience Revolution” book. He was kind and tremendously insightful. He appreciated our questions. The interview was scheduled for 45 minutes. It was an amazing two-hour conversation about customer and user experience that remains a powerful inspiration.
If you use a computer or phone, on the Internet and off, you have benefitted from Larry’s work. Most likely every day. He created the foundation for exemplary customer and user experiences for generations of devices, software and people to come. We are incredibly fortunate.
Insights from understanding Larry and his work are very important today. Including the challenges with developing and implementing artificial intelligence. Especially if it impacts human interactions, directly or indirectly, and the results from those interactions.
Keeping AI human focused on pleasing customers and users will help companies to find additional profits (beyond cost reductions) and customer advocacy from people having AI involved experiences.
For more about this see:
Larry Tesler: Computer scientist behind cut, copy and paste
Lawrence Tesler, Who Made Personal Computing Easier
Larry Tesler in The Customer Experience Revolution and Next Generation Customer Experience books