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Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini (born 1945) is an American
usability Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a softw ...
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
and designer. He is a partner in the Nielsen Norman Group, which specializes in human-computer interaction. He was an early employee of
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...
, staying with the company for fourteen years, then he was with
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
for four years, then
WebMD WebMD is an American corporation which publishes online news and information about human health and well-being. The WebMD website also includes information about drugs and is an important healthcare information website and the most popular cons ...
for another four years. He has written two books, ''Tog on Interface'' and ''Tog on Software Design'', published by
Addison-Wesley Addison–Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson plc, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison–Wesley also distributes its technical titles ...
, and he publishes the
webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
''Asktog'', with the
tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...
"Interaction Design Solutions for the Real World".


Background

Tog (as he is known in computer circles) built his first electro-mechanical computer in 1957, landing a job in 1959 working with the world's first check-reading computer, NCR's ERMA (Electronic Recording Method of Accounting), at Bank of America, in San Francisco. Tog was an early employee of
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...
starting in 1978. In June 1978,
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, having seen one of Tog's early programs, The Great American Probability Machine, had Jef Raskin hire him as Apple's first applications software engineer. He's listed on the back of his book ''Tog on Interface'' (Addison Wesley, 1991) as "Apple Employee #66" (the same employee number he held later at WebMD). In his early days at Apple, simultaneous with his developing Apple's first human interface, for the
Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
computer, he published ''Super Hi-Res Chess'', a novelty program for the Apple II that, despite its name, did not play chess or have any hi-res (high-resolution) graphics; instead, it seemed to crash to the Applesoft BASIC prompt with an error message, but was actually a parody of Apple's BASIC command line interface that seemingly took over control of one's computer, refusing to give it back until the magic word was discovered. His work in user-interface testing and design, including publishing the first edition, in September, 1978, and seven subsequent editions of ''The Apple Human Interface Guidelines'', played an important role in the direction of Apple's product line from the early days of Apple into the 1990s. (Steve Smith and Chris Espinosa also played a key role, incorporating the initial material on the Lisa and
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
computers in the fourth and fifth editions in the early 1980s.) "Origins of the Apple Human Interface," transcript of a talk by Larry Tesler & Chris Espinosa, Oct 28, 1997, Computer History Museum" He and his partner, John David Eisenberg, wrote ''Apple Presents...Apple'', the disk that taught new Apple II owners how to use the computer. This disk became a self-fulfilling prophecy: At the time of its authoring, there was no standard Apple II interface. Because new owners were all being taught Tog and David's interface, developers soon began writing to it, aided by Tog's Apple Human Interface Guidelines, and reinforced by AppleWorks, a suite of productivity applications for the Apple II into which Tog had also incorporated the same interface. Others often report him as one of the fathers of the Macintosh interface, a claim he has always been careful to refute. Although he did consult with Jef Raskin in the early days of the Macintosh, during the later, critical development period of the Mac, he was assigned to scale down the Lisa interface, not for the Mac, but for the Apple II. Although he and James Batson were able to develop a viable interface for the Apple II that matched the mousing speed of the much faster Macintosh, the Apple executive staff elected not to ship a mouse with the Apple II for fear of cannibalizing Macintosh sales. It was only after Steve Jobs' early departure from Apple, in 1985, that Tog came to oversee the interface for both machines. During this period, Tog was responsible for the design of the Macintosh's hierarchical menus and invented time-out dialog boxes, which, after a visible countdown, carry out the default activity without the user explicitly clicking. He also invented the "package" illusion later used by Apple for Macintosh applications: Applications, along with all their supporting files, reside inside a "package" that, in turn, appears to be the application itself, appearing as an application icon, not as a folder. This illusion makes possible the simple drag-and-drop installation and deletion of Mac applications. Tog left Apple in 1992. While working at
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
, in 1992 and 1993, he produced the Starfire video prototype, in order to give an idea of a usability centered vision of the Office of the future. The video predicted the rise of a new technology that would become known as the World Wide Web. Popular Science Magazine reported, in March 2009, that Microsoft had just produced a new video showing life in the year 2019: "The 2019 Microsoft details with this video is almost identical to the 2004 predicted in this video produced by Sun Microsystems in 1992." While at Sun Microsystems, Tog also filed for 58 US patents, with 57 issued in the areas of aviation safety, GPS, and human-computer interaction. Among them is US Patent 6278660, the time-zone-tracking wristwatch with built-in GPS and simple time-zone maps that sets itself using the GPS satellite's atomic clock and re-sets itself automatically whenever crossing into a new time zone. In 2000, after his four-year stint at
WebMD WebMD is an American corporation which publishes online news and information about human health and well-being. The WebMD website also includes information about drugs and is an important healthcare information website and the most popular cons ...
, Tog joined his colleagues as the third principal at the Nielsen Norman Group, along with Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman.


Bibliography

* ''The Apple Human Interface Guidelines'' (1987) (uncredited, author is Apple Computer, Inc) * ''Tog on Interface'' (1992) * ''Tog on Software Design'' (1995)


References


External links


Ask Tog
– Bruce Tognazzini's official site.
The Starfire Home Page, including link to download film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tognazzini, Bruce Apple Inc. employees American people of Swiss descent Living people 1945 births People from the San Francisco Bay Area