Back in 1977 widely learned
User friendly was the term
Hope for the tech disadvantaged
People who’s computers they had ravaged
Their psyche telling them to think badly
About previous skills that came in handy
Harlan Crowder in ‘72
Designer for software just for you
Decided it was the perfect time
To make useful your computer dime
After the basic $1500 expense
He wanted to use common sense.
***
A very interesting man, Mr. Crowder. You can read about him here:Excerpt from “User Friendly” by Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/11/21/user-friendly-design-cliff-kuang-robert-fabricant
“The programs simply didn’t consider what someone else might do with them. To Crowder, they weren’t user friendly. And so Crowder proposed that a computer program be gauged not just on how well it solved a problem but on how easy it made the lives of the people trying to solve it. To be clear, he didn’t actually invent the term. As far as he knows, it had been floating around in the air, and it was there when he needed it. Which tends to prove how powerful it was—how it encapsulated something that people had started to feel.”
The Bag Lady 
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