Oral History Interview with S. Joy Mountford

Abstract

This interview is part of a series on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) conducted by the Charles Babbage Institute for ACM SIGCHI (Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction). In this interview Joy Mountford briefly discusses her educational background, while the bulk of the interview focuses on her pioneering work in design and human-computer interaction at Honeywell, MCC, Apple Computer, Yahoo!, Ford Motor Corporation (in Autonomous Vehicle design), and consulting work for a wide range of corporations and nonprofits. At Apple, Mountford brought experience from Honeywell and MCC to found and manage a large team (that grew to over 60), the Human Interface Group, that took the Macintosh beyond its original formulation to add size, color, and design elements to ease use and functionality. She and her team developed QuickTime VR and many path-breaking systems. At Yahoo! Mountford redesigned its front page, at the time the most visited page on the Web. In the consulting to nonprofit area (done both at companies and independently), she designed a digital display for the Internet Archives’ very large digitized book repository. She launched the International Design Expo, which has been tremendously important in advancing HCI for decades and secured funding from various corporations to foster the annual event. Throughout, she reflects on these efforts and others as well as more broadly on design theory, principals, practices, and technology development within the context of organizations.