Alan Cooper

Alan Cooper is an American software designer and programmer, born June 3, 1952, in San Francisco, California, known as the father of Visual Basic for creating a visual programming interface that Microsoft turned into a professional development tool, including the VBX interface that let third-party developers create dynamically installable controls. He founded the microcomputer software company Structured Systems Group in 1975 and later worked with Digital Research before founding the interaction design consultancy Cooper in 1992, where he developed the Goal-Directed design methodology and popularized personas as a design tool, work credited with helping establish the field of interaction design. Cooper studied architecture at the College of Marin while funding his education through programming contract work, and authored the books About Face (1995) and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (1998). He received Microsoft's first Windows Pioneer Award in 1994.