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John Karlin, inventor of all-digit dialing, dies at 94

Consumer demand
By Paul Hodges on 23-Feb-2013

Keypads.pngDo you find it easier to use the keypad on your phone or your calculator? If the phone, then you are in good company.

Most people prefer the numbers to start logically at the top, rather than searching for them at the bottom.

Therefore the blog would like to pay tribute to the man responsible for this development (and many others), John Karlin, who has just died at the age of 94 years.

Karlin worked at the famous Bell Laboratories after World War II, and introduced the novel idea that technology should mirror people’s behaviour. As the New York Times notes, he is “widely considered the father of human-factor engineering”.

Perhaps his major achievement was the design of the key pad we all use today. it was launched 50 years ago on 18 November 1963. Without Karlin, it might well have featured the numbers in just 2 rows, or in a circle, or even an arc.

Instead, his team set itself to discover user preferences. And ever since, the design of most keypads has benefited from his innovative thinking.