2025-09-08 Alan Cooper shaped the ground my field stands on. He broadened the scope of what designers do, from form and meaning to behavior and even possibility. I started in a team that utilized design as a strategic approach. We studied everyday life and its changes, and sketched future customer experiences to help companies bring them to life. Prototypes were our tools for storytelling. Looking back, we often worked in reverse: we began with possible futures, imagined their behaviors, then let meaning and form emerge through interaction. In practice, the world usually flips that order. Technology comes first, and design follows. Designers who can keep pace with technology, set a vision early, and sometimes say no are the ones who open new paths for experience. When I left my first job in the U.S., my mentor, Kevin, gave me "About Face," a book that Alan Cooper helped write. I still keep it close. It makes sense that Golden Krishna, author of The Best Interface Is No Interface, began at Cooper.