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A Field Guide to Doug's 1962 Framework 0

Selected Press Articles 3b

Selected Engelbart Articles 3c

Learn More 4

About Doug 4a

The Archives 4b

A Field Guide to Doug's 1962 Framework 0

	Browse the Table of Contents
	❝ By 'augmenting human intellect' we mean increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems. Increased capability in this respect is taken to mean a mixture of the following: more-rapid comprehension, better comprehension, the possibility of gaining a useful degree of comprehension in a situation that previously was too complex, speedier solutions, better solutions, and the possibility of finding solutions to problems that before seemed insoluble.❞ — Doug Engelbart, in his Introduction to Augmenting Human Intellect
	Wordle of 1962 Report
	Watch short documentary (6 min.) to see what sprang from Doug's Framework
	❝ Engelbart did not think of the computer as merely improving human thinking, but as transforming the processes of our institutions in a more profound way...❞ — Janet H. Murray, on Inventing the Medium in New Media Reader
	Watch Prof. Gardner Campbell present "Doug's 1962 Framework" (12 min.)
	Watch Alan Kay present "Why we need to understand what Doug Engelbart was trying to do" (30 min.)
	Watch Doug in 1986 presenting his work (67min) - or the highlights: Intro \| Framework Purpose \| Tool Evolution \| 1968 Approach \| More Evolution \| Framework Detail
	❝ Doug thought at scale. He understood that a car is not simply a faster tricycle. He had faith that an augmented intellect, joined to millions of other augmented intellects, could clarify individual thought even as it empowered vast new modes of thinking, new modes of complex understanding that could grasp intricately meaningful symbols as quickly and comprehensively as we can recognize a loved one's face.❞ — Gardner Campbell, Dreams About How The World Could Be

What it is 1

Welcome to our rudimentary 'field guide' to Doug Engelbart's seminal work:

Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework,
Douglas C. Engelbart, SRI Summary Report, 1962

This was the final report of a groundbreaking study conducted by Doug Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to flesh out his ideas for making the world a much better place in the fastest possible timeframe. In the course of this study, funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Doug forged a new discipline he called Augmenting the Human Intellect, with in-depth conceptual framework, research agenda, and strategic approach for bootstrapping the results at scale. This report summarizes his findings and recommendations. R&D funding ensued, and so the Augmenting Human Intellect Research Center (AHIRC) was born. In a few short years, Doug and his team forged a constellation of breakthrough firsts to herald in a new era in human effectiveness, as demonstrated first in 1968 in what is now known as the Mother of All Demos, again in 1969 with the 'sequel' to the Demo, and beyond. Pioneering firsts included interactive, hyperlinked, networked personal and collaborative computing, which he co-evolved alongside organizational innovations that were just as profound.

And for his efforts he was recognized with the National Medal of Technology & Innovation, the Turing Award, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, an Honorary Doctorate from Yale, and more, even as he continued pointing to the future through his lectures and management seminars.

And now widely acclaimed:

"In one 1968 presentation, this inventor shaped modern computing" - Smithsonian Magazine
"One of recent history's most acclaimed innovators" - Inventors Digest
"Visionary is one of the most overused terms in tech, but it almost seems insufficient to explain just what Doug Engelbart was' - Fast Company

In other words, Doug's conceptual framework for augmenting the human intellect drove one of the more revolutionary research agendas on record, and, like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, is still enormously relevant. And yet we have still barely scratched the surface of fully appreciating, let alone achieving, its true potential.

And all of this traces back to this one seminal document – the strategic thinking, big picture vision, phenomenal thought experiments, unifying conceptual framework, organizing principles, approach, and application scenarios – which informed and shaped all subsequent work.

Find it here 2

Browsable with our usual enhanced navigation features (see About Our Website), with more formats offered through the Internet Archive, as shown below.

Original Report 2a

Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework (1962) available in these formats:
Browseable HTML | Print PDF | eReader Format | More Options

For a full citation, refer to #3 in Doug's Bibliography.

Abridged Versions 2b

A Conceptual Framework for the Augmention of Man's Intellect (1963) – the 1962 report edited down for inclusion in the book Vistas in Information Handling, Howerton & Weeks [Ed.], 1963, Chapter 1. Now available in these formats:
Browseable HTML | Print PDF | eReader Formats | More Options

Further abridged for inclusion in, among others:

Computer Supported Cooperative Work: A Book of Readings (1988), Irene Greif [Ed.], Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., Chapter 2, pp. 35-65.

The New Media Reader (2003), Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort [Ed.], The MIT Press, 2003, Chapter 8.

A Program in Human Effectiveness (1962) – a summary version of just the research proposal from the 1962 report. An earlier version of this proposed program was sent with a letter to Vannevary Bush in May of 1962.