I can imagine that people who grew up around graphical computer user interfaces (mouse, touch) would feel that they were sort of pre-ordained, just waiting for the chips to enable them.

But it was broadly-literate, deeply introspective, people who understood that computers could be an extension of the human mind and not just business and science tools. And this would require human-centric design.

"So when John McCarthy saw a [networked] air defense graphics terminal in the 50's [1], which was designed for tracking Russian bombers, his first thought was 'every home will have one'."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FSQ-7_Combat_Direction_Cent...