Book Reading # 45

Reference:
Things that Makes Us Smart
Donald A. Norman
Chapter 3 & Chapter4

Summary
Chapter three talks about cognitive artifacts that have aided the human brain by making humans smarter. Norman points out that we pay much attention to people who can retain large quantities of information because these are abilities that are hard for the average person to perform. He gives an example where Socrates questions that reading did not lead to reflection, and that it was experiential. He goes on to talk about the importance of the power of representation. A very important thing he mentions is that humans perceive information as a visual representation. In the latter chapter, Norman describes the views of a cognitive artifact which are the personal point of view and the system point of view.
Discussion
I found the fourth chapter more interesting because it points out example that make you understand what Norman is getting at. The description that I liked the best is when he talks about digital versus analog displays. It would seem to me that he would discuss that the digital displays are better since in the previous chapter he mentions that humans perceive information as a visual representation.

Book Reading # 43

Reference:
Things that Makes Us Smart
Donald A. Norman
Chapter 1 & Chapter 2

Summary
The first chapter talks about how technology can help us make us smarter or can also work in the opposite direction. Norman claims his main research is the development of tools that aid the mind. There are two types of artifacts that aid cognition: physical and mental. Norma goes on to describe that technology developed as an accident, and as a result of its evolution there are only a specialized group of talented people that develop it. Norman wants to stay positive that technology will be able to continue helping us, and therefore he believes people need to focus on human-centered design and not in machine-centered design. He goes on to talk about the two types of cognition: experiential and reflective cognition. The three types of learning are accretion, tuning, and restructuring.
Discussion
I really enjoy reading Norman's material. In the first chapter he seems really optimistic that people can use technology in their benefit and gives examples on how we can do that. He also wants designers to focus on human-centered technology as it is better in the long run.