Things That Make Us Smart
Donald A. Norman
Chapter 3: The Power of Representation. In this chapter Norm talks about how we represent the world utilizing cognitive artifacts. He defines the Represented World (Real World), and the Representing World (symbols which represent the represented world). He also discuses various ways in which data can be represented, and explains how some lead to experiential cognition while others to reflective cognition.
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person. Norman introduces the concepts of suface and internal representation. Surface representation is when what we see is all there is to it (a book), an internal representation has more in the background that we cannot see (calculator). He also discusses how representations must fit the task or the person, depending in the situation. He also brings back the concept of affordances in terms of technology. He claims technology also has affordances.
Discussion: Even though the chapters are long, they are still interesting to read. On the first chapter, the discussion about representing numbers was really interesting. It made me remember my days of school when I had to learn Roman numerals. I think it is really interesting how each representation allows you to do different things easier than the others. For chapter two, the discussion about affordances in technology was the best part in my opinion. I like how Norman bring this concepts back from The Design of Every Day Things, and includes it in this chapter.
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