Summary
The primary focus of this chapter is on the two kinds of cognition: experiential versus reflective. Experiential cognition represents the automatic and reactive nature of cognition, when people are "experts". Tasks in the experiential state are done (mostly) effortlessly and quickly. On the other hand, reflective cognition requires much active contemplation and tends to take a lot of time. Norman also defends the flawed nature of human behavior (distractibility and ungrammaticality), asserting that technology should be made to accommodate these shortcomings, to humanize technology, rather than take a machine-centered approach and ignoring or aggravating them.
Discussion
This chapter was fairly verbose, but I still understood the important points of it. I did enjoy the discussion at the beginning of the chapter about how entertaining things generally do not teach much.
Chapter 2: Experiencing the World
Summary
This chapter continues to elaborate on the differences between experiential and reflective cognition. An example given of experiential cognition is finding the simple sum of 2 + 4, which comes without conscious effort. A full example comparing both cognitions is piloting: reflective thought is needed in cases of inclement weather to determine alternate routes; otherwise experiential cognition governs the general operation of the aircraft to its destination. Norman reiterates the pros and cons of both experiential and reflective thought, such as the reflexiveness of experiential thought versus the laboriousness of reflective thought. He also discusses optimal flow and what affects it, which is primarily individual motivation.
Discussion
Again, this chapter felt very verbose. I thought the section on how tools can potentially be designed inappropriately, hindering experiential and reflective thought to be interesting, though it could have been more detailed, in contrast to some other sections.
Chapter 3: The Power of Representation
Summary
In this chapter, Norman explains how representation aids in memory retention and learning. External aids, like physical objects or artifacts can be used to illustrate problems and concepts through abstraction. Norman also expresses that representations should match the task using an tic-toc-toe and a similar numbers-matching game. Both are very similar as matching games, but the numbers game is difficult because it requires arithmetic and is poorly represented, whereas tic-tac-toe is much more natural as it is spatially represented.
Discussion
Of all of Norman's chapters read throughout this class, this so far has been the most needlessly long. His points are novel, but his explanations for concepts and examples are three times as long as necessary. Still, I thought the tic-tac-tie example above and the one involving presenting flights in the Official Airline Guide (OAG) were very good.
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person
Summary
This chapter focuses more on how artifacts can be appropriately matched to tasks and people. Norman compares surface (visible) vs. internal representations (invisible). Norman illustrates how surface representations provide physical constraints that affect the difficulty of solving problems. He continues discussing how perception affects the way we interpret things, especially in graphic representations.
Discussion
The explanations of surface vs. internal representations and passive vs. active made sense, but I didn't really appreciate their distinctions until the comparison of Tower of Hanoi game and its variants (isomorphs) with oranges and coffee cups.
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