Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine (William Patrick Book)

"Things That Make Us Smart" is Don Norman professing his thoughts on how technologies serve as cognitive artifacts, from past to present. There is a lot of repetition and extraneous information including Norman's thoughts on forecasting technology trends. If you have read "The Design of Everyday Things," there will be familiar ideas. Likewise, I found that the last two chapters("Soft and Hard Technology" and "Technology is Not Neutral") to be very similar to Norman's ideas in "The Design of Future Things". For Information Science folks, the chapter called "A Place for Everything, and Everything in It's Place" might be of skimming interest; in it, Norman writes about workspace organization, and touches on information retrieval, though his views concerning the latter subject have been somewhat superseded by current search engine technologies. For me, "Things That Make Us Smart" was most fascinating when Norman spoke in chapter two(and other places) about cognition; experiential and reflective thought, and how technology can elicit each. "Things That Make Us Smart" is typical Donald Norman; take the idea of a human-centered approach to technology and run with it. For those seeking an introduction to Norman, forgo this book in favor of "The Design of Everyday Things." For those familiar with Norman's ideas, skim at your leisure.

In Things That Make Us Smart, Donald A. Norman explores the complex interaction between human thought and the technology it creates, arguing for the development of machines that fit our minds, rather

Publishers Weekly

Building on the insights of The Design of Everyday Things and Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles , cognitive scientist Norman continues his lively assault on ``machine-centered'' design, arguing for appropriate technologies scaled to human need and cognitive capacity. A fellow at Apple Computer, Norman considers poorly or well-designed ``cognitive artifacts'' ranging from filing cabinets to medical prescriptions and the information displays used on electronic devices. He ponders the frustrations of using telephone voice-messaging systems, faults today's multimedia classrooms for gimmickry and suggests ``human-centered'' designs for computers, telephones and post-office stamp machines. Readers interested in making the work environment or the task fit the person (instead of the other way around) will find many tips in this thoughtful critique. Illustrated . (May)

Insightful and whimsical, profoundly intelligent and easily accessible, Don Norman has been exploring the design of our world for decades, exploring this complex relationship between humans and machines. In this seminal work, fully revised and updated, Norman gives us the first steps towards demanding a person-centered redesign of the machines we use every day. Humans have always worked with objects to extend our cognitive powers, from counting on our fingers to designing massive supercomputers. But advanced technology does more than merely assist with memory—the machines we create begin to shape how we think and, at times, even what we value. In THINGS THAT MAKE US SMART, Donald Norman explores the complex interaction between human thought and the technology it creates, arguing for the development of machines that fit our minds, rather than minds that must conform to the machine. In Things That Make Us Smart, Donald A. Norman explores the complex interaction between human thought and the technology it creates, arguing for the development of machines that fit our minds, rather than minds that must conform to the machine.Humans have always worked with objects to extend our cognitive powers, from counting on our fingers to designing massive supercomputers. But advanced technology does more than merely assist with thought and memorythe machines we create begin to shape how we think and, at times, even what we value. Norman, in exploring this complex relationship between humans and machines, gives us the first steps towards demanding a person-centered redesign of the machines that surround our lives. In Things That Make Us Smart, Donald A. Norman explores the complex interaction between human thought and the technology it creates, arguing for the development of machines that fit our minds, rather than minds that must conform to the machine. Humans have always worked with objects to extend our cognitive powers, from counting on our fingers to designing massive supercomputers. But advanced technology does more than merely assist with thought and memorythe machines we create begin to shape how we think and, at times, even what we value. Norman, in exploring this complex relationship between humans and machines, gives us the first steps towards demanding a person-centered redesign of the machines that surround our lives Table of Contents Preface Chapter Notes and Book Design 1 A Human-centered Technology 2 Experiencing the World 3 The Power of Representation 4 Fitting the Artifact to the Person 5 The Human Mind 6 Distributed Cognition 7 A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place 8 Predicting the Future 9 Soft and Hard Technology 10 Technology is Not Neutral Chapter Notes References Index