Book Reading #45: Things That Make Us Smart

Chapter 3Summary
Chapter 3 deals with external aids, in particular the paper, and the pen. These make us smart. Norman discusses cognitive artifacts and how they help people keep track of complex events. He defines two ingredients for a representational system: the represented world and the representing world.


Chapter 4
Summary
In chapter 4 Norman continues his discussion about artifacts and things to consider when fitting the artifact to the person. He differentiates between surface artifacts and internal artifacts. He also mentions how technology has affordances and uses voice-messaging systems as an example of a technology that in some instances forces a medium into usage that violates the affordances and gets in the way.