Slides from today's class

1. Comm / INFO 2450
Communication and Technology
Professor
Drew Margolin

2. Find a group of 3-4
Sit with a pre-arranged group
Sit somewhere and barnacle onto a group
Or come down to the front and find a group of 3 to join
THIS IS JUST FOR ATTENDANCE AND IN CLASS
DISCUSSION

3. 2450 News

4. TweetReport

5. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. procedural knowledge
Information in the head
Information in the world
Great precision is not required
• Natural constraints
• Cultural constraints
Reminders

6. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
Declarative – knowing that. Knowledge you can put into words
Procedural – knowing how. Knowledge you can put into actions

7. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
Declarative – knowing that. Knowledge you can put into words
mholl2450: I have #declarativeknowledge of my favorite cupcake recipe. I
could write out each step in detail

8. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
Declarative – knowing that. Knowledge you can put into words
Procedural – knowing how. Knowledge you can put into actions
Norman: conveying procedural know how via
declarative statements is inefficient
lsong2450: parallel parking is an #ex of #proceduralknowledge i
subconsciously know how to do it every time but cannot explain it in words
PPaddack2450: #ex when I play the piano, its from my #proceduralknowledge.
However, I wouldn't be able to describe the #declarativeknowledge

9. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
Norman’s take:
1. Conveying procedural know how via declarative statements is inefficient
2. People have substantial procedural knowledge capacity
YZheng2450: #ex of procedural knowledge, I still can swim after I have not
been swimming for seven years

10. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Procedural Knowledge
Muscle memory, which is partly in the neural system, is a part of procedural knowledge
But there are other kinds…
• Reciting a tune in your head
Also…
• Winning an argument
• Charming potential mates
• Negotiating business deals / salary
• Running a meeting
wpickett2450: is the term 'muscle memory' just a synonym for
#proceduralknowledge? #qs
No formula, a sense of how to
respond to dynamic feedback

11. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Declarative vs. Procedural Knowledge
Norman’s take:
1. Conveying procedural know how via declarative statements is inefficient
2. People have substantial procedural knowledge capacity
3. Both kinds of knowledge are aided by
• Relationships (physical and mental)
• Constraints (natural and cultural)
4. Your design has more access to procedural cues and knowledge in the world
than knowledge in the head

12. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
XWang2450: #qs Isn't there some overlaps between the #knowledge in the
world and the #knowledge in the head?
SMcIlwrick2450: #qs What is the difference between #knowledgeinthehead
and #knowledgeintheworld?
Of course, all “knowledge in the world” must interact with something in the
head…
But cues and constraints from the world are very good at:
• triggering retrieval of declarative memories
• triggering procedural action patterns

13. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Knowledge in the head - memory
• memory for arbitrary things (rote memory)
• Information “stands alone” – unrelated and unconstrained
• Difficult to learn
• Difficult to maintain (must rehearse)
lzhang2450: I committed my parents' phone numbers to memory, because I
constantly call them when I was a kid. #ex #knowledgeinthehead

14. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Knowledge in the head - memory
• memory for arbitrary things
• memory for meaningful relationships
• Can connect arbitrary knowledge to something known
• Have to impose or apply the relationship
• It does not follow from some large model or explanation
CPang2450: #ex The Wines professor is teaching us how to decipher who,
where, when the wine was made based on the label #knowledgeinthehead

15. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Making memories more meaningful (but still arbitrary)

16. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Knowledge in the head - memory
•memory through explanation (mental models and novel situations)
• Must create a coherent model
• Memory automatically follows from model
• Also includes new inferences (not really memories)
Where/what did I eat on Monday
night?
• I know my mom was in town, she
took the kids out
• I know I had to prepare for 2450
• Mental model says
I probably ate later than normal
by myself
Aha!
 Leftover Indian food!

17. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Knowledge in the world
• physical, symbolic or social cues that
• provide directions or prompt memory (declarative)
• guide behavior (procedural)
aperry2450 : Stack Overflow allows programmers to keep
#knowledgeintheworld, rather than memorize every tedious aspect of Java #ex
mwittenberg2450: I leave my retainers next to my bed to remember to wear
them and make it easy to do so. #knowledgeintheworld #ex

18. Dquincy2450: #ex there is no need for taxi driver to learn complicated routes
because almost all phones now have GPS #knowledgeintheworld

19. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Knowledge in the world
• physical, symbolic or social cues that
• provide directions or prompt memory (declarative)
• guide behavior (procedural)
gbricken2450 : IKEA instructions may not be easy to read but due to
#informationintheworld I am able to build what I want #ex
afischer2450: #ex language fluency is half #knowledgeinmyhead, that you
learn in a class and half #knowledgeintheworld through interaction

20. Remember
• tweet to @2450attendance (not the usual class account)
• A tweet that misrepresents who is here is an academic integrity violation
by all group members
• Missing just 1 class is not going to effect your grade
•FIRST -- Attendance
• You should be in a 3-4 person discussion group
•ONE person in the group should tweet the handle of every
group member who is here to @2450Attendance and say
“we’re here”
E.g.
“@2450Attendance @mmaron2450 @mterr2450
@lwolleman2450 we’re here!”
Breakout

21. Breakout
BREAKOUT
• Look at your health / driving apps
•What declarative knowledge do you need in your head?
•What declarative knowledge does it keep in the world for you?
•What procedural knowledge do you need in your head?
•What cues/constraints/affordances does it keep in the world to
prompt or guide your procedural knowledge?
•Tweet to regular class account @2450fall17

22. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
In The Head In The World
Declarative
Procedural

23. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Memorized facts
In The Head In The World
Declarative
Procedural

24. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Memorized facts Books, websites, search
results
In The Head In The World
Declarative
Procedural

25. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Memorized facts Books, websites, search
results
Muscle memory, how to
search
In The Head In The World
Declarative
Procedural

26. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Memorized facts Books, websites, search
results
Muscle memory, how to
search
Reminders, constraints,
affordances
In The Head In The World
Declarative
Procedural

27. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Information in the world
REMINDERS
signal message
(what you
see/hear/feel)
(what you are
supposed to
remember)

28. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Perfect precision is not required
• only need to narrow down the choices enough to ensure the right one
acai2450: Being able to read words that are misspelled or jumbled is an #ex
that #greatprecisionisnotrequired https://t.co/Xr3G739VCC

29. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Perfect precision is not required
• only need to narrow down the choices enough to ensure the right one
•Or to “get close,” get new information and have the ability to adjust
Alt-tab anyone?

30. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Perfect precision is not required
• only need to narrow down the choices enough to ensure the right one
kmkim2450: an #ex of #greatprecisionisnotrequired: I easily unlock my phone
frequently but can't recall the actual passcode when asked
Lcroskey2450: #ex #greatprecisionisnotrequired when you can type the
password for your phone but don't need to actually read the numbers

31. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Perfect precision is not required
• only need to narrow down the choices enough to ensure the right one
psha2450: #ex No one has #greatprecision in knowing the exact layout of a
QWERTY keyboard, but #proceduralknowledge makes typing easy.
This is precise procedural knowledge – your hand “knows” exactly what to do

32. Breakout
BREAKOUT
• Look at your health / driving apps
•In what ways does it require precision?
•In what ways does it let the user be imprecise?
•Could the app be improved on this basis?

33. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Some design tips
1. Short term, arbitrary, declarative memory is the hardest, least efficient
form of storage a human has
 Replace declarative with procedural knowledge
 Let people enter declarative information “into the world” for storage

34. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Some design tips
2. Use the full range of the world (sight, sound, touch) to cue procedural
responses
 E.g. Vibrating phone

35. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Some design tips
3. Use imprecision to your advantage
 Get people “close” to the right response
… Give them clear feedback
… and Let them change quickly

36. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Some design tips
4. Use natural mappings
Best: Controls are mounted on top of item to be controlled
Second-Best: Controls are as close as possible to object to be controlled
Third-best: Controls are arranged in same spatial configuration as object to
be controlled

37. Chap 3 – Knowledge in the Head and in the World
Some design tips
4. Use natural mappings
Best: Controls are mounted on top of item to be controlled
Second-Best: Controls are as close as possible to object to be controlled
Third-best: Controls are arranged in same spatial configuration as object to
be controlled

38. Written Assignment #1
Option 1: Design Hall of Shame
Option 2: Canvas vs. Board
•• identify a physical or virtual design (visual might be useful)
• analyze it in terms of concepts and principles from Norman and
lectures. Use at least four concepts/principles (feedback,
mapping, etc) and bold them in the text
• conclude why this design fails and belongs in the hall of shame
• compare Canvas to Blackboard in terms of 2-3 aspects of the design
• analyze the similarities and differences of concepts and principles
from Norman and lectures. Use at least four concepts/principles
(feedback, mapping, etc) and bold them in the text
• Make an informed recommendation for which is better based on your
analysis
Must be posted Monday before 6PM (same as tweet)

39. Evaluation (out of 10)
Evaluation
Written Assignment #1
Except “Concepts applied correctly” and “Wow” graded on 3 levels:
Perfect, Less than Perfect, Poor

40. Written Assignment #1
Submitting

41. For Tuesday
1. Do the written assignment
2. Don’t forget to tweet!

42. END