Things That Make Us Smart Quotes

“We still suffer from the mind-set of the Chicago World’s Fair: “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms.” We”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Technologies are not neutral. They affect the course of society, aiding some actions, impeding others, independent of the morality or necessity of those actions. Technology also has its side effects, both physical and mental. Technology can aid as much as it can detract. It really is up to us, both as individuals and as a society, to decide which course we shall take.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Try to hold onto too many thoughts at once, and they interfere with each other. The psychological evidence is that only about five things can be kept active in consciousness at a time. Five.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“In a proper system, the process of exploration will let us discover the question as well as the answer.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The problem with logic is that it is too fixed and rigid, and any information that cannot fit into its rigid framework is thereby excluded from playing a role in the conclusion. The problem with stories is that they are too flexible, too subjective: Almost any point of view or conclusion can be buttressed by an appropriate story. In the end, we often need both—the hard, formal process of logic and the soft, subjective impressions from everyday experience.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The problem with stories is that they are too flexible, too subjective: Almost any point of view or conclusion can be buttressed by an appropriate story. In the end, we often need both—the hard, formal process of logic and the soft, subjective impressions from everyday experience.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“imagination is more agile than reality.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“We use the physical world and one another as sources of information, as reminders, and in general as extensions of our own knowledge and reasoning systems.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Natural, smooth, efficient interaction should be the goal of all work situations.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“People tend to focus upon the active hypothesis and, once focused, find it very difficult to change, even in the face of contradictory evidence.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Artifacts: A number of animals use tools, but in limited ways. Animals seem restricted to simple tools as opposed to complex, multicomponent ones. They do not make tools that aid in toolmaking as we do. Our complex tools require specialized skills and materials. And only the human has cognitive artifacts.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“As a result, the two together—the powers of the machine and the powers of the person—complement one other, leading to the possibility that the combination will be more fruitful and powerful than either alone. If we design things properly, that is.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Grudin’s law: When those who benefit are not those who do the work, then the technology is likely to fail or, at least, be subverted.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Humans need a meaningful, accessible representation: sounds, sights, touch, organized in meaningful, interpretable ways. The result, however, is that we are ever more dependent upon the design of our devices to make the information visible and to make the artifact usable.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Appropriateness principle: The representation used by the artifact should provide exactly the information acceptable to the task: neither more nor less.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The personal point of view: Artifacts change the task. The system point of view: The person + artifact is smarter than either alone.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“There are two major tasks for the user of an information display: 1. Finding the relevant information; 2. Computing the desired conclusion;”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“A book cannot serve reflective thought unless the reader knows how to reason, to reflect upon the material.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“How have we increased memory, thought, and reasoning? By the invention of external aids: It is things that make us smart.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Based on what we know today, the environment conducive to optimal experience should: Provide a high intensity of interaction and feedback Have specific goals and established procedures Motivate Provide a continual feeling of challenge, one that is neither so difficult as to create a sense of hopelessness and frustration nor so easy as to produce boredom Provide a sense of direct engagement, producing the feeling of directly experiencing the environment, directly working on the task Provide appropriate tools that fit the user and task so well that they aid and do not distract Avoid distractions and disruptions that intervene and destroy the subjective experience”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Technology should be our friend in the creation of a better life; it should complement human abilities, aid those activities for which we are poorly suited, and enhance and help develop those for which we are ideally suited.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The thought processes of humans are not like the mathematical logic of machines. Indeed, were the thought processes of humans like that of logic, we wouldn’t have needed to invent logic as an aid to thought: Logic is important because it is different.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Almost every advance in the science and technology of computation, control, and communication has also been described as an advance in the science of thought processes, usually without any evidence, usually by people who had never studied people.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“When the machine fails, often with no advance warning, people are suddenly thrust into the process, suddenly asked to figure out the current state of the system, what has gone wrong, and what should be done.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“It is easy to devise numerous possible scenarios of future developments, each one, on the face of it, equally likely.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Stories are important cognitive events, for they encapsulate, into one compact package, information, knowledge, context, and emotion.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The overconfidence of scientists is probably necessary: Let them believe they are on the trail of something big, something important, and they will slave away for their entire lives, working, arguing, debating, exploring.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“The idea of delivering information by telephone is actually a pretty good one, but the medium does not support it. Voice is too slow, too transient, and the telephone keypad too limited.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine

“Design should be like telling a story. The design team should start by considering the tasks that the artifact is intended to serve and the people who will use it.”
― Don Norman, Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine