SWE 205 In-Class Exercise
Head vs. World: Where is Information?

Names:

This is an in-class group exercise. Do this with everyone in your group.

Introduction: Some information is in your head. It's memorized. Examples: your email address; how to ride a bike; what stop signs mean; what underlined blue text means. It's important to note that knowledge in the head need not be precise (which is awesome), and that it often encodes social/cultural constraints.

A lot more information is in the world. It's not memorized; you access it when you need it. Examples: your professor's email address; what type of tires your bike has; whether and where you should stop at a given intersection; a typical URL. Information in the world is (often) precise and can provide the precision not available in your head - think spelling autocorrect. Information in the world can also be encoded as physical constraints - think limits on how far you can turn a steering wheel or which way to turn a jar lid.

  • Build two (fairly long) lists, one of knowledge in your heads, and one of knowledge in the world. Especially interesting on this list is information that probably shouldn't be in your head, but interfaces sometimes force it to be. Passwords are an example. Also interesting on this list is information that is difficult to put into the world. Riding a bike is an example.
  • Highlight items on the lists the blur the boundary, namely, where different members of your group put them into different lists. We'll discuss in the last 15 minutes of class. We'll focus on information that sits on the boundary. Be prepared to defend your determination of where the knowledge is (and should be...).

    For those interested in background reading, Norman devotes all of chapter 3 in The Design of Everyday Things (Norman) to this topic.