{"id":22135,"date":"2020-12-30T09:02:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T13:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=22135"},"modified":"2021-01-04T00:21:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T04:21:07","slug":"head-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Knowledge: What We Know vs What We See"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is &#8220;head knowledge&#8221; and how is it different from &#8220;knowledge of the world?&#8221; How do these two types of knowledge relate to design?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Head knowledge refers to any information stored in your mind. This can range from phone numbers you&#8217;ve memorized to knowing how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-complete-a-task-successfully\/\">complete a task<\/a>, like sewing on a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to find out about head knowledge and how different types of knowledge affect how we process information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cHead Knowledge\u201d vs. \u201cKnowledge in the World\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Norman refers to any information stored solely in memory as \u201cknowledge in the head&#8221; or &#8220;head knowledge&#8221; This applies to things like passwords on your computer (unless you\u2019ve written them down) as well as knowing how to use a computer in the first place. Head knowledge can be either declarative or procedural.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Declarative knowledge is knowledge <em>of<\/em> something (like knowing your address or the fact that red traffic lights mean stop).<\/strong> Anything that can be written as a fact is declarative knowledge, <em>regardless of whether it\u2019s true<\/em>. You may know for a fact that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, and that knowledge might impact how you think about the technology of lightbulbs in general\u2014the fact that Edison did not actually invent the lightbulb is not important in your interaction with that technology.&nbsp;This is one type of knowledge in the head.<\/li><li><strong>Procedural knowledge is \u201cknowledge <em>how<\/em>.&#8221;<\/strong> This applies to things we do without being able to precisely explain how we do them. Procedural knowledge is built up with repeated practice and can\u2019t be easily taught to someone else. A master musician can describe the notes she plays and the time signature, but she probably can\u2019t articulate the flow of her movements as she actually plays. Even describing the mechanics of playing an instrument (\u201cI put the first finger of my left hand here, and strum this string with my right hand\u201d) is not the same as truly knowing how to do it\u2014if it were, all it would take to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-master-anything\/\">master any skill<\/a> would be to read about it.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cKnowledge in the world\u201d is anything we know without having to store it in memory. <\/strong>People learning to use a keyboard can look at the letters\u2014they don\u2019t need to memorize the location of every key in advance. Students take notes in lectures instead of attempting to memorize every word they hear. Even something as simple as putting your wallet under your keys so you don\u2019t forget to bring it when you leave the house counts as knowledge in the world since it takes the burden off your memory. The design principles in Chapters 1 and 2 are examples of knowledge in the world. Signifiers, perceived <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/affordance-design\/\">affordances<\/a>, and feedback all give us clues on how to use something, eliminating the need to memorize it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Limits of Head Knowledge<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Human memory is an incredible tool that stores massive amounts of information from every part of our lives. But that same power imposes certain limitations. To free up space to remember the things that are most important for our survival, <strong>our brains naturally offload any information that is readily available in the environment.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advent of cell phones is a great example of this. Before cell phones, it was common to have the phone numbers of your closest contacts memorized, making them easy to dial on any available phone. Now, our devices store this information for us. We\u2019ve moved that knowledge into the world, and in response, most of us have completely forgotten many of the numbers we once had memorized.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, <strong>head knowledge is typically imprecise<\/strong>. We don\u2019t need an exact understanding of every detail of an object or situation when a rough working model will do. To safely cross the street, you don\u2019t need to be able to identify the make and model of every nearby car\u2014you only need to be able to tell whether or not it\u2019s moving, and at what speed. In other words, the knowledge we keep in our heads is the bare minimum that we need to function in any given environment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is &#8220;head knowledge&#8221; and how is it different from &#8220;knowledge of the world?&#8221; How do these two types of knowledge relate to design? Head knowledge refers to any information stored in your mind. This can range from phone numbers you&#8217;ve memorized to knowing how to complete a task, like sewing on a button. Keep reading to find out about head knowledge and how different types of knowledge affect how we process information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,15,9],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-22135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-education","category-psychology","tag-the-design-of-everyday-things","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Head Knowledge: What We Know vs What We See - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is &quot;head knowledge&quot; and how does it differ from outside knowledge? Head knowledge is what you learned and can apply.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Head Knowledge: What We Know vs What We See\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is &quot;head knowledge&quot; and how does it differ from outside knowledge? Head knowledge is what you learned and can apply.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-30T13:02:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T04:21:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/analytics-wall-outsiders.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Head Knowledge: What We Know vs What We See\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-30T13:02:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T04:21:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/analytics-wall-outsiders.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Design of Everyday Things\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Education\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/\",\"name\":\"Head Knowledge: What We Know vs What We See - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/head-knowledge\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/analytics-wall-outsiders.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-30T13:02:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T04:21:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is \\\"head knowledge\\\" and how does it differ from outside knowledge? 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