Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2000 | JAMES HOLLAN, EDWIN HUTCHINS, and DAVID KIRSH
The article "Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research" by James Hollan, Edwin Hutchins, and David Kirsh from the University of California, San Diego, discusses the evolving role of human-computer interaction (HCI) in the digital age. With the widespread use of networked computers, the authors argue that traditional HCI research needs to evolve to better understand and support complex interactions in a networked world. They propose that the theory of distributed cognition, which focuses on the whole environment and how people coordinate their activities within it, can provide a new foundation for HCI research.
The authors highlight three key principles of distributed cognition:
1. **Socially Distributed Cognition**: Cognitive processes are distributed across social groups, involving coordination between internal and external structures.
2. **Embodied Cognition**: Cognition is not just an internal process but is deeply influenced by the physical environment and the body.
3. **Culture and Cognition**: The study of cognition is inseparable from the study of culture, as cultural environments shape cognitive processes.
To support this new approach, the authors propose an integrated research framework that combines principles, cognitive ethnography, and experiments. This framework aims to understand how people use tools and environments to achieve tasks, and how these tools and environments can be designed to support human cognitive processes more effectively.
The article also discusses specific examples of applying distributed cognition to real-world scenarios, such as ship navigation and airline cockpit automation, and explores the potential of history-enriched digital objects and multiscale interfaces to enhance user interaction and understanding. The authors emphasize the importance of ethnographic methods and experimental designs in this research framework, highlighting the need for a holistic approach that integrates theory, observation, and design.The article "Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research" by James Hollan, Edwin Hutchins, and David Kirsh from the University of California, San Diego, discusses the evolving role of human-computer interaction (HCI) in the digital age. With the widespread use of networked computers, the authors argue that traditional HCI research needs to evolve to better understand and support complex interactions in a networked world. They propose that the theory of distributed cognition, which focuses on the whole environment and how people coordinate their activities within it, can provide a new foundation for HCI research.
The authors highlight three key principles of distributed cognition:
1. **Socially Distributed Cognition**: Cognitive processes are distributed across social groups, involving coordination between internal and external structures.
2. **Embodied Cognition**: Cognition is not just an internal process but is deeply influenced by the physical environment and the body.
3. **Culture and Cognition**: The study of cognition is inseparable from the study of culture, as cultural environments shape cognitive processes.
To support this new approach, the authors propose an integrated research framework that combines principles, cognitive ethnography, and experiments. This framework aims to understand how people use tools and environments to achieve tasks, and how these tools and environments can be designed to support human cognitive processes more effectively.
The article also discusses specific examples of applying distributed cognition to real-world scenarios, such as ship navigation and airline cockpit automation, and explores the potential of history-enriched digital objects and multiscale interfaces to enhance user interaction and understanding. The authors emphasize the importance of ethnographic methods and experimental designs in this research framework, highlighting the need for a holistic approach that integrates theory, observation, and design.