"Isn't one of your first exercises in learning how to communicate to write a description of how to tie your shoelaces? The point being that it's basically impossible to use text to show that"
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Anyone who’s tried to explain a “simple” task in writing knows how quickly language turns traitorous. Norman’s shoelace example is a trapdoor: it feels elementary until you actually attempt it, and then you watch your crisp mental movie dissolve into clumsy sentences. That is exactly the point. He’s not dunking on writing; he’s exposing the mismatch between how humans do things (procedurally, visually, with feedback from hands and eyes) and how text behaves (linear, abstract, painfully dependent on shared assumptions).
The intent is diagnostic. In one neat classroom exercise, Norman surfaces a core principle of human-centered design: some knowledge is embodied, not propositional. You don’t “know” shoelaces the way you know a fact; you know them the way your fingers know a rhythm. Text has to translate that tacit choreography into discrete steps, and the translation hemorrhages meaning at every verb: loop, cross, pull, tighten. Which loop? Cross where? How tight? The subtext: if instructions fail, it’s often because the medium is wrong, not because the user is “confused.”
Contextually, this sits squarely in Norman’s long campaign against design that offloads complexity onto people. If you need paragraphs to explain a basic interaction, the system is shouting that it lacks good signifiers, constraints, and feedback. The shoelace isn’t just an anecdote; it’s a benchmark for when we should stop adding words and start redesigning the experience.
The intent is diagnostic. In one neat classroom exercise, Norman surfaces a core principle of human-centered design: some knowledge is embodied, not propositional. You don’t “know” shoelaces the way you know a fact; you know them the way your fingers know a rhythm. Text has to translate that tacit choreography into discrete steps, and the translation hemorrhages meaning at every verb: loop, cross, pull, tighten. Which loop? Cross where? How tight? The subtext: if instructions fail, it’s often because the medium is wrong, not because the user is “confused.”
Contextually, this sits squarely in Norman’s long campaign against design that offloads complexity onto people. If you need paragraphs to explain a basic interaction, the system is shouting that it lacks good signifiers, constraints, and feedback. The shoelace isn’t just an anecdote; it’s a benchmark for when we should stop adding words and start redesigning the experience.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning |
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