Integrated cognitive engineering at the interface: a tool mediation perspective

Because human experience accumulates in the structural properties of tools, the design and use of tools is a means by which social knowledge is transmitted. What happens then when a new tool, for which no widespread practices exist, is in the process of being iteratively designed? We present a case study of integrated system design and cognitive engineering of an innovative Web navigator named NESTOR. Working within a tool mediation perspective, and following an integrated design methodology, we present user needs and problems with hyperspace navigation, then we review briefly the relevant proactive scientific knowledge with concerns for both the technological advances and the cognitive issues. We then discuss the results obtained with a first prototype based on the production by learners of graphical representations of their own navigational experience. We argue that this 'production' helps learners to better understand their own experience while developing mastery of cognitive tools.