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Mental models

Elicit, review and communicate how users should understand and interact with an application or product

A mental model is an internalized image a user applies to interact with e.g. an application, a device, ... Users are constantly building, reusing, refining and linking mental models. These represent ideas and expectations about how the user thinks an application or a device works. A mental model typically consists of concepts, relationships between these concepts and processes.

mental models

When an application is able to align with an existing mental model, the user will be able to leverage his existing knowledge and expectations. In contrast, when a user is unable to align his mental model with the application it will have a negative impact on his interaction because the application e.g. doesn't respond as the user expected. Being able for a user to align his mental mental with the application is crucial for the overall efficiency and performance.

The challenge for the designer is to shape a target mental model that connects to the user's mental model and does not overload the user interface with non-essential data or functionality. As Jared M. Spool explains, finding such a model helps the designer

  • frame the design problem and eliminate non-essential concepts
  • desribe an understandable structure of the system by characterizing (sometimes buried) important relationships
  • understand the broader domain for the application

Mental models need to be elicited and reviewed through observations and interviews in the field. Whether and how mental models are made explicit during the design process depends on the project. They can be specified in various formats and usually take a graphic form to illustrate relationships.

The communication of the mental model is mainly done through the user interface itself, its behaviour as well as the language it is using. Additionally the mental model is also communicated by user support materials such as online help, reference cards...

Risks: 

When defining the mental model, one is confronted with the following risks/opportunities:

  • the model resembles too much the implementation model
  • the model is not grounded in or tested through user analysis
Effort: 

The effort necessary to elicit and define the mental model depends on

  • the functional scope
  • the complexity of the business domain

A mental model will normally grow based on the number of objects and tasks that are within the scope. For complex business domains it is possible that different mental models need to be defined for different user groups. In both cases the effort spent on interviews and reviews will increase.

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