Mental Models for Product Designers
#45: Understand your users' expectations with mental models
Hey there! This is a 🔒 Subscriber-only episode of Fundament. Our members get access to exclusive articles like this one, a complete archive, the Fundament Library, and discounts for other educational resources.
In today’s episode:
What are mental models and why are they important in UX
What are their types
How they form and change
How to research and visualize them
Examples of popular mental models
Mental Models for Product Designers
According to Jakob’s Law, people spend most of their time using other websites and applications. When they visit our product, they expect interactions and processes to work the same way as in the products they are already familiar with.
The checkout process will look similar, icons will have the same meaning, clicking the logo will take them to the homepage, and they will find navigation in the upper right corner of the screen.
Considering users’ expectations about how products should work is one of our core responsibilities as designers. But before we start designing, we first need to understand these expectations, and that is where mental models come in.
What are mental models
Mental models are our expectations about how systems, applications, or interfaces should work, shaped by past experiences with other products and services.
They are not based on objective facts but rather on individual beliefs about how things should function. Each user has their own mental models, which may differ from those of others.
The importance of mental models in ux design
Not everything that seems intuitive and understandable to us as designers will be the same for the users of the solutions we create. A lack of user perspective in the design process leads to confusing interfaces, increasing frustration and the likelihood of product abandonment. Users tend to choose solutions that feel familiar and don’t require additional learning.
By aligning with users’ mental models, we deliver solutions that match their expectations. This significantly lowers the entry barrier, allowing users to start using the product effectively much faster. It also reduces cognitive load, as users don’t have to relearn how the interface works every time they interact with it.
Additionally, it minimizes user errors because the interface behaves exactly as expected, without surprising them with unfamiliar or unpredictable situations. As a result, task efficiency improves, as user flows are optimized for a more seamless experience.
Considering mental models in design also provides strong arguments when discussing solutions with stakeholders. Decisions based on user expectations are more persuasive in advocating for changes that enhance the user experience.
This is why mental models are such a crucial part of the design process. They help us create solutions that better meet user expectations, feel more intuitive and usable, and ultimately lead to a much better overall product experience.
How mental models are created
As mentioned earlier, mental models are based on users' past experiences with other products. This forms the foundation for mental models related to interfaces. It includes how various processes and interactions appear, as well as the use of common design patterns, which also shape users' mental models.
Proper interface design can influence the development of users' mental models. For instance, when users encounter the information that items in the shopping cart are not reserved in several stores, they will understand that adding a product to the cart doesn't mean it’s reserved.
Additionally, as designers, we have the ability to shape entirely new mental models among users. This happens whenever we introduce a new solution that doesn't align with an existing mental model. By properly introducing it, such as through gradual changes and effective onboarding for new interactions, we enable users to develop new mental models over time. A prime example of this is the introduction of touchscreens and the various gestures that accompany them.
However, these are not the only factors that influence the creation of mental models. Real-world metaphors and associations also play a role. We often use elements like trash bins, folders, desktops, or shopping carts, which, being consistent with their real-world counterparts, create specific expectations among users.
Cultural patterns also contribute to shaping mental models, influencing expectations about things like reading direction, navigation, and the symbolism of icons and colors.
Mental Models Evolve
The mental models already present in users' minds are not permanent or unchanging. They can evolve with new experiences and the development of products and services.
Take, for example, the redesign of a popular social media platform. Initially, users may feel disoriented because the new design doesn't align with their previous mental model. However, over time, these models are updated based on experiences with the new interface, gradually replacing outdated mental models.
Moreover, changes in one product can influence mental models to such an extent that users will begin to expect similar changes elsewhere, such as more options for content personalization.
Types of mental models
A key insight into mental models is that users construct them in different ways. Not every mental model is important to the user, nor is every model conscious or accurate. Understanding the differences between these types allows us to use them more effectively in design. Let’s take a closer look at the three main categories of mental models.
Accurate and Inaccurate Mental Models
Accurate Mental Models
Accurate mental models align with how the system actually works. The user's expectations about the system's behavior are completely correct and in line with reality. These models are usually more conscious and useful for users.
Inaccurate Mental Models
Inaccurate mental models cause users' expectations to deviate from reality. They often result from insufficient knowledge or experience, such as when a user thinks that adding a product to their cart means it's reserved. Inaccurate models can also stem from poorly designed interfaces, for example, when a user cannot find a save button because there's no visible indication of autosaving.
Over time, as users gain more experience, an inaccurate mental model may be updated and transformed into an accurate one, as they come to better understand how the system works.
Useful and Useless Mental Models
Useful Mental Models
Useful mental models enable users to efficiently complete tasks within an interface and achieve their intended goals. Because they align with the actual functioning of the system, users can navigate intuitively and without errors.
It is important to note that, as designers, we are responsible for ensuring the usefulness of mental models by creating solutions that align with users’ established expectations.
Useless Mental Models
Useless mental models, in contrast to useful ones, prevent users from operating efficiently. Their actions often lead to unexpected outcomes, errors, and frustration. This happens when their expectations about how a system works do not match reality.
It is also important to note that not all useless models are inaccurate. There can be situations where an accurate model is also useless, because, although the user understands the function or process well, it does not help them achieve their goal, or it does so in a very complicated and time-consuming way, which discourages the user.
Conscious and Unconscious Mental Models
Conscious Mental Models
With conscious mental models, the user is fully aware of what they are doing and why, and is able to explain it. They know the product they are using and understand what actions they need to take to complete a task or achieve a goal. These models are formed through conscious learning of how the interface works, often through the use of instructions or tutorials.
An example of this would be going through a checkout process or using the trash can icon to delete a selected item.
Unconscious Mental Models
Unconscious mental models, on the other hand, operate more in the realm of intuition. They arise from past experiences, habits, and routines, allowing users to act quickly and without thinking about the specific actions they are taking.
For example, a user accustomed to the refresh gesture (pulling down) in mobile apps will automatically perform this action in a new app, without thinking about it, as it becomes an automatic reflex.
Conceptual and system models
As we already know, mental models describe users' expectations about how systems should work. However, how systems actually function is described by two other models: conceptual and system models.
Conceptual models
Conceptual models visualize the system's operation, its functionalities, and how users can interact with it. These models are created by designers and help users intuitively understand how the system works. They are based on well-known metaphors or analogies to the physical world.
One of the most common examples is the process of shopping on an e-commerce site, which mirrors traditional shopping in physical stores. It visualizes that users can add items to a cart and then proceed to checkout to complete their order, aligning with their expectations of how shopping works. Other examples include the drag-and-drop feature, which mimics moving objects in the physical world, as well as video and music streaming apps, which reference traditional film libraries or the play, pause, and next buttons found on physical devices.
A conceptual model should align with users' mental models to ensure positive experiences and prevent them from making mistakes.
System models
A system model reflects how a system actually works, regardless of user expectations. It is more complex and detailed, describing technical aspects such as databases, application architecture, and algorithm logic.
Designers typically do not create system models, but understanding them is crucial. This knowledge allows them to better comprehend technical limitations and the complexity of processes, enabling them to more effectively represent them in the interface.
How to research users' mental models?
Designing with mental models in mind is not just about following popular and well-known design patterns. While this is important, and we shouldn't reinvent the wheel, it doesn't give us a complete understanding of how users think and what they expect. To truly grasp users' mental models, we need to conduct proper research. Here are several ways to do that.
In-Depth Interviews
In-depth interviews allow us to hear directly from users about their past experiences, expectations for our product, how they perceive it, and what challenges they encounter. We can also learn how they currently perform specific tasks and how they understand various interactions.
Surveys
A well-designed survey with open-ended questions can also provide insights into users' expectations and behaviors. While the data may be less precise than that gathered from in-depth interviews, surveys allow us to collect a significantly larger volume of information at a lower cost.
Card sorting
Card sorting is an excellent tool for understanding how users think about different elements of an interface. It helps us learn how they categorize information and what terms they use. This method is especially useful for designing information architecture.
Usability testing
Classic usability tests help verify whether our design aligns with users' mental models. If users struggle to complete tasks during testing or if their interactions don't match their expectations, it’s a sign that our design does not align with their mental models.
A particularly useful approach is the think-aloud method, where users verbalize their thoughts while navigating the system, explaining what they are doing and why.
Journey mapping
By mapping out the user journey, we can gain insights into their thoughts and behaviors at different touchpoints. This helps us identify moments that don’t align with expectations and, after further research, refine them accordingly.
Data and feedback analysis
Analyzing user behavior and product feedback is a crucial and valuable source of information. It helps us understand whether the product meets users’ expectations, how they interact with it, and what challenges they face.
It's essential to observe user behavior through tools like session recordings and heatmaps and to review user feedback collected via surveys, customer support interactions, and customer success teams.
Competitor research
Understanding how competitors solve similar problems is always beneficial. Of course, we shouldn’t blindly copy their solutions, as we may not fully understand the reasoning behind them. However, through careful analysis, we can identify recurring patterns that users are familiar with and effectively incorporate them into our own designs.
Visualization of Mental Models
There are three great ways to visualize users' mental models.
Cognitive Maps
This is the most general way to represent a mental model. There are no strict rules on how it should look or be structured, making it highly flexible and useful in different contexts and for various types of data. Cognitive maps can take many forms: diagrams, flowcharts, connection networks, or more structured approaches like mind maps and concept maps.
Mind maps
You're probably already familiar with this method. Mind maps help organize information within a specific topic. They start with a central idea and branch out into related topics and subtopics, creating a hierarchical structure. When it comes to mental models, mind maps are useful for understanding how users categorize information, what associations they have with a system, and spotting connections that might not be obvious at first glance.
Concept maps
Concept maps take things a step further. They focus on showing relationships between different topics using nodes and labeled connections like "requires," "is a part of," or "leads to." They're great for mapping out information structures, analyzing how users categorize things, and identifying key concepts and their relationships. For example, they can help uncover how users think about the online shopping process and how they see the connections between its different steps.
It is crucial that concept maps, just like the other mapping methods, accurately reflect the actual way users think.
Examples of Mental Models
To summarize, let’s take a look at several examples of popular mental models.
Ecommerce Shopping
As mentioned earlier, shopping in online stores is a perfect example of a mental model. Navigating through categories, adding items to the cart, and proceeding to checkout align with user expectations based on experiences from physical stores.
OS Interfaces
Whether a user is using Windows, MacOS, or Linux, their interfaces look very similar. Of course, there are some differences, but in basic use, users can transfer their experience from one system to another, and their expectations regarding navigation, folders, or opening applications will match how the system functions.
Icons
It has become conventional that a left arrow symbolizes going back or undoing an action. Therefore, when users see a button with such an arrow, they expect it to function the same way as in other contexts, allowing them to step back in a form, return to the previous page in a browser, or view the previous item in a carousel.
When users want to close something, like a modal, they will look for the "X" icon. If they want to search for something within the system, they expect to find a magnifying glass icon. A gear typically represents settings, while a home icon is widely recognized as the symbol for the homepage, and a bell signifies notifications.
Vertical Scrolling
Users are accustomed to scrolling content from top to bottom. Scrolling down shows new information, while scrolling up takes them back to previously seen content. Using a different method of navigating through pages or apps will require users to make an effort to adapt to an unfamiliar way of moving through the content.
Logo and Navigation
The most common layout for websites includes the logo in the top left corner and the navigation in the top right corner or center. Users instinctively expect to find these elements in those locations first. Additionally, to return to the homepage, they will want to click on the logo. Providing this layout meets their expectations and allows them to navigate the site quickly and effortlessly, rather than spending time getting accustomed to an entirely unfamiliar layout.
Gestures in mobile applications
People who use mobile apps have established expectations regarding gestures. Swiping left or right, or pinching and spreading fingers, generally represent the same actions. When designing a new app, it’s essential to align with this mental model and avoid inventing actions for basic gestures that contradict users' expectations.