quartz/content/notes/mental-models.md

title	aliases	tags
mental-models	Mental Models	info203

• mental models are created by experience, metaphors, and analogical reasoning
• these models are developed further through interaction with the system
• designers (wrongly) often expect the users model to be the same as theirs

A mental model mistach leads to:

• slow performance
• errors
• frustration

participant-observation appretiships (and other techniques such as evaluating-designs) can uncover these mismatches.

Slips vs mistakes

Slip	Mistake
accidental	on purpose (due to model mistach)

How to create good mental models

• Direct Manipulation
  • leveraging real world metphors
  • this gives is a good idea of how each object works and how to control it