Reflection 6 (Week 7)- Mental Models

Since the beginning of history, people have felt the need to give language an image. And rightly so, because language is the most important communication tool we have. Without understanding what a word means, we can see certain things it conveys.

When someone opens an app, visits a website, or uses a product, they rely on a preconceived model to help predict the consequences of their actions. Different people may have different models for the same product or system. These conceptual models in people’s minds (hence the term “mental models”) represent their unique understanding of how something works. It’s a simplified abstraction which your mind creates to plot the most relevant data points to create optimized understanding without wasting brain power. Sort of like the equilibrium point in an economy between complexity, and compression of information. Designers can tap into users’ mental models so that their products communicate their function through their form. However, they can only do this successfully if they truly understand their users’ mental models. It is an all too common failing of designs for designers to base their ideas on their own mental models; their models are often too complete and detailed to bear any relationship with a user’s model. Design is about empathizing with your users to enable them to accomplish their goals. No matter how amazing the product, if people can’t use it, it’s doomed to fail. Its success depends on the designer’s ability to account for the preconceived mental models of their users in order to make the product understandable and usable. Any gap between our mental model and that of the user will result in frustration and disappointment. It is worth noting that a mental model is not a static creation. It is capable of evolution and may change based on using other products, from interacting with other users or taking on board learning from other sources. Mental models and metaphors exist across all languages and cultures, making it essential for designers to be mindful of the people they design for. As a responsible designer, one must understand the impact their decisions can have over their audience since each decision is used to cement together yet another brick to the existing mental models that prevail within a certain cultural audience. Design is not just a vocation, but also a way of being. We are invisible, yet the hand of a designer is everywhere. Design can save the world, just without heroics or pyrotechnics. “Can art change the world?” Maybe not in one year. That’s the beginning. But maybe we should change the question. Can art change people’s lives?