Presentation answering questions about the use of mental models, first presented at the @Media conference in London, May 2008

1. Mental Models
Sparking Creativity
Through Empathy
Indi Young

3. What does Why would
it look like? I use one? Can it resolve
What is a some of the
mental problems my
model? team has?
How can I This stuff
use one to is intuitive,
innovate? isn’t it?
How do mental Empathy is
models fit with for Betazoids,
agile principles? right?
What do I
Can I do put in a
this by model? How do I decide
myself? to make a
model, or not?

4. What is a mental model?
What is a mental model?
Underlying reasons that drive people's behavior
Ways you support people with your product

5. What is a mental model?
What does a mental model look like?

6. What is a mental model?
Courtesy of Mary Piontkowski, for Macy’s

7. What is a mental model?
Courtesy of Richard Dalton, Vanguard

8. What is a mental model?
http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/management_diagram.pdf

9. What is a mental model?

10. What is a mental model?

11. What is a mental model?

12. What is a mental model?

13. What is a mental model?
Behavior, Philosophy,
Feeling

14. What is a mental model?
(a.k.a. “Tower”)
Conceptual Group

15. Who is America’s top mental model?
Mental Space

16. What is a mental model?
Ways to support this
tower

17. What is a mental model?
Interviews Customer Feedback
Diaries Field Data
Voice of the
Call Center Customer
Recordings Card Sort
Data

18. What is a mental model?

19. Why would I use a mental model?
Why would I use a mental model?
Ulterior Motives

20. Why would I use a mental model?
Show people they need to develop separate applications

21. Why would I use a mental model?

22. Why would I use a mental model?

23. Why would I use a mental model?
Actually get to the things slated for the mythical Phase 2

24. Why would I use a mental model?
Image courtesy of Chiara Fox

25. Why would I use a mental model?
Image courtesy of Chiara Fox

26. Why would I use a mental model?
Focus on customers, not internal organizations/categories

27. Why would I use a mental model?
Courtesy of WayBackMachine.org

28. Why would I use a mental model?
www.dowcorning.com

29. Why would I use a mental model?
Get rid of stuff that doesn’t help

30. Why would I use a mental model?
Interactions, Jan+Feb 2008, “The Business of Customer Experience: Lessons Learned at Wells Fargo” by Secil Watson

31. Why would I use a mental model?
Interactions, Jan+Feb 2008, “The Business of Customer Experience: Lessons Learned at Wells Fargo” by Secil Watson

32. Why would I use a mental model?
Give stakeholders something that feels actionable

33. Why would I use a mental model?
Photo from Ernie (Ann Arbor, MI) Flickr photostream (EAHIV)

34. Why would I use a mental model?

35. Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
We struggle to agree on a common design
(everyone has a different opinion)

36. Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
We have difficulty taking off our employee hat
Our customers need to
… um … increase
satisfaction scores.
Images from Flickr by Akira Ohgaki

37. Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
We cross our fingers that the design will be successful
Images from Flickr by poluz

38. Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
We worry we might have missed some part of the
“whole user experience”
Images from Flickr by reutC

39. Can it resolve some of the problems my team has?
We wish we could attract loyal, adoring fans
Images from Flickr by JL!

40. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?
This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?

41. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?
Data exploration by Stamen Design – stamen.com, available at http://www.mysociety.org/2007/more-travel-maps/

42. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?
Data exploration by Stamen Design – stamen.com, available at http://www.mysociety.org/2007/more-travel-maps/

43. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?

44. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?

45. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?

46. This stuff is intuitive, isn’t it?

47. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

48. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Hear Stories Feel Empathy Know How to Support People

49. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

50. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Figure Out How to Handle an Attraction

51. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Get a Better Sense of a Person

52. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Go Out With a Person for the First Time

53. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

54. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

55. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

56. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

57. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?
Find People

58. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

59. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

60. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

61. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

62. Empathy is for Betazoids, right?

63. How do I decide to make a mental model, or not?
How do I decide to make a mental model, or not?

64. How do I decide to make a mental model, or not?
Techniques Uses
Preference Survey Visual Design
Opinions, likes, desires Focus Group Branding
Mood Board Market Analysis
Customer Feedback Advertising Campaign
Preference Interview
Card Sort
Evaluative Usability Test Test Interaction
What is understood or Log Analysis Functionality
accomplished with a tool Search Analytics Test Screen Layout
Customer Feedback Test Nomenclature
Card Sort Test IA
Generative Non-Directed Interview Interaction Design
Mental environment in which Contextual Inquiry Information Architecture
things get done Mental Model Alignment & Gap Analysis
Ethnography Contextual Information
Field Study
Diary

65. How do I decide to make a mental model, or not?
Mental Models Are Not Used For:
• Evaluating usability
• Showing cyclic relationships
• Depicting detailed process flow
• Creating art (composing, painting …)

66. What do I put in a mental model?
What do I put in a mental model?
Behavior Direct
Philosophy Implied
Feeling Third Party

67. What do I put in a mental model?

68. What do I put in a mental model?
Photos on Flickr by counterclockwise, Mussels, cackhanded, and Andrew Feinberg

69. What do I put in a mental model?

70. What do I put in a mental model?
The Hallway
Test
What is she
thinking while
walking down
the hallway?
Photo by yksin at Flickr

71. How can I do this by myself?
How can I do this by myself?

72. How can I do this by myself?
Yak, yak,
yak, yak,
yak.
Rough Sketch
Yak, yak,
yak, yak,
yak.
Yak, yak,
yak, yak,
yak.

73. How can I do this by myself?
Runners Mental Model

74. How can I do this by myself?

75. How can I do this by myself?
Ascending tone
Start
Descending tone
Stop

76. How can I do this by myself?
LED lit when stopwatch on

77. How can I do this by myself?

78. How can I do this by myself?
Rough Draft
1 Day, 1 Conference Room, Lots of Coffee & Chocolate

79. How can I do this by myself?
Rough Notes

80. How can I do this by myself?
Fly Under the Radar

81. How can I do this by myself?
Piggyback on Other Research
Usability Testing

82. How do mental models fit with agile principles?
How do mental models fit with agile principles?
1. Synchronize UX with development
2. Separate modeling from design
3. Increase design literacy
4. Design on the whiteboard with developers, stakeholders
5. Strip documentation down to just the new ideas and the
“easily forgotten” ideas
6. Book your time the way the developers do
Austin Govella, Comcast Interactive Media IA & Usability - http://www.thinkingandmaking.com/view/agile-ux-six

83. How do mental models fit with agile principles?

84. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
How can I use a mental model to innovate?

85. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Innovation Is:
not forced understandable change
!
crafting details focus on people long term

86. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Look at the Mental Model for Possibilities
1. Find a Gap Below the Line to Fill
2. Look for Scarce or Weak Support
3. Redefine & Augment Existing Features to Better Match
4. Combine Related Behaviors & Features
5. Look for Surprises
6. Look for Emotions
7. Examine Spaces Formerly Crossed Out
8. Rethink Features that Don’t Match a Behavior
9. Map Out Delivery of Products Over Time

87. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Identify with a Film

88. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Follow the Industry

89. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Releases
Earnings
Press

90. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Airplane II
Releases
1982 25-Jun – Theater Release
1992 11-Sep – Director’s Cut Release Barbarosa
2007 29-Sep – Final Cut Release
2007 05-Dec – DVD Release
Cat People
Earnings
Press Dead Men Don’t
Wear Plaid

91. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
1. Synchronize UX with development
2. Separate modeling from design
3. Increase design literacy
4. Design on the whiteboard with developers, stakeholders
5. Strip documentation down to just the new ideas and the
“easily forgotten” ideas
6. Book your time the way the developers do
Austin Govella, Comcast Interactive Media IA & Usability - http://www.thinkingandmaking.com/view/agile-ux-six

92. How can I use a mental model to innovate?

93. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
1. Synchronize UX with development
2. Separate modeling from design
3. Increase design literacy
4. Design on the whiteboard with developers, stakeholders
5. Strip documentation down to just the new ideas and the
“easily forgotten” ideas
6. Book your time the way the developers do
Austin Govella, Comcast Interactive Media IA & Usability - http://www.thinkingandmaking.com/view/agile-ux-six

94. How can I use a mental model to innovate?

95. How can I use a mental model to innovate?

96. How can I use a mental model to innovate?
Airplane II
Releases
1982 25-Jun – Theater Release
1992 11-Sep – Director’s Cut Release Barbarosa
2007 29-Sep – Final Cut Release
2007 05-Dec – DVD Release
Cat People
Earnings
Press Dead Men Don’t
Wear Plaid

98. Book: Mental Models
Code: ATMEDIA (10% discount)
Blog: www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/
RSS: feeds.rosenfeldmedia.com/mental-models/
Me: indi@acm.org