1.
Using Mental Models
for Product Success
Key takeaways from Indi Young’s Methodology
Tafida Negm
@FidaNegm
ProductAnonymous‘19

2.
A little about me

3.
● Freelance researcher and speaker
● Author of Mental Models & Practical Empathy
● Educator and coach
● Co-founder of Adaptive Path
Indi Young

4.
1. What, why & when
2. Solution space research
3. Problem space research
4. How to (overview)
5. Using Mental Models
6. Q&A
Overview

5.
What are mental models?

6.
Models people have
of themselves, others,
their environment and the
things they interact with.”
Don Norman, Co-founder NN Group
What are mental models?
“

7.
Mental models give you a deep
understanding of people’s motivations
and thought-processes, along with
the emotional and philosophical
landscape in which they operate”
Indi young, Author mental models
What are mental models?
“

8.
Mental model diagram

9.
● Innovate in a new direction
● Strategise broader & farther than your current solution
● Spend a lot of time re-architecting / re-inventing
● Existing user research is fragmented
● Recognise you are out of touch with your audience
○ Think everyone is your user
○ Make-believe & assumptions drive design decisions
○ No improvements after test & iterate cycles
When do you need this?

10.
Problem Space Solution Space
Opportunity
Backlog
Strategy
Product
Backlog
Product
Discovery
People
Mental
Model
Thinking
Styles+
Ref: Amended from Advanced Problem Space Research Training Series, by Indi Young
Product
Develop-
ment

11.
source:
Ref: Dave Landis

12.
source:
Ref: Indi Young

13.
Ref: Indi Young
What next

14.
Solution space research
Think
Make
Check
Solution

15.
We ideas

16.
Solution space

17.
We agile
(Read: we love speed)

18.
Move fast works for
engineering, not for
understanding people.”
Indi young, Author Mental Models
“
Solution space

19.
Solution space

20.
Solution space

21.
We’ll just go with
a product concept test,
and do deeper
research later.
Solution Space

22.
Solution space

23.
(Read: we seek certainty over ambiguity)
We quant
Solution space

24.
Show me the numbers to give
me confidence the product/feature
will be successful. Things we can
measure with accuracy. I want this
organisation to be data-driven.”
“
Solution space

25.
Think Make
Check
Idea
Listen Cultivate
patterns
Develop
empathy
People
Problem space Solution space

26.
Problem space
Think Make
Check
Idea
Listen Cultivate
patterns
Develop
empathy
People
Solution space

27.
The point is to understand
people deeply - so deeply
you could live their life, walk in
their shoes and make decisions
exactly as they would.
Cognitive Empathy
Problem space

28.
Explanations
Preferences
Generalizations
Statements of fact
Opinions
Inner thinking
Reactions
Guiding principles
Surface
Depth

29.
Person
What a person wants to accomplish or
achieve in the problem space.
E.g. Intent = Take my elderly
grandmother to the Eiffel Tower
Exploratoration of opportunities
Has all the power
Long lasting (+/- 10yrs)
Less common
User with (potential) relationship to your org
User behaviour in relation to the services
or products your org provides
E.g. Task = book a return flight
Goal = plan a vacation
Generative & Evaluative directed at solutions
Gets all the attention
Short-mid term
Common
Problem space Solution space

30.
SCOPE
RECRUIT
LISTENING SESSIONS
COMB FOR CONCEPTS
CULTIVATE PATTERNS
THINKING
STYLES
DECORATE
MMD
Problem space study
How to - overview

31.
SCOPE
RECRUIT
LISTENING SESSIONS
COMB FOR CONCEPTS
CULTIVATE PATTERNS
THINKING
STYLES
DECORATE
MMD
Problem space study
How to - overview

32.
Active listening to develop cognitive empathy
● Non-directed
● Always one-on-one
● Usually over the phone
What is a listening session?
How to - overview

33.
● Pair up with your friendly neighbour.
● Ask the question: a
“What went through your mind the last time you decided
to stay in a hotel?”
● ONE RULE: as a listener you don’t say anything. Just pay attention
to what goes through your mind when you are listening.
● After 2 minutes we will switch.
Activity 1
2 minutes each

34.
What went through your mind when you were listening?
Activity 1 - reflection

35.
● Focus on immediate experience
● Only open ended questions
● No words of your own
● Dinner party rule
● Don’t focus on tools used
Tips for listening sessions

36.
Thinking Styles are deeply researched, demographic free*, bias-free
behavioural-based audience segments.
For Thinking Styles we cultivate patterns across participants looking at what defines
the different approaches to achieving their purpose. What’s the thinking that
underpins their approach?
* Demographics rarely cause reasoning/behaviour (unless in reaction to discrimination, physiology or possibly
culture/environment)
Thinking styles

37.
Ref: Thinking Styles Healthwise, by Indi Young

38.
2. Summaries
3. Intent
4. Mental space
1. Quotes
Ref: Indi Young

39.
Anatomy of a Mental Model
Mental space
Intent
Summaries

40.
From Mental Model
to Opportunity Map

41.
From Mental Model
to Opportunity Map
Add org capability

42.
Ref: Mental Modelling: Qualitative Mapping Audience Behaviors, by V Malzer & S von Schrader, Cornell Employment & Disability, digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/edicollect/1354/

43.
● Gap analysis - the difference between approaches and your orgs capability
● Risk mitigation - verify solutions are aligned to people
● Widen knowledge of the possibilities in the problem space
● Clarify positioning & prioritisation
● Diversification - more closely align design possibilities to the nuances of
different thinking styles.
● Content mapping of a proposed solution
● Consolidate existing research into one overview
Uses of a mental model

44.
Gap analysis
Using MMD

45.
Gap analysis
Using MMD

46.
Overlay thinking styles
Using MMD

47.
Overlay metrics
Using MMD

48.
Add competitor capability (or technical foundations, business goals)
Using MMD

49.
You represent an insurance company offering auto and home insurance. Recently,
they conducted some problem space studies, one of which was about what goes
through people’s minds during and immediately after an auto accident. Because of
what they discovered, the group suspects there might be something related to
learn from thinking patterns during near-misses.
So they conducted another study in order to have a stronger foundation from
which to create their potential ideas for new directions. The scope of their
subsequent study is: “What was on your mind during and after a memorable
near-miss accident?”
Use the supplied documents (i.e. the mental model, the business goals and the
highlighted patterns) to help the organisation develop opportunities.
Give it a go!
15 minutes

50.
● Be aware of broader cultures and approaches
● Stop assumptions & convention from deciding
● Recognize the narrowness of current solutions
● Multiply the goals your org seeks
● Support broader sets of people
● Consolidate research and have a powerful overview
● Have continuity of design strategy and org vision
Benefits of Mental Models
Using MMD

51.
● Problem space research is like fertiliser for the solution space
● Take time to understand people deeply
● Design with thinking styles in mind
● Listening sessions are awesome!
Key takeaways
Outro

52.
Further reading
Practical Empathy & Mental Models
Indi Young
Listening Well
William Miller
Mixed Methods
Sam Ladner
Technically Wrong
Sara Wachter-Boettcher

53.
The more technology becomes
embedded in all aspects of life,
the more it matters whether it’s
biased, alienating, or harmful.”
Sara Wachter-Boettcher, Author Technically Wrong
“

54.
What resonated with you?
Tafida Negm
@FidaNegm
tafida@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/tafida/
Let’s talk!