32. People Interact with Conceptual Models

32. People Interact with Conceptual Models

Mental Model Picture (binary/octet-stream)

Mental Vs. Conceptual (binary/octet-stream)

Conceptual vs. Mental Models

Caption: : Image Courtesy of: http://elviscommunications.com/blog-item/conceptual-vs-mental-models-its-all-in-the-mind

While a mental model is a person's idea of what something should look like or how it should work, a conceptual model is the actual product or idea that the designer has created.

Successful Use of Conceptual Models

Take the time to purposely create the design around your user's mental model. Don't simply design around the existing technology.   Understand that if you have a product that isn't familiar to your user, you will need to offer some form of training to help bring them up to speed so that they can successfully develop a new mental model around their experience.