How can you create mobile interfaces that align with the user's mental model?

Mental model is like a map inside our head. When you see a website or an app, you have an idea of how things work based on past experiences. So, a mental model is like user's personal guide to understanding and using a digital interface. Eg: Imagine you're using a weather app, in your mental model the user might expect to find the current temperature by tapping on a sun icon, if however tapping on the sun gives you the weekly forecast instead, it breaks your mental modal. A good UI design aligns with user's mental modal

A mental model is a person's internal representation of how something works in the real world. It's a kind of cognitive map that people create based on their perceptions, and understanding. These models help individuals predict outcomes, understand systems, and interact with their environment. In the context of product design, a mental model refers to how users believe a system should work or how they expect to interact with it. For example, if someone has frequently used mobile phones, they might have a mental model that includes swiping to navigate, pinching to zoom, and tapping buttons or icons to select options. Designers should align their designs with these mental models to ensure that users can interact with the product intuitively.

Em um mundo cada vez mais conectado, a importância de interfaces intuitivas e alinhadas com o pensamento do usuário torna-se cada vez mais evidente. Ao projetar aplicativos móveis, é vital compreender as expectativas e comportamentos do usuário. Por isso a importância de um modelo mental bem trabalhado e alinhado ao projeto.

The Mental Model is how users believe a system should work. To create mobile interfaces that align with the user's mental model, we should try to follow existing patterns like placing navigation elements where users commonly look for them, such as a bottom navigation bar or a hamburger menu. When we design with the mental model, people can easily find things and accomplish tasks quickly.

Human beings are creatures of habit and would naturally gravitate towards a familiar action, interpretation. Working with real users in mind, means not going to far from what is perceived as “usual”. The human brain associates better with what is familiar, so new concepts should be introduced gradually changes, using the micro iteration approach to guide users to the newer designs without confusing and frustration.

It matters because a good mental modal makes using a website or app smoother and more enjoyable. When the design aligns with what users expect, it reduces confusion and frustration. People can easily predict where to find things and how to accomplish tasks, leading to a more positive user experience. On the flip side, if a design clashes with their mental modals, users might feel lost which can drive them away from using the product.

Understanding and aligning with users' mental models is crucial in design because it reduces the learning curve and enhances user satisfaction. When an interface aligns well with a user's mental model, it feels familiar and easy to use, whereas a mismatch can lead to confusion, errors, and frustration. Designers often use techniques like user research, testing, and iterative design to better understand and cater to these mental models.

As Norman Nielsen writes it - do it because others do it. When you create something familiar for the user (ex. a trash or a pen icon) - the user doesn't have to think about what does it do or how does it work. He has seen the trash icon in so many interfaces, he is sure, what will it do in yours. Now, a mistake here will be to use a familiar icon, but make it perform something completely different (ex. - make a pen icon open a note for a table row, instead of editing the data of that row)

Discovering a user's mental model is a vital aspect of designing intuitive user interfaces. To uncover these mental models, designers often employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative methods, such as user interviews and focus groups, allow designers to delve into users' thoughts, feelings, and experiences, providing rich insights into their expectations and usage patterns. Quantitative methods, like surveys and data analytics, can reveal patterns in user behavior and preferences on a larger scale. Additionally, usability testing, where users interact with the interface in controlled settings, can provide direct insights into their mental models by observing how they navigate and interpret the interface.

User empathy map can be an effective tool for visualizing user attitudes and behaviors to gain a deep understanding of end user's mental model and support decision-making processes. By focusing on what users say, think, do, and feel, empathy maps provide insights into the user's mental model, which is their internal representation of how a system works. The process of empathy mapping can reveal discrepancies between a user’s mental model and the actual design of a product. For instance, what users say they do (or want to do) with a product might differ significantly from their actual behavior (what they actually do). Understanding these misalignments helps in refining the design to better match the user’s expectations and understanding.

Users are almost never self aware when it comes to their mental model and cognitive load, so interviews and surveys are not going to get you very useful information. Nobody measures their own cognitive load and certainly won't be able to tell you about it. If Henry Ford asked people whether or not he should build a motor car, they’d probably tell him what they really wanted was a faster horse. The better bet is to focus on what people do and how long it takes to complete tasks during usability studies. How much hand motion and pausing to think is involved? If it's a lot, then you've got a poorly designed mobile interface.

In the way I see it, journey maps and empathy mapping are the exercises that best fit in the creation of insights for this phase. Mapping frustrations, pain points and wow moments will help me design the best path for whatever piece of software I’m working on. Of course that this will need to be followed with other actives throughout the process to validate everything you find.

If you want to discover patterns, you may 1) explore different apps yourself to find some common practices 2) read about best practices on Medium or software developers' blogs 3) conduct user research to find out what are their patterns. There will be other tools, but these 3 first come to my mind. Then you will combine those patterns and gain/enhance the understanding of the mental model of the user.

To design mobile interfaces that resonate with users, start by unraveling their expectations through research and app analysis. Replicate these mental models using established patterns, real-world metaphors, and concise language. Prioritize intuitive layouts and user-friendly instructions, continually refining through testing and feedback. This methodology ensures fluid and instantly recognizable mobile experiences.

According to every usability study I've seen on the subject, icons in user interfaces are rarely part of the users' existing mental model; unless they're extremely ingrained into the existing culture (a stop sign for example). Most users' mental model is based on their native language. We don't speak or communicate with arbitrarily made-up icons or hidden gestures. We communicate with words. I'm doing it right now. This means any kind of user interface should focus on clarity by using words that the users already understand. Ambiguous icons and hidden navigation gestures decrease the cognitive ease significantly.

This is a crucial aspect of UX design. Balancing familiarity and innovation is essential for an engaging user experience. It's about seamlessly integrating excitement while maintaining a consistent and user-friendly interface. Continuous improvement in user interactions is a dynamic process in the ever-evolving field of UX design.

If you find out, that your interface doesn't correspond to the users' mental model, do not be afraid to reiterate. Double-check your flows. If you are sure it's all useful and users would benefit from it, - enhance it with additional tutorials, support, and maybe create a dummy data for the user to play with and get a hand of it. If you are not sure it's a good mechanic for the users - gather some feedback. Maybe, it will make you change your opinion and revert your designs to something more conventional and closer to the user's mental model. It's also a good idea to have a group of trusted users so that they can project their mental model and you would create new features right to suit user's needs.

Ideally market and user research will bring much closer to the customer needs. But we all know that cannot be the case for all projects and companies, it’s a long and expansive process. So, the best thing to do is not allow the perfect to be the enemy of what is enough, and the best way to know if it’s enough is putting your design ideias available to the public as soon as you can, and collect the metrics of how well accepted it was as soon as they appear, so you can progress your project design from there. Don’t be too attached to it if it needs to change, even if most parts of it has to be revised, if you reached to that conclusion it means you are definitely in your users mind ;)