📝 Read the article (10min read)

📺 Watch the video below on mental models.

📚 Author: Megan Chan (updated version of an article written by Jakob Nielsen in 2010).

📅 January 26, 2024

🧾 Should You Read This?

✅ Yes, if…

• You’ve ever wondered why a “clear” design still confuses users
• You want to better explain why usability testing is critical
• You’re building or auditing core interactions, architecture, or language

⛔ Maybe not, if…

• You already have a strong mental model of mental models 😉

Bottom line:

This is a quick, foundational article that changes how you interpret user confusion.

Mental models explain more UX pain than you’d think.

🧠 Key Concepts

“A mental model is what the user believes about how a system works.”

• Mental models shape user behaviour.

  Users don’t act based on how something actually works — they act based on how they think it works.

• Design should align with the user's model — not yours.

  When UX doesn’t match mental models, confusion happens. People blame themselves when things don’t behave as expected.

• Mental models come from past experience.

  Users transfer expectations from one product to another. This is why conventions matter.