Mental Models

Summary

The internal understanding a user already has about how something should work, based on prior experience — designs that match existing mental models feel intuitive; designs that violate them feel confusing, even if 'logically correct'.

• 1Identify a common UI pattern (e.g. a shopping cart icon) and the mental model it relies on.
• 2Critique a design that violated a common mental model and confused you as a user.
• 3Learn why 'don't make me think' often means matching an existing mental model, not innovating.