6 - Alisha Coon

Supporting the User's Mental Model

A mental model is what the user believes of the system at hand, whether it is true or not. Different users may construct different mental models for the same interface. With the respect to the redesign of the search function on the homepage of YouTube, the user's may know how to correctly search for a video or account, but it might not be as quick and easy for them to find the search bar as it should be. Therefore, it is important to make the system conform to the user's mental model as much as possible. This is why user testing is essential to delivering a beneficial design to users.

This mental model does contrast with the implementation model generally used by programmers. Implementation models do not focus on the users as mental models do. Instead, implementation models are made to please the users that want to be more challenged and who most likely took part in creating the system in the first place. Basically, only the programmers know what is going on and how to use the system. As a result, it is important to try to implement or combine the mental model somewhat into the implementation model for all users to use.