No. 057
UX Design
Mental Model
A mental model is the internal belief a person holds about how something works, based on past experience.
Why it matters
When a product matches users' existing mental models, it feels intuitive. When it clashes, people make mistakes and feel the product is 'broken.'
In depth
Users arrive with expectations shaped by other products and the physical world. Designers aim to either match these models or carefully teach a new one. The gap between a user's mental model and the system's actual model is a frequent source of usability problems.
Real-world example
People expect a shopping cart icon to hold items for later purchase. A site that uses the cart for something else will confuse them.
Principle
Mental Model
What people already believe about how it works — match it.
Related terms