Mental Models: How To Design For The Way Your Users Think

Every one of us uses mental models as we go about our lives—regardless of your product, service or industry, your users have mental models that guide them.

But what are mental models? Simply put, a mental model represents how a person thinks something works. Mental models do evolve through time and experience, but in every form, they shape how users behave, what they notice and how they process information.

As a designer, should you care about mental models? Absolutely. If your design is incompatible with your users’ mental models, they’ll find it challenging to use your product or service. If you don’t consider the mental models your users have, you risk creating friction for your users. And wherever there’s friction, there’s low user engagement, low product adoption and many more negative effects on your product’s success.

Learning how to leverage and influence mental models is a powerful skill for designers to have. And in this Master Class webinar, Susan and Guthrie Weinschenk will help you get started effectively!

You’ll learn:

• How to understand the mental models your users have
• How to influence users to change their mental models
• How to incorporate mental models into steps in your design process
• How to test whether your designs fit with prevailing mental models
• How to decide how many mental models to consider within your user base

With a more robust understanding of mental models, you’ll find more success in how you attract, onboard, engage and retain users. Knowing how your users and customers think is a highly valuable skill set in any function or role, so join this webinar and learn how to apply mental models in your work. Even if you cannot attend it live, register to get access to a recording that you can watch anytime afterwards!