32. People Interact With Conceptual Models

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A conceptual model is the actual model that is given to the person through the design and interface of the actual product. 

The designers thought they knew who would be using the interface and how much experience they had with interfaces like this, and they designed accord- ing to those assumptions without testing them, and it turns out their assumptions were wrong.The audience or the product or Web site is varied. The designers designed for one persona or type of audience, and the mental model and conceptual model match for that group, but not for others.There are no real designers. The conceptual model wasn’t really designed at all. It’s just a reflection of the underlying hardware or software or database, so the only people whose mental model it fits are the programmers. If the audience is not the programmers, then you’re in trouble.

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WHAT IF IT’S BRAND NEW AND I PURPOSELY WANT A MISMATCH?Changing people's mental model is key. You want to change people's mental to fit conceptual model by training them. You can use a short training video before they receive a product. It helps adjust the audiences' mental model to fir the conceptual model of the  product.

Takeaways

Design the conceptual model purposefully. Don’t let it “bubble up” from the technology. The secret to designing an intuitive user experience is making sure that the conceptual model of your product matches, as much as possible, the mental models of your audi- ence. If you get that right, you will have created a positive and useful experience. If you have a brand new product that you know will not match anyone’s mental model, you’ll need to provide training to prepare people to create a new mental model.