Multifaceted Benefits Of Mental Models in UX Design & How We Use It

Multifaceted Benefits Of Mental Models:
How We Leverage It For Perfecting UX?
Know about how designers create designs aimed to please the users thoroughly.

Imagine being handed a smartphone.
Not yours, someone else’s. A completely different model, build, and company.
And yet, you’ll know exactly how to turn it on and work it. Wouldn’t you?
Wonder why that is? Because regardless of the company, you have a basic knowledge of smartphones and how they work.
This basic knowledge, cultivated through years of experience, has created a mental model. And this basic concept helps the
population to work with any smartphone no matter how different it might be.
The human mind works in mysterious ways. And for effective product design or simple experience design, a mental
model-based approach is a superior choice. Now, let’s delve a little deeper and find out how designers can apply mental
models to improve UX design. And maybe along the way, I’ll talk about our own method and how it works.

1. Mental Models: What Are They?
So, what is mental model in UX design?
We talked a little about mental models in the intro, but let’s work on understanding it better.
If we follow the official definition of Mental models, then it will look something like this-
“A mental model is based on belief, not facts: that is, it’s a model of what users know (or think they know) about a system such as your website.”
Going by the definition, a mental model is a user’s concept of how a platform is going to work. Based on the experience with various platforms, the user
creates a process in their mind. This mental process tells them how to interact with similar platforms. This is not a collective process though. Every user has a
different concept of how things are going to work on a website. That is why often designers face conflicting opinions when applying the mental model UX
design process.

2. Mental Model Misalignment: A Matter Of Miscommunication?
Let’s talk about the benefits of UX design based on mental models. But before that, let’s look at the one issue every designer will face during this application.
The main challenge of this specific approach is the misalignment of conceptual models between the designer and the user. This can sometimes result in UX
that does not satisfy the latter.
It is bound to happen. Obviously, a designer knows more about the design than an average user. They know more about the inner workings of the design and
what purpose each element is serving. But an average user does not know about the individual purpose of every design element. And that’s why it’s hard for
them to understand the designer. This failure/inability to connect with the user’s mental models can prove to be problematic for the platform.
And that’s why it is important to know how to create and apply a mental model.
Here is a brief rundown of how our process works on integrating this important element in the UX.

3. Integrating The Mental Models: How We Do It
Understanding how to design using mental model is not an easy task. But for us it is important. Otherwise, we won’t be able to design UX that
speaks to the consumers without using any words. So how do we do it? Well, here I am going to tell you all about how we integrate mental models in
the UX design process. This is going to be all about how to create designs that fit into the user concepts and encourages conversion.
a. Creating The Right Persona
b. Mapping Our Way To Empathy
c. Sorting The Cards To Find The Perfection
d. Visualizing Data With Heatmaps
e. Getting To Know The Market With Proper Research
f. A Design Strategy For Our End Users

4. Leveraging Mental Models For UX Design: Why We Do It?
A frequently asked question is why use mental models when the design process can work without it? Well, the assumption that the process of design can work fine
without mental model analysis is not wrong. But as a web design agency based on a major city like New York, we like to leverage the amazing benefits of mental
models, to give our clients an edge in the market.
a. Removing The Guesswork
b. Saving Time On Development
c. Guiding Designers Towards The Right Kind Of Innovation
d. Delivering Bespoke Solutions
The users love it when a solution fits them just right. And the best way to make that happen is to understand what they expect and want and deliver accordingly. Our
use of the user’s mental model is aimed to create bespoke UX solutions for the users. These customized solutions ensure the return of the users on the same
platform in the future, helping with customer retention.

Wrapping Up: Should You Choose A Mental Model Based UX
Design Solution As Well?
In the end, only one questions remain- why choose a mental-model based process for the UX design for the platform?
The answer is simple. The success of any business very much depends on the users. Those days are gone when users had limited options and had
to choose among a few options in the market. Today the market is global, and there are more rivals in the market than it used to be. And to succeed
in a global market requires listening to the customers.
The use of mental models is just one of those ways of listening. so if you are planning on applying mental models for the UX design of your platform,
then let us know, we would be more than happy to help.
Source : https://www.unifiedinfotech.net/blog/benefits-of-mental-models-in-ux-design/