Chapter 1

yWhat are mental models? And why are they important in interface
design?
Mental models describe a users way of understanding a problem.

Mental models are an artefact of belief, that basically means they are the beliefs that
a user holds about any given system or interaction, for instance a website or a web
browser. It is important because users will plan and predict future actions within a
system based on their mental models. In most instances the users' thinking is closely
related to reality because they base their predictions about the system on their
mental models and thus plan their future actions based on how that model predicts
the appropriate course.
Designers can tap into users mental models so that their products communicate their
function through their form. However they have to truly understand their user’s
mental models to do that successfully. If the users mental model are not considered
during interface design, it leads to failure in UI where the user does not find their
mental model and is left confused and frustrated.
It is worth noting that a mental model is not a static creation. It is capable of evolution
and may change based on using other products, from interacting with other users or
taking on board learning from other sources. For instance if you have used iPad
before, your mental model when reading a book on iPad will be different from that of
a person who has never used it. Or person who has used Kindle you will have
different mental model compared to someone who has never used electronic books.
But if this person starts using Kindle and slowly his mental model changes and if he
starts using iPad his mental model is adjusted from how he used Kindle.
By incorporating users mental model, designer can emulate these models through
the UI and create an experience which is intuitive and easy to follow.

The Mental Model Rule of Thumb

Given that we all have mental models of interaction – it is a good rule of thumb to
assume that wherever possible; users will form their mental models based on
interactions with existing applications and web sites. In short, they expect
functionality to be consistent with these previous experiences and wherever a UI
standard pattern exists, it should be emulated in your designs.
 What can a system designer do to minimize the memory load of
the user?
The answer is on recognition and recall. In fact recognition is the
knowledge that you have seen something presented to you whereas
recall is the production of something from memory. Recognition is
simpler, the information required is provided as the cue. Recall is
more complex as the information has to be retrieved from memory but
csues can help this.
The interface designer can where possible allow recognition by providing information up front
(e.g. labelled buttons). Where this is not possible support recall by using cues such as iconic
images, categories of menu item.

Or
To "minimize user memory load", computers should take over the burden of
memory from the user as much as possible. They are very good at remembering
things very precisely whereas humans are not. This can be accomplished by
promoting recognition over recall. In general, people have a much easier time at
recognizing something that is shown to them rather than having to recall the same
information from memory without help.

Displaying dialogue elements allows users to select items through recognition.

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as menus and icons achieve this goal, as
opposed to command lines. It is also easier for the user to modify information
displayed by the computer than to have to generate all of the desired results from
scratch. For example, when users want to rename a file, the text field should be
prepopulated with the old name allowing users to make modifications instead of
typing a new name.

Visibility of the objects of interest to the user also helps to promote recognition.
Unfortunately, displaying too many objects will result in contradiction with the
'less is more' rule. Therefore, a compromise must be made to match object
visibility as much as possible with the user's needs.

Whenever users are asked to provide input, the system should describe the required
format and, if possible, provide an example of legal input, such as default value.
For example, a system asking the user to enter a date should do it as follows:
'Enter date (DD-Mmm-YY, e.g., 2-Aug-93)'.

To minimize the user's memory load, the system should be based on a small
number of rules that apply universally throughout the user interface. The use of
generic commands is one way to let a few rules govern a complex system. Generic
commands make similar things happen in different circumstances; therefore, users
only need to learn a few commands in order to work with many different types of
data. They support transfer of learning from one application to the next, since us
ers do not need to relearn those commands they already know.

The law is applicable to rapid, pointing movements, not continuous motion (e.g.,
drawing). Such movements typically consist of one large motion component (ballistic
movement) followed by fine adjustments to acquire (move over) the target. The law
is particularly important in visual interface design—or any interface involving pointing
(by finger or mouse, etc.): we use it to assess the appropriate sizes of interactive
elements according to the context of use and highlight potential design usability
problems. By following Fitts’ law, standard interface elements such as the right-click
pop-up menu or short drop-down menus have had resounding success, minimizing
the user’s travel distance with a mouse in selecting an option—reducing time and
increasing productivity. Conversely, long drop-downs, title menus, etc., impede
users’ actions, raising movement-time demands.