There is no single methodology for creating the perfect product--buy you can increase your odds. One of the best ways is to understand users' reasons for doing things. Mental Models gives you the tools to help you grasp, and design for, those reasons. Adaptive Path co-founder Indi Young has written a roll-up-your-sleeves book for designers, managers, and anyone else interested in making design strategic, and successful.
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About the Author
Indi's work spans a number of decades, from the mid-80's when the desktop metaphor was replacing command line and menu-based systems, to the mid-90's when the Web first toddled onto the scene, to now, when designers are intent on crafting good experiences. After 10 years of consulting, Indi founded Adaptive Path with six other partners in 2001, all hoping to spread good design around the world, making things easier for people everywhere. Indi's mental models have helped both start-ups and large corporations discover and support customer behaviors they didn't think to explore at first. She has written a book about the mental model method, Mental Models - aligning design strategy with human behavior, published by Rosenfeld Media. She is now consulting independently, conducting mental model workshops, and mentoring.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Grinny
Format:Paperback
Coming from a background qualitative research in an academic context, I am delighted to have a thorough guide of how to analyse similar kinds of data in an actionable way.
This book provides some theory but assumes the understanding the user research is important. It is a step-by-step, comprehensive guide of how to carry out the method of Mental Models in real projects. I especially like that Indi takes into account variable situations practitioners might face and weighs different shortcuts and approaches based on these situations. For example, she explains what to do if you are keen to create a mental model on a project but have no stakeholder support. This is brilliant because a lot of online guides aren't as grounded in reality and tend to leave you convinced but empty-handed.
This book is not a theoretical exploration of a topic or a poetic argument for user experience, so do not buy it if you're looking for that kind of inspiration. What is it good for is a hands-on guide for conducting user research in a way that's based on delivering a long-term, deep, and productive understanding of an organisation and a way to analyse or create a product. It focuses on generative research (done to uncover a mental context a user/customer is in, not to test a particular product). The book provides guidance and advice for each step of the process, and anything lacking in the book is explained in the appendices. I found the appendix that covers the cost and duration of such a project particularly useful because I was able to provide my employer with an idea of the investment we are expecting to make by transforming our method to this approach.
There are some things that might make it easier for you to enjoy the book or find it useful: it helps if you have some understanding of how to listen to people or some experience conducting ethnographic interviews, it definitely helps if your organisation/employer is open to change or adopting new strategies. I can see how a very stiff work environment would make this book frustrating. I got immediately fascinating by the idea of trying this out, and it was brilliant to find my manager as excited. Nevertheless, the book provides some advice even for those working in a very large organisation.
I should mention that I also attended Indi Young's workshop on the methods in this book. When I left, I was definitely convinced that--if done right--this method can produce amazingly rich insights and drive design, product improvements, organisational business strategy, and anything else that requires understanding how particular people work. Some of the other reviews mention "fluff" and empty filler words. I also found the many quotations quite tedious but they did not reduce my opinion of the usefulness of the book. Perhaps the feeling that some sections are too detailed or obvious comes from a difference in expertise. The book is definitely written for practitioners of all levels so those who have been doing UX for over ten years will definitely find some sections to be repetitive.
I should also say that I find the process of getting started quite difficult. This is not a quick fix or a magic pill but a detailed method that requires understanding, learning, and practice. The book has left me feeling that I can accomplish all three.
This book provides some theory but assumes the understanding the user research is important. It is a step-by-step, comprehensive guide of how to carry out the method of Mental Models in real projects. I especially like that Indi takes into account variable situations practitioners might face and weighs different shortcuts and approaches based on these situations. For example, she explains what to do if you are keen to create a mental model on a project but have no stakeholder support. This is brilliant because a lot of online guides aren't as grounded in reality and tend to leave you convinced but empty-handed.
This book is not a theoretical exploration of a topic or a poetic argument for user experience, so do not buy it if you're looking for that kind of inspiration. What is it good for is a hands-on guide for conducting user research in a way that's based on delivering a long-term, deep, and productive understanding of an organisation and a way to analyse or create a product. It focuses on generative research (done to uncover a mental context a user/customer is in, not to test a particular product). The book provides guidance and advice for each step of the process, and anything lacking in the book is explained in the appendices. I found the appendix that covers the cost and duration of such a project particularly useful because I was able to provide my employer with an idea of the investment we are expecting to make by transforming our method to this approach.
There are some things that might make it easier for you to enjoy the book or find it useful: it helps if you have some understanding of how to listen to people or some experience conducting ethnographic interviews, it definitely helps if your organisation/employer is open to change or adopting new strategies. I can see how a very stiff work environment would make this book frustrating. I got immediately fascinating by the idea of trying this out, and it was brilliant to find my manager as excited. Nevertheless, the book provides some advice even for those working in a very large organisation.
I should mention that I also attended Indi Young's workshop on the methods in this book. When I left, I was definitely convinced that--if done right--this method can produce amazingly rich insights and drive design, product improvements, organisational business strategy, and anything else that requires understanding how particular people work. Some of the other reviews mention "fluff" and empty filler words. I also found the many quotations quite tedious but they did not reduce my opinion of the usefulness of the book. Perhaps the feeling that some sections are too detailed or obvious comes from a difference in expertise. The book is definitely written for practitioners of all levels so those who have been doing UX for over ten years will definitely find some sections to be repetitive.
I should also say that I find the process of getting started quite difficult. This is not a quick fix or a magic pill but a detailed method that requires understanding, learning, and practice. The book has left me feeling that I can accomplish all three.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars
14 reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
More about product strategy than design
24 May 2009
By Weston Thompson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I'm not sure I like the way Young uses the term mental model. To me, a mental model is first and foremost the way that an individual thinks a system or a part of the world works. An example from Don Norman that rang true for me: My understanding of how my home AC unit works. I set it/use it based on that model, even it it's completely wrong. I developed my model of how it works based on a variety of things, which may not include any actual basis in how it truly works. As a designer, it is helpful to understand a person's mental model for something so that you can map to it as appropriate to help people understand how to use your product.
What Young approaches in this book is something much broader: She provides a start-to-finish approach to documenting the way a whole group of people relate to your product space - their needs, tasks, and perspectives. She provides great detail in how to proceed, including literal instructions for your spreadsheet, etc. This then leads to larger insights about product (or product line) strategy, which is useful (but seems off the mark of mental models, to me).
I found this book a bit heavy on quotations and task instructions, a little light on Young's personal insights. This might have held up better as a chapter in a book on user research methods (i.e., Kuniavsky's book).
What Young approaches in this book is something much broader: She provides a start-to-finish approach to documenting the way a whole group of people relate to your product space - their needs, tasks, and perspectives. She provides great detail in how to proceed, including literal instructions for your spreadsheet, etc. This then leads to larger insights about product (or product line) strategy, which is useful (but seems off the mark of mental models, to me).
I found this book a bit heavy on quotations and task instructions, a little light on Young's personal insights. This might have held up better as a chapter in a book on user research methods (i.e., Kuniavsky's book).
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Low On Signal, High On Noise
11 Jun 2009
By Ilya Vedrashko
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I found this book to be 5% insight, 15% common sense and 80% filler ("In order to get your file into PDF format, you will need Adobe Acrobat Professional." p.257). It is unfortunate, because the book describes an interesting and valuable methodology that can be used to solve problems in many different fields that seemingly have little to do with web or product design. Like another reviewer before me, I think the term "mental models" is confusing; perhaps something like "task mapping" would've been more straightforward.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Practical, Well-Written Book for Any IA's Bookshelf
21 Feb 2008
By Joe Sokohl
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I've been waiting for this book for the past year. AFter attending Indi Young's excellent workshop in mental models/alignment diagrams last year at the IA Summit, I knew that a practical, hands-on book would enhance that training. I'm not disappointed.
Indeed, this book provides great how-to approaches to finding the mental models that users bring to an experience. First she goes into the what, when, how, and why of mental models. Think of this area as the theory section. Next she takes you from the definition through development of the work, including information & tips on recruiting and interviewing. Her verb-oriented approach helps me understand just how to take work I've done before, techniques I'm versed in, and create the alignment diagrams that evince mental models. Finally, Young details how to apply the results of your research.
Practical, effective, and insightful, "Mental Models: Aligning design strategy with human behavior" answers a hands-on need for information architects, interface designers, business analysts, and anyone who wants to create user-centered, successful experiences. Oh--and she's a great writer too, so you'll find it fun to read.
Indeed, this book provides great how-to approaches to finding the mental models that users bring to an experience. First she goes into the what, when, how, and why of mental models. Think of this area as the theory section. Next she takes you from the definition through development of the work, including information & tips on recruiting and interviewing. Her verb-oriented approach helps me understand just how to take work I've done before, techniques I'm versed in, and create the alignment diagrams that evince mental models. Finally, Young details how to apply the results of your research.
Practical, effective, and insightful, "Mental Models: Aligning design strategy with human behavior" answers a hands-on need for information architects, interface designers, business analysts, and anyone who wants to create user-centered, successful experiences. Oh--and she's a great writer too, so you'll find it fun to read.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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