Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior [Color] [Paperback]

Indi Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2008

There is no single methodology for creating the perfect product—but 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.

TESTIMONIALS

"Indi Young's mental models are the perfect way for your team to integrate your user's perspective into your design. Indi has written a comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to make use of this power design technique. I'll be giving this book out to all of our important clients and insisting they make it part of their process."
Jared Spool, CEO & Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering

"Developed over the course of more than ten years, Indi Young's common sense approach focuses on user behavior, diagrammatic representations, and the participation of all stakeholders in collaborative discovery. It is a book that designers and students, alike, will find useful."
Richard Buchanan, Professor of Design, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University

"Indi Young's new book is a welcome addition, covering an aspect of the design process that is extremely important but often neglected. The book is chock-full of practical advice derived from real-world development projects, but doesn't lose sight of the broad conceptual underpinnings."
Ray Valdes, Research Director, Web Services, Gartner Inc.

"Indi Young gives great insight into the nuts and bolts of understanding, capturing and visualizing user needs. Her "how to" instructions provide clear guidance for teams wishing to undertake a serious effort to architect, design and develop products with the user in mind."
Sara L. Beckman, Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley

Editorial Reviews

Review

There's a passion for mental models in this book which is contagious, even to an existing supporter of the concept. --Joanna Bawa, Usability News

I think it is a must read for design teams. When using Indi Young's mental models in your process you will without a doubt improve the quality of your products for the target audience. --Jeroen van Geel, Johnny Holland

Those in the social sciences will revel in its qualitative and intuitive approach, yet those in the hard science will appreciate its straightforward and simplistic tone. --Marisa Peacock, CMSWire

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Rosenfeld Media; 1st edition (February 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933820063
• ISBN-13: 978-1933820064
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars More about product strategy than design May 24, 2009

By Weston Thompson

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).

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Low On Signal, High On Noise June 10, 2009

By Ilya Vedrashko

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 February 21, 2008

By Joe Sokohl

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.