

Mental Models - brlewis
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mental-models.html

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Dylanlacey
I think it needs to go further. I don't think users tend to form mental
models, at all. To them, as I argued in
[http://d-flat.dylanlacey.com/2010/the-parable-of-the-
magic-b...](http://d-flat.dylanlacey.com/2010/the-parable-of-the-magic-box),
computers are a magic box, not deterministic in any way.

To assume that File->Print prints in all applications, based on it working for
one, is forming a mental model. Time and time again, I've seen this NOT be the
case.

I think you need to form a decent balance between not surprising the user, and
having an interface that's _just_ different enough to make them form new
mental models.

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brlewis
I have _so_ got to deal with this with OurDoings. People (early adopters
especially) have an ingrained model of how photo sharing works, because
they're all albums plus something tacked on to the album model to try to make
it better. A site that doesn't ask you to organize photos into albums is
easier, but messes with that mental model.

Does anybody have sucess stories of helping users overcome mental model
inertia?

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zeteo
"Why not just type, say, www.bing.com into the URL field?"

Because four keystrokes and a click are often quicker than twelve keystrokes.

