UX model vs. mental model

Core differences and useful templates

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I recently wrote a rather fun and unnecessarily geeky article about the various interpretations of the term “UX model”. If you like a geek-out, you can find it here.

I then referenced it in a mentoring session and was asked “What the difference between a UX Model and a Mental Model?”.

Well I’m glad you asked, because it meant I got to spend some more time chatting about design and googling things.

And of course the answer is that they are connected, and they are different, and It Depends…

Below is an explanation of the difference, and because why not.. I’ve included templates for documenting Mental Models that you can take and use on your own projects should you feel like it.

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What’s the difference between a UX model and a Mental Model?

TLDR: One is an external construct, one is an internal construct.

Read on, it gets better :)

What is a UX model?

Without repeating my previous article deep dive (which you can read here), a UX Model is something we construct as Designers, Strategists or Product Owners.

It’s an external construct.

Yes it’s describing user actions, behaviours, interactions or journeys. Yes it’s based on research with users, but it’s something we create.

Purpose of a UX model:

A document that helps us close the gap between designers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of how our users think or behave.

In short they:

• Guide the design of a product or service

• Ensure the design aligns with user needs, behaviors, and goals

• Create a structure for teams to communicate and iterate on designs (e.g., personas, journey maps, wireframes).

How they evolve

In order to keep a UX Model up to date, a (design/research) team needs to be constantly iterating based on feedback and additional learnings.

What is a Mental Model?

Mental Models exist whether we define them or not. They exist independently of anything we do. They are in the users’ heads.

They are an internal construct.

They are how users understand, interpret and interact with their world and as part of that, our products and services.

Purpose of a Mental Model:

Something users intuitively use to understand the world around them and the systems they interact with.

Also, a Mental Model can become a document if we discover and.. document it.

But in their essence and even without us research and writing it down, a Mental Model for a user serves to:

• Simplify complex systems by creating a personal understanding of how they work

• Help users predict outcomes and make decisions based on their understanding

• Minimise cognitive load by using prior knowledge to navigate new systems.

How they evolve

A user’s mental model changes as users gain new experiences. Unless we’re going to get into deceptive patterns and demonic design, we can’t really control it.

How they work together

The two should, in short, align.

So if you’re creating any version of a UX Model, it should be based on, or developed in parallel with, your understanding of customers’ Mental Model(s).

And ongoing research into understanding how customers think, feel and interact which allows you to update your understanding of their mental model, should influence and guide any UX Model you are using with stakeholders.

When they don’t work together

When you have a mismatch between the UX Model and the user’s Mental Model, you can end up creating problems for yourself.

Example 1 - User’s mental model of e-commerce is that they can add things to basket

If your website’s interaction model has layers between product and basket such as creating lists of favourites, comparing then selecting add to basket - you are slowing down the check out process and potentially impacting conversions.

Example 2 - User’s mental model is that everything quick, easy and important is at the top of an app’s menu

If your IA and content model has “delete account” in the primary nav (yes I had a stakeholder request this once) then your user could accidentally delete their entire account thinking it was something they were supposed to do.

Example 3 - User’s expect a back button or ‘undo’ function even on walkthrough experiences

I once had an ongoing debate with a team of stakeholders who were insistent that an online training tool, guided by one human teaching others, would never need a back button (because it ‘broke’ the pretty UI). Of course the lack of a basic heuristic ultimately broke the whole experience for the trainer and the students.

What’s in a mental model

If you google “example of a mental model” you’ll get something that looks like a customer journey with lots of blocks on it.

This is a really good way of showing how users or customers mental model flexes across different journey moments or tasks.

But what if you don’t have that level of detail yet?

This is why I use two main templates for Mental Models in my work (there’s a link to download them both included below):

1. A task-based mental model map - similar to those shown above, but with some extra swimlanes

2. A mental model canvas - a way of capturing early insights into how users think about a task space.

The first is an adaptation of the traditional task map, and the second is a really handy single-slide or whiteboard canvas that you can use as you are first building out customers mental models - so that capture all the juicy stuff as early as possible and get it in front of stakeholders and other designers.

Template time!

You can find these Mental Model templates on my Gumroad page. I have provided a 100% discount for paid subscribers below.