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Just curious, could you give a specific example where you've found it's better to reinforce an inaccurate mental model of the software? And how do you go about

Just curious, could you give a specific example where you've found it's better to reinforce an inaccurate mental model of the software? And how do you go about it?

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
I did it a ton, in my day job (image processing/camera control). I won’t directly link to that (personal policy), but we were in a constant war with the hardware people, who wanted, basically, skeuomorphic representation. We found that users often found these to be overcomplex, and that software often allowed us to abstract a lot of the complexity. Many camera controls are where they are, because, at one time, we needed to have a physical connection between the actuator and the device. Nowadays, the buttons no longer need to be there, but remain so, because that is where users expect them to be. Almost every car control is like that. Touch interfaces are falling flat, these days. Many manufacturers are going back to analog. I am currently developing an app to allow folks to find on-line gatherings. It’s not an area that I have much experience in, personally, so I’m doing a lot of “run it up the flagpole, and see who salutes” kind of stuff. I just had to do a “start over from scratch” rewrite, a week ago, because the UX I presented was too complex for users. The app I just released in January, had several pivots, due to the UX being incompatible to our users. We worked on that for about three years, and had to abandon several blind alleys. Not all the delay was for that, but one thing I did, was have a delicious feast of corvid, and bring in a professional designer, who informed me that all the TLC I had put into “my baby” was for naught. The app is doing well, but we’re finding some things that users aren’t discovering, because our affordances aren’t working. You can tell, because they ask us to add features that are already there. Often, I will be asked to add a specific feature. I usually have to ask the user what their goal is, and then work towards that goal, maybe in a different manner than what they suggested, but sometimes, their request opens my eyes to a mental model that I hadn't considered, and that gives me a good place to start. I’m really, really hesitant to post examples here, as the very last thing that we need, are thousands of curious geeks, piling onto our apps.
- NotMichaelBay 2y ago
  Thanks for the info, so you're talking about adjusting or replacing the UX based on user feedback. It makes sense now, but I guess I was imagining something different when you mentioned reinforcing inaccurate mental models.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
    One of the things that I'll often do, is produce a variant of the UX that gives the designer/C-suiter exactly what they want, but I'll have a variant ready, that does what I think we'll need. That way, they will hear it from the users. I am often written off as "a whiner," but they have to pay attention to the end-users.

Just curious, could you give a specific example where you've found it's better to reinforce an inaccurate mental model of the software? And how do you go about it?

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago

I did it a ton, in my day job (image processing/camera control). I won’t directly link to that (personal policy), but we were in a constant war with the hardware people, who wanted, basically, skeuomorphic representation. We found that users often found these to be overcomplex, and that software often allowed us to abstract a lot of the complexity. Many camera controls are where they are, because, at one time, we needed to have a physical connection between the actuator and the device. Nowadays, the buttons no longer need to be there, but remain so, because that is where users expect them to be. Almost every car control is like that. Touch interfaces are falling flat, these days. Many manufacturers are going back to analog. I am currently developing an app to allow folks to find on-line gatherings. It’s not an area that I have much experience in, personally, so I’m doing a lot of “run it up the flagpole, and see who salutes” kind of stuff. I just had to do a “start over from scratch” rewrite, a week ago, because the UX I presented was too complex for users. The app I just released in January, had several pivots, due to the UX being incompatible to our users. We worked on that for about three years, and had to abandon several blind alleys. Not all the delay was for that, but one thing I did, was have a delicious feast of corvid, and bring in a professional designer, who informed me that all the TLC I had put into “my baby” was for naught. The app is doing well, but we’re finding some things that users aren’t discovering, because our affordances aren’t working. You can tell, because they ask us to add features that are already there. Often, I will be asked to add a specific feature. I usually have to ask the user what their goal is, and then work towards that goal, maybe in a different manner than what they suggested, but sometimes, their request opens my eyes to a mental model that I hadn't considered, and that gives me a good place to start. I’m really, really hesitant to post examples here, as the very last thing that we need, are thousands of curious geeks, piling onto our apps.

NotMichaelBay 2y ago
Thanks for the info, so you're talking about adjusting or replacing the UX based on user feedback. It makes sense now, but I guess I was imagining something different when you mentioned reinforcing inaccurate mental models.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
  One of the things that I'll often do, is produce a variant of the UX that gives the designer/C-suiter exactly what they want, but I'll have a variant ready, that does what I think we'll need. That way, they will hear it from the users. I am often written off as "a whiner," but they have to pay attention to the end-users.