I came back from vacation to discover our team had presented a draft redesign to stakeholders, who were less than pleased. So we used mental models to understand each stakeholder’s concerns, context, and lens. The effect this had was amazing. The resulting presentation was so well-received we were asked to give it to the executive team. My team has used this approach over and over since.

We used mental models to determine how to categorise the vast amounts of information needed by residents, business owners, and visitors. One of the challenging issues was where to show what to do with a dead animal found on one’s lawn. We followed their mental model. Pets (dogs, cats) were part of Home section, while wild animals (raccoons, squirrels) went in the Parks section.

I have been tasked with several technical projects at Utah State. Mental models have been essential in the planning stage to determine what functionality is the most crucial and what “would be nice.” To come back weekly and look at our initial goal has proved helpful in keeping us working in the proper direction.

Mental model skylines fill a giant gap. It’s easy to jump right to designing a solution when a need is found. Instead, by focusing on interior cognition and purpose the team can design the solution in abstract of its implementation. Beginning with mental models fosters incremental change and establishes a benchmark to measure against.

We made a process for learning design that incorporates experience design. Most educational organisations are stuck using bureacratic processes meant for compliance. These days, learning crosses face-to-face and digital, centering around mobile phones. To see where we could add most value, we built a mental model, mapping the work of learning designers against supports we could put in place.

I joined as an ethnographer to help a Zen buddhist meditation center figure out what it takes for people feel supported. Mental models allowed us to see clear steps along an individual’s relationship with the Center, mindful moments involving pivotal steps – getting calm, ringing a bell, sitting in silence. With these, we constructed a prototype for finding spiritual peer-mentors for meditation practice.