User Mental Model Visualization

The Human Factors-2 course for the Master of Design (MDes.) Universal Design students at National Institute of Design which falls in the third semester of their program is an overview about the cognitive issues faced by the user in view of the work processes with a system in a Universal Design context and approach. The proposed schematic user mental model framework was designed, developed, and tested in the above pedagogical setting of mapping mental models of diverse users’ vs the artifact/systems they interact with. The framework essentially assists in capturing how the user perceives the artifact in the mind as an entity, its use, and the expectations. It allows for examining if its behavior and interaction matches the mental model of the user. It captures the following: user model covering the demographic and psychographic profile, user knowledge, user abilities, user mood, and the user environment; the metaphor or the analogy the user formulates in the mind with respect to the machine/artifact one is interacting with; User/Artifact Interaction Flow; User Stress points and cognitive load interfaces as well as captures interactions micro and macro to address by the designer. The goal of the designer in the context of cognitive ergonomics during the overall product design process is designing Error Free and amp; Stress-Free Interactions, Task Efficacy/Use Comfort and Ease/Closure Satisfaction. To test the efficacy of the model as a tool, it was introduced in the classroom and was found to be useful by most student groups in carrying out the study and synthesizing the gathered data.