Consilient Design

Overloading and Mental Models

User research and design has made much ado about mental models since at least the early 1980s. It is a…

Habits versus Mental Models

Mental models become necessary when designs fail us.

Although it may seem like our conscious self is always in control, much of our behavior is automatic. When we repeat actions frequently in similar situations they come to be invoked independently of…

Understanding Mental Models

What they are, what they are not, and how they are relevant for designers.

Designers frequently refer to the mental models of their users in casual and imprecise ways. For example, they frequently talk about supporting or designing for a user’s mental…

Experience Obsolescence

Jim Lentz and Mark Marrara

UX focus limits design thinking

Some musings about user intention and user experience. There is more to the human-machine relationship…

Experience design: a twisted history

Jim Lentz and Mark Marrara

Your research should tell a story

Telling a story through your research engages the audience for prompting deeper understanding and action.

Journey Maps to Hell and Back

a critical survey

Toward Unifying UXD and JTBD

authors: Mark Marrara and James Lentz