Changes, Learning Curve and Mental Models

Our brain is incredible: capable of learning complex structures from the environment using a very limited amount of evidence. But… learning is not always easy and the learning curves involved in our daily experiences come at a cognitive cost.

In practice, this means that whenever we are faced with a complex task, that brings a high cognitive load and demands a lot from our system, we will abandon it, postpone it or - in cases of extreme necessity - we will do it with what in Brazil we call the “strength of hate” (understand a lot of sacrifice involved).

We will have several excuses ready: no time, rush, “it irritates me”... other priorities. Therefore, as designers we must always think about the cognitive cost of our solutions, whether physical or virtual.

And by that I mean: whether creating a product from scratch, a change or improvement that we think about making, we must consider the so-called learning curve of our user. If he is not familiar with what is being offered, we need to weigh up any new or changes and ensure that they are in fact valuable and necessary.

Therefore, our main objective must be to ensure that from the simplest to the most complex changes are introduced in the best possible way, through a smooth and progressive experience. And remember that even when the learning curve is small and the change is positive, where we truly believe it will make people's lives easier, it is still a learning curve and will have a cost to the user.

Am I a bad user?

Think about traffic signs: they respect a standard and are reproduced internally in your country. But when we travel to another country, in addition to the language itself, the signs often contain different symbols or meanings.

Depending on the time we have available for the trip and, of course, our own experiences and learning curve, we may leave the country without even understanding most of the signs.

Now I turn to my personal experience: imagine me, a Brazilian, crossing the globe and landing in Australia. Not only are the signs and the language different, but even the direction you are driving in. Summary of the story: after 9 months, I drive very little and, even when I'm on foot, sometimes I still mix up the sides to look where cars are coming from.

Brazil x Australia (has anyone here heard of hierarchy? It drives me crazy - or at least confused)

That doesn't mean I'm a stupid person - I want to believe I'm not, hahaha. But the changes are so drastic and outside of the repertoire I had already acquired, that the learning curve is quite a bump (I'm slowly going up in first gear - do you know gears here?). Of course, if I drove every day it would be easier (the Power Law of Practice), but my brain practically begs to be taken for a ride and not have to worry. The brain is smart… and lazy, it wants to save energy. Especially when this energy can generate frustration and not bring immediate results.

The fact is, as designers, we can't ignore learning curves. There are several ways to help the user to use our product or service, including manuals, onboarding, FAQs and strategic clues, but, in my humble opinion, they are all supporting a big star: considering mental models is crucial for success (or failure) for any experiment.

So let's talk about mental models...

“Mental Models” in UX are the individual beliefs that users carry when they begin to interact with an interface. These models influence the way they expect the interface to work, often comparing this expectation with the reality of the system. The way someone uses an interface is closely linked to their cultural background and previous experience with other interfaces (So of course, it wouldn't make any sense for Australia to consider the mental models of a Brazilian, but rather of its own citizens... now tell me, honestly, do you understand these signs? It's so hard!).

Users turn to their Mental Models to anticipate what they can expect from an interface. These models are often the root cause of ambiguity or confusion in the user experience with a digital product.

Understanding users' Mental Models is essential, as they directly influence their behaviors and opinions. Each person may have their own mental models and, to understand them and use them in an experience, it is often necessary for designers to go surveys beyond, approaches such as context research and observations of how users face difficulties and react. when performing tasks on the interface. This data guides the creation of more intuitive experiences.

That’s why we talk so much about empathy in UX Design. When we start a project, the first step is to empathize with the user and understand their context, experiences, expectations and needs. This is also why personas and archetypes are often used. It is essential to put on the user's shoes and think about possible and probable mental models to deliver effective and successful user experiences. Mental models will help us develop:

• Consistent navigation;

• Clear and objective layouts;

• Easy-to-understand communication;

• Design patterns throughout the interface.

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By trying to anticipate user's mental models, we can deliver more intuitive and easier-to-understand products. Consistency generates intuitiveness, which reduces learning curves, making the experience fluid and engaging: no pain points and no barriers to use.

What if we don't consider mental models?

There goes the beloved intuitiveness. Intuitiveness has a direct connection with the Mental Models that the user creates when observing or understanding, for example, what is happening in the interface. How it works? Simple... when observing a never-before-seen interface for the first time, the user immediately creates mental models of what they will see next, obviously based on everything they have already seen. And if he, by chance, comes across something different from what he is familiar with, it will consequently be a non-intuitive interface for him.

This simply means that the user does not know what to do or what is coming next. Everything is so different and unexpected that, in addition to being dissatisfied, the user will often simply abandon the task or avoid it as much as possible.

Remember my example above? I said I don't drive much here in Australia. Simply because I avoid the feeling of driving with other cars coming against me and being crushed at any moment. But there is also another feeling involved in this experience: the fear of making mistakes. I'm not only afraid of someone hitting my car but mainly of causing an accident by making a wrong decision. And this, to a lesser extent, could also happen in a digital experience.

If the user doesn't know what comes next, they don't know if they can go back to the previous step or even cancel the action. They may be afraid to click, enter important data and… complete a purchase. And, whatever the purpose of the platform and application, we want the user to feel safe enough to go to the end and/or find what they need, in other words, a successful experience.

Ok… risks and benefits understood… now can we move on to some practical examples?

Remembering: the way we create mental models depends a lot on past experiences. The user can expect the behaviour of an interface because they have seen others similar to it, but they can also expect certain things to happen because they are like that in everyday life.

You put documents in a folder because that's how it is in the real world and you put your purchases in a cart or bag because that's how it is in the real world (this is one of the heuristics in UX Design).

Just like you would expect a website's menu to be at the top and an app's menu would probably be at the bottom. You expect to be able to access your profile or account from some of the top corners of an interface. And the search bar will be in the top right corner and the company logo will be in the left corner. You expect clickable links to be underlined and buttons surrounded by highlighted coloured boxes.

When I arrived in Australia, I expected to open the left car door and find the steering wheel.

References:

Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things. MIT Press.

Rocha, H. V. & Baranauskas, M. C. C. (2003). Design e Avaliação de Interfaces Humano-Computador. 1. ed. Campinas: Emopi Editora e Gráfica.

Kupillas, K. C. (2018). Change generates learning curves. UX Collective.