About mental models and information architecture. Presentation for the World Information Architecture Day 2013, Genk, Belgium.

1. MENTAL MODELS
#WIAD - WORLD IA DAY 2013
#IA2013GENK - FEB 9, 2013
WOUTER WALGRAEVE - NASCOM

2. HI!
I AM WOUTER WALGRAEVE
AND I WORK AT NASCOM

3. I LOVE
SCIENCE FICTION

6. ASIMOV &
THE 3 LAWS OF ROBOTICS

7. 1
A ROBOT MAY NOT INJURE A HUMAN BEING OR, THROUGH INACTION,
ALLOW A HUMAN BEING TO COME TO HARM.
2
A ROBOT MUST OBEY THE ORDERS GIVEN TO IT BY HUMAN BEINGS,
EXCEPT WHERE SUCH ORDERS WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE FIRST LAW.
3
A ROBOT MUST PROTECT ITS OWN EXISTENCE AS LONG AS SUCH
PROTECTION DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE FIRST OR SECOND LAWS.

9. ASIMOV &
THE POSITRONIC BRAIN

10. AT WIAD 2012, I DID A PRESENTATION ON THE
MENTAL MODEL OF TIMELINES

11. THIS TIME, LET’S GO DEEPER
AND DISCUSS…

12. MENTAL MODELING

13. THE MENTAL MODEL OF A
KINDER SURPRISE

14. WHY DO ATHLETES RUN AROUND
THE TRACK COUNTER-CLOCKWISE?

15. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF
THE ZEBRA CROSSING?

16. DO AIRPLANES HAVE KEYS?
OR HORNS?

17. “MENTAL MODELS ARE ESSENTIAL TOOLS
ALLOWING US TO NAVIGATE THROUGH LIFE”

18. CUTTING A PIE
IS NO PIECE OF CAKE

19. MATHEMATICS
100%
MENTAL MODELING

20. IMAGINE A WINDMILL
5 SECONDS

21. A WINDMILL,
2013

22. A WINDMILL,
A FEW DECADES AGO

23. A WINDMILL,
A FEW DECADES AGO,
IN THE STATES

24. WHAT DIRECTION DO
WINDMILLS TURN?

25. “HOW YOU INTERACT WITH A TECHNOLOGY
IS A FUNCTION OF YOUR MENTAL MODEL
OF THAT TECHNOLOGY”

26. “SHAKE IT LIKE A
POLAROID PICTURE”
WRONG MENTAL MODELS
CAUSING TROUBLE…

27. GETTING TRAPPED
IN A MENTAL MODEL

28. MENTAL MODELS
ARE COMFORTING

29. ALTHOUGH IT IS SF,
ALIENS OFTEN LOOK VERY HUMANOID.

30. THE UNCANNY VALLEY

32. WHY ARE SPACESHIPS
MENTALMODELS
IN SF AERODYNAMIC?
EVOLVE…

33. IMAGE A FUTURISTIC VEHICLE

34. MENTAL MODELS
EVOLVE…

36. CHARACTERISTICS
OF A MENTAL MODEL

37. MENTAL MODELS ARE SIMILAR IN STRUCTURE
TO THE THING OR CONCEPT THEY REPRESENT.

38. MENTAL MODELS ALLOW A PERSON
TO PREDICT THE RESULTS OF HIS ACTIONS.

39. MENTAL MODELS ARE SIMPLER
THAN THE THING OR CONCEPT THEY REPRESENT.
THEY INCLUDE ONLY ENOUGH INFORMATION TO
ALLOW ACCURATE PREDICTIONS.

40. MENTAL MODELS INCLUDE
WHAT A PERSON THINKS IS TRUE,
NOT NECESSARILY WHAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE.

41. THINKING PATTERNS

42. Mentaal
model

43. PLATO
INFORMATION ARCHITECT

45. PLATO
NEO
INFORMATION ARCHITECT
INFORMATION ARCHITECT

49. RECOGNIZING PATTERNS
MEETING EXPECTATIONS!

51. PATTERN + IDEA
LEFT + RIGHT

52. DEAR MOTHER NATURE,
TWO NOSTRILS? SERIOUSLY??

54. THE PROCESS OF LEARNING
LEARN TO RECOGNIZE PATTERNS

55. MENTAL MODELS =
INSIGHTS, NOT KNOWLEDGE

56. MENTAL MODELS =
CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS

57. MENTAL MODELS IN
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

58. DESIGN / VISUAL
THINKING

60. SAFE EXPLORATION
“LET ME EXPLORE WITHOUT GETTING LOST
OR GETTING INTO TROUBLE.”

61. INSTANT GRATIFICATION
“I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING NOW,
NOT LATER.”

62. SATISFICING
“THIS IS GOOD ENOUGH. I DON’T WANT TO
SPEND MORE TIME LEARNING TO DO IT
BETTER.”

63. HABITUATION
“THAT GESTURE WORKS EVERYWHERE ELSE,
WHY DOESN’T IT WORK HERE TOO?”

64. SPATIAL MEMORY
“I SWEAR THAT BUTTON WAS HERE A
MINUTE AGO, WHERE DID IT GO?”

67. CONGRATULATIONS,
YOU UNLOCKED THE CLOSURE BADGE!

68. GESTALTISM
GESTALT – “ESSENCE OR SHAPE OF AN
ENTITY'S COMPLETE FORM”

69. GESTALT PRINCIPLES

75. LAW OF PAST EXPERIENCE
YOUR MEMORY IS A
TREASURE OF MENTAL MODELS

76. ICONS, SYMBOLS
AND THE SEMIOTIC WEB

77. UNDO

78. REDO

79. REFRESH

80. REPLAY

81. REPLAY

82. REPLAY
REFRESH

84. MENTAL MODELS
= CREATIVITY

85. CREATIVITY IS…
SEARCHING FOR THE
MENTAL MODEL OF A USER

86. CREATIVITY IS…
STRETCHING THE LIMITS
OF A MENTAL MODEL

87. MENTAL MODELING IS…
THE HEARTBEAT
OF IA

88. TWITTER ME:
@WOUTERWALGRAEVE
LINKEDIN:
…/WOUTERWALGRAEVE

89. NASCOM
INFO@NASCOM.BE
@NASCOM ON TWITTER