How to design exceptional products

Doing some research I found an article by SUHAAS KAUL and found it very interesting and inspirational, so I wanted to share this on my blog. This particular article discussed mental and conceptual models that bridge psychology and product design.

A mental model is the representation that a person has in his mind about the object that he is interacting with. It is the way the person thinks about what he or she is doing. Our mental mode is different depending on factors such as past experience, intuitive perceptions and incomplete information.

A mental model defines a person’s behaviour. It shapes his or her actions in a particular situation. It defines what people pay attention to, how they approach certain problems and try to solve them, and how they interact with your product. Therefore, research on your target audience is extremely important before you start designing your product.

This made me think deeply on how much time and effort I should put into researching the audience that is the target of the design as the more I know the better product I will be able to create.

A conceptual model is that which is given to the user through the design and interface of the product. The screen, the buttons, and the interface comprise the conceptual model. You interact with a product via its conceptual model. For example, a conceptual model for an online library is the website that the user interacts with.

The experience the user has with the product is extremely important to the designer and needs to be considered in order to create an exceptional design. When we create products in which the target audience’s mental models align with their conceptual models, the product becomes engaging and easy to use. This means that there is minimal cognitive load, i.e. users don’t have to strain their minds to use the product or navigate the website. They just start using it effortlessly.