Gerrit C. van der Veer and Maria del Carmen Puerta Melguizo
Vrije Universiteit
Why Bother About Mental Models in Human-Computer Interaction?
Examples of Problems
Mismatch of Designers' Intention and the User Mental Model at the Level of Task Delegation
Problems in Redesign of Task Semantics and Functionality
Issues Regarding Syntax Level of a Newly Designed Dialogue
Design Questions at the Representation Level
Examples of Valid Relations
The Mouse
User Guidance
Hinting as a Base for Learning
Valid Mental Models Seem to Make a Difference
Mental Models in Psychological Theory
Overview of Relevant Concepts and Theories
Craik (1943)-People Need Mental Models of Their World
Johnson-Laird (1983)-Human Reasoning Is About Meaning
Early Definitions from Human-Computer Interaction - Mental Models of Computer Systems
Canas and Antoli (1998): Mental Models Are Dynamic Representations
Classification
Mental Models of Procedures vs. Semantics
Descriptive vs. Analytic Models
Internal vs. External Knowledge
Generic vs. Instantiated Models
Individual vs. Shared Mental Models
Summarizing Mental Models
A Pragmatic Approach Toward Applying the Psychological Concept of the Mental Model
Our View on Mental Models
The "Appropriate" Mental Model
How to Design for the Appropriate Mental Model
What type of Knowledge Do Users Need?
What Is Going on Behind the Screen?
What Is Going on Behind This Computer?
What Organizational Structure Is Behind My Computer
What Task Domain Is Available Through My Computer
what Are the Process and Time Aspects of Delegating Tasks to My Computer
What type of Insight in Users Knowledge Do Designers Need?
The User's Virtual Machine
Different User's Virtual Machines
Modeling the User Virtual Machine
Designing for Users and Tasks
Task Analysis as a Process for Analyzing Users' Knowledge
Modeling for Users Task Knowledge for Complex Interactive Systems
Specifying Details of Technology: The Users' Virtual Machine
Evaluating Design for Future Users' Mental Models
How To Conceptualize And Measure Mental Models
Theory Is Not Enough
The Pathfinder Algorithm
Teach-back Protocols
Examples of Empirical Results on Mental Model Measurement
Mental Models of Operating Systems
Comparing Operating Systems Using Teach-back
An Example in Designing Computer Systems Using Teach-back
Comparing Representation Effects in Information Retrieval Using Pathfinder
Effects of Users' Vertical Machine Consistency on Mental Models Using Pathfinder
Differences Between Mental Models of Experts and Novices in Some Other Knowledge Domains
An Example in Physics Using Pathfinder
An Example in Physics Using Teach-back
Applying Teach-back in Artistic Design Domains
Shared Mental Models, Relation to Team Problem Solving
Buying Apples as Well as Pears Is Better Than Having to Compare Them
Extracting Relevant Concepts
Knowledge About Functionality and Dialogue
Conclusions
References
Figure 3.1: Example of a flight progress strip.
Figure 3.2: Engelbart ’s original mouse (courtesy of the Boot-strap Institute). Online version not available
Figure 3.3: Early three-button mouse,1968 (courtesy of the Bootstrap Institute).
Figure 3.4: MS Pack and Go Wizard.
Figure 3.5: Examples of hinting from MS Office 2000.
Figure 3.6:The role and place of mental models during the interaction with a physical system. From Proceedings of the Ninth European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics — Cognition and Cooperation (p.00),byJ.J.Canas and A. Antoli, (1998),European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics EACE, Unite de Recherche INRIA: Rocquencourt, Le Chesnay Cedex, France. Copyright 1998 by the authors. Adapted with permission.
Figure 3.7: Example of a pathfinder representation.
Figure 3.8: Example of a teach-back representation.
Figure 3.9: Example of a teach-back protocol for a "how to?" question on using e-mail at a command interface.
Figure 3.10: Group pathfinder net for the group used a natural language information retrieval dialogue. IDDM = insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Figure 3.11: A novice in physics showing a mental model of the category internal experiment.
Figure 3.12: A music composer referring to physical theory (the graphic representations of wave forms and sound envelope).