Julia Pellicciaro's List: thesis 2013

• the user develops a mental model of how he/she thinks the system works through interaction of the system
• used to reason about the system, to anticipate system behaviour and to explain why the system reacts as it does
• In the article "Some Observations on Mental Models" Norman (1983) distinguishes between mental models and conceptual models: "Conceptual models are devised as tools for the understanidng or teaching of physical systems. Mental models are what people really have in their heads and what guides their use of things."
• f he/she manages to get the conceptual model right, the correct mental model (in the mind of the user) will follow. At least in theory.
• users do not only interpret the visible parts of the system (the "system image" in figure 1) but also make guesses as to what goes on behind the scenes ("the system" in figure 1)

3 more annotations...

• A mental model is based on belief, not facts:
• model of what users know (or think they know) about a system
• they base their predictions about the system on their mental models and thus plan their future actions based on how that model predicts the appropriate course
• Individual users each have their own mental model
• A mental model is internal to each user's brain, and different users might construct different mental models of the same user interface
• mental models are in flux exactly because they're embedded in a brain rather than fixed in an external medium
• users might also update their mental models based on stimuli from elsewhere, such as talking to other users or even applying lessons from other systems.
• mixed-up mental models that confuse different parts of the system.
• Netflix works differently than typical e-commerce sites, which caused problems
• That's why they have the "queue" feature instead of a standard shopping cart.
• inertia in users' mental models: stuff that people know well tends to stick, even when it's not helpful
• How do you explain the new concept such that users have a living chance of constructing a valid mental model
• In case of a mental-model mismatch, you basically have two different options:
• Make the system conform to users' mental models
• Improve users' mental models so that they more accurately reflect your system
• research has shown that mental-model formation is enhanced when concepts are simultaneously presented in both visual and verbal form.
• When users verbalize what they think, believe, and predict while they use your design, you can piece together much of their mental model.

15 more annotations...

• A mental model represents one possibility, capturing what is common to all the different ways in which the possibility may occur. Mental models represent explicitly what is true, but not what is false.
• The greater the number of models that a task elicits, and the greater the complexity of individual models, the poorer performance is.
• Reasoners focus on a subset of the possible models of multiple-model problems
• Mental models provide a unified account of deductive, probabilistic, and modal reasoning.
• Current challenges to model theorists

3 more annotations...

• way of observing, collectively, how hidden values and intentions can control our behavior
• exploratory, its meaning and its methods continue to unfold
• part of an unfolding process of creative participation between peers
• "thought" here to signify not only the products ofour conscious intellect but also our feelings, emotions, intentions and desires

2 more annotations...

• These are called complex adaptive systems. And although the parts interact in unpredictable ways, they develop rich patterns of complex order through a process of feedback that further influence the development of the system. Over time, the system becomes more complex, more coherent and more organized.

• report nicely summarizes four key points about a complex adaptive system (CAS) perspective. CAS begins with individuals or organizations guided by some higher inner principles. CAS:

   
   
  1. Focuses on processes more than structures or outcomes as a way of managing;
   

   

  2. Defines systems on the basis of interrelationships between people, groups, structures and ideas and the behavior, events and outcomes they produce;
   
  3. Emphasizes emergence as the way human systems change on the basis of countless interactions amongst a huge number of elements;
   
  4. Brings out in-built tendencies towards self-organization that drive the emergence of order, direction and capacity from within the system itself.
• “Systems thinking” and system dynamics are similar to CAS, but start with the collective whole rather than the individual/organization.
• “feedback loops”
• “unintended consequences”:
• Three counter-intuitive behaviors of social systems (that) are especially dangerous”:
• f these networks are to integrate this systems wisdom, they must be expert at such things as identifying and working with “high-influence points”

4 more annotations...

• project's first step had been recognizing the existing (social, cultural and economic) resources and best practices
• To find the way to combine, in a positive, sustainable way, the small and local with the global and connected.
• rooted in a place and have the real possibility to control some relevant elements of their daily life
• local and open, at the same time
• To create permeable interfaces between communities and places
• new forms of organization are appearing and new products and services will be required to fit them
• looking to social innovation companies can focalize the businesses of the future
• services traditionally delivered by the public sector consider their users to be passive recipients
• What happens if we imagine a new generation of public services attuned to active and collaborative citizens?
• What happens if a new generation of services emerges from a collaborative, largely bottom-up, design process?

8 more annotations...