Sessions at UX Week 2007 about Mental Models

Unscheduled

• Capturing the Whole User Experience: From the Moviegoers' Perspective

  by Indi Young

  Businesses that pay attention to the entire spectrum of customer interaction, and actually get it right (at least most of the time), win their customers' attention and loyalty. And the key to creating a business that addresses the entire spectrum of user experience is to build empathy with your customers. An effective way to do this is to create a mental model, one that considers all the different ways an organization interacts with its users: stores, account statements, customer service calls, product ordering websites, packaging...everything.

  A few years ago, I developed a mental model for JMS Entertainment, a movie distribution company that wanted to attract a larger audience of moviegoers. The model I created depicted the entire moviegoer's experience, from watching trailers and reading reviews to discussing the plot points with a friend after the show. I then compared that mental model to the features of the JMS website, noting the interesting gaps and matches from a strategic point of view. I also help JMS brainstorm new ideas based on combinations seen from the perspective of the mental model. From there, an effective three-year roadmap was created, one with a clear business perspective. The result? A user experience that fully addresses the entire range of JMS's customer needs.

  In this session, you will:

  • Examine the mental model for opportunities to support moviegoers in attractive ways.
  • Learn how to gather innovative ideas by combining or building off of related features.
  • Create a strategic roadmap for your organization.
  • Design Research
  • Mental Models
  • User Experience