Of Mental Models and Affordances.

“And God said; let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth”

A mental model is basically an explanation, unfolding or disclosure of someone’s thought(s) about how something is supposed to work in the real world [Thanks Google]. Your mental model of a door is a room or building’s entry or exit point with some form of handle attached. What happens when you get to a door you wish to enter through or exit from and there’s no handle or device or sign on how to activate it? Like a fortune teller, I can say with quite a level of certainty that you’d be stupefied, confused or maybe even frustrated; that is of course after you’ve tried to figure out what the heck is going on with the strange door. You see, your mental model does not tally with the existing and prevailing affordances. Affordances are the possibilities that a concept, item, product or service enables you to undertake. For example; Amazon.com lets you buy almost anything in this world from the comfort of your home (which is where your electronic device connects automatically to Wi-Fi😂) but you can’t buy shares in Amazon on Amazon. Haha!😆 For that, you’ll have to give the Bamboo or Robinhood apps a try or go to the NASDAQ. They “afford” you (pun intended) the opportunity to buy shares in Amazon but not groceries. So you see; varying possibilities.

The affordances we expect from anything (or anyone) are influenced by our mental models. If you keep this in mind, you’re one step closer to business or career success. This principle is so important that the Holy Book gives us a picture of God practicing it from before man was created. The Creator didn’t simply set out causing the sun and trees and birds and cattle to appear just because He wanted to. No! He had a goal in mind – He wanted to create a being in His image and likeness; He had a mental picture of the being in question; how he should look like, behave, walk like, what he should eat, where he should sleep, what he should work on, what position he should occupy on the food chain etc. This was what set the Creator to make certain affordances available to this being. When he created the sun and moon or the trees and animals, stepped back and reviewed His work and awarded it a five star rating, it was not a case of megalomania, He was matching His mental model of the soon to – be – created ideal being and the necessary affordances versus what was on ground after a fully day’s work. Apparently, everything fit to specification, because He always declared that it was good. In all honesty, God was probably the first UI/UX designer (More on that some other time)

 On the strength of this principle, several questions come to the fore;

(i)                  As a business owner, or leader or vital cog in a well-oiled business machine, do you have a mental model of those you aim or profess to serve?

(ii)                Do your customers, consumers, or users have an accurate mental model of your business?

(iii)               Does your business provide the requisite affordances to adequately meet consumer needs and mental models?

These are pertinent questions. Yes, I know you want everyone to use or consume what you’re offering. Sorry to stick a pin in your balloon. But that’s probably never going to happen. Don’t feel bad, not even Jesus, Rockefeller, or Bezos, or Uncle Bill Gates or the Iconic Steve Jobs has been able to achieve that. You’re in good company. Create a user persona – your ideal customer, a picture of who you intend to connect with and provide value for with your product or service. Where do they work? What jobs do they do? What is their spending pattern? How much disposable income do they have? Age? Likes? Habits? Etc. Studies show that a large portion of the 56% of businesses that have not embraced or documented customer personas perform well worse than their counterparts who have. In fact, 71% of companies who have and consistently maintain documented personas exceed their lead, sales and revenue targets and have a markedly improved value proposition. 71%. That’s huge! Have a clear picture of who your customer is.

Be fanatical about matching affordances which your business provides with that of consumers’ mental models.

 Remember that door with no visible handle? Do not make your consumers upset or frustrated because they’re interacting with your product or company. They’ll leave you for someone or something else. It's just like that door with no handles. After ranting and raving and kicking and shoving to no avail and with no help or relief in sight, you'll just think to yourself, "maybe I'm not supposed to go through this door" after which you'll go find an alternative.

Think through every single point of interaction with a prospect or frequent user – ordering, payments, delivery, feedback, returns, after sale services and more. One way to hack this is to be a user of your own product or service. Anonymously call your own customer care department, interact with customers on the sales floor, and use your own product for heaven’s sake. You should be fanatical about improving the customer experience. I didn’t mince words. FANATICAL! And if for some reason(s), a user is way off about the affordances your business provides, correct and relay that message in a kind, courteous and relatable way, and if possible go the extra mile in recommending alternatives where their needs will be met. Be the Nordstrom of your industry. In the tech world, before an app or website is created, it’s best practice to get a Product designer who’ll test, think through and design every single interaction the user will have with the product. I advocate that this should be standard practice for all industries or products. Get someone to walk through your operational processes and make corrections and recommendations. Be proactive.

God created the beautiful Garden of Eden for mankind. Be like God. That’s the right precedent to follow. Let your business be a piece of Eden for your users. I promise that you’ll be better off for it,

I’m currently reading “Ego is the Enemy” by Ryan Holiday. It’s a really good book and I strongly recommend. A solid 9/10.

Adios Amigos.