What is the object that works like a door? Are you going to analyze just a part of the object? Only one interface? Are you defining well the object?.Using the Norman door as an analogy or a model, we have to answer the following questions: The question you have to ask about any design is: if this object was a door, would it be a Norman door? Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash The Norman door as a conceptual framework
a door is a common object of everyday use.when achieving his goal, the user will not remember the door.the major goal is on the mind of the user, not the door.the door is a medium - a tool - for a major goal.Let’s add user needs to expand the framework: the user easily understands what it is and its parts.
the design should communicate how to use it, with no labels, no trial or error.Let’s find the elements to build the conceptual framework. If you need to know more, Tania Vieira has already explained it perfectly. Now it’s a designer’s reference to explain a bad design. Let’s see which are the elements and context in a Norman door to abstract and organize them.ĭon Norman, the father of user experience design, uses a door as an example of bad design in his book The Design of Everyday Things - if you have to explain how to use a door it’s not well designed. We say in a business meeting: “imagine we are playing football…” We articulate these concepts to understand and organize our business or company. For instance, we talk about rivals, teams, goals, strategies, tactics, motivation, defense, attack, front line, bank, coach, etc. But in the context of user experience design, ‘mental model’ means a ‘ mental representations’, so I prefer ‘conceptual framework’ to avoid confusion.Ī good example of a conceptual framework is the way we usually understand the business, marketing or sales competition using the reference of sports.
For more regular and common use, you usually call them ‘ mental models’. In science and research, you call them conceptual frameworks.