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Mental model 0:29
A 29-second explainer of Mental model, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Mental model demo
What this video covers
The picture in someone's head of how a thing works. When the interface matches it, everything feels obvious; when it doesn't, nothing does.
On the matching layout you did not learn the controls, you already knew them: the knobs sat where the burners did. That instant knowing is a mental model, and an interface that fights it makes simple things feel broken.