Who Moved My (Virtual) Cheese? – The Power of Understanding Mental Models When Designing Websites

Have you ever walked into a friend’s house and realized that he has completely rearranged his furniture? Or gone to your favorite grocery store, only to find the aisles have been reorganized, and your produce, pasta sauce and preferred snacks are no longer in the same spot?

It’s a jarring experience, one that can feel temporarily shocking and strange. This isn’t how I remember things! you might say to yourself. This isn’t right!

Human beings are creatures of habit, and once we have a model for how a certain space should look in our head, finding that model flipped on its head can disorient us.

read it @ Who Moved My (Virtual) Cheese? : The Power of Understanding Mental Models When Designing Websites  UX Magazine