Understanding Mental Maps

November 13, 2003

People coming to your website bring all their previous experiences with other web sites with them. This knowledge is what is commonly referred to as a mental map, where a user has some very well placed and preconceived notions of where to find things they are looking for on a page.

In most cases this mental map is what is their expectation of where to find things on any site. Examples of items that make up a mental map are where to find things like home, or using terms such as "Search," "Sign-In" in navigation instead of some funky term like Projects. The success and failure of a site can rest on how a user's mental map synchs to how you designed your site.

Gerry's latest article dives deeper into this notion of Mental Mapping and how it can imact a site's success.