Mental Models

Indi Young’s new book is a welcome addition, covering an aspect of the design process that is extremely important but often neglected. The book is chock-full of practical advice derived from real-world development projects, but doesn’t lose sight of the broad conceptual underpinnings.

–Ray Valdes, Research Director, Web Services, Gartner Inc.

Mental Models offers a practical set of techniques for task analysis in the early stage of design thinking and strategic design planning. Developed over the course of more than ten years, Indi Young’s common sense approach focuses on user behavior, diagrammatic representations, and the participation of all stakeholders in collaborative discovery. It is a book that designers and students, alike, will find useful.

–Richard Buchanan, Professor of Design, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University

At Dow Corning, Mental Models offer understanding at many levels—from a high level overview of customers’ generic unmet needs, to providing a detailed examination of the atomic tasks that they carry out as part of their jobs. So too for this indispensable book—it offers both a high level overview of the value of Mental Models for executives and leaders, as well as a detailed step-by-step guide to the technique for practitioners. Indi has eloquently captured the essence of Mental Models and offers her unrivaled experience to everyone.

–Simon Parker, Global Process Manager, Front End of Innovation, Dow Corning Corporation

Mental models reveal all those things that should be obvious during the design process, but so often come back to haunt you later. Indi’s book provides a systematic and invaluable means for applying mental models; having used her method on many large projects, I’m a true believer.

–Camille Sobalvarro, Senior Director, Web Marketing & Communications, Sybase Inc.