Comments on: Lateral Movement at the NY Times http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2005/08/15/lateral-movement-at-the-ny-times/ UIE\'s latest insights on the world of design Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:11:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 By: steve portigal http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2005/08/15/lateral-movement-at-the-ny-times/comment-page-1/#comment-8 steve portigal Mon, 15 Aug 2005 19:11:41 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/?p=35#comment-8 This is excellent, Jared! And this seems like an excellent example of situations where the designer's "mental model" of how the site will be used doesn't correspond well with the user's "mental model." The user doesn't have a "next" and they definitely do not have a "previous." The labelling makes no acknowledgment of the user's mental model, and since they don't seem to understand the different mental models, they aren't doing any teaching; they aren't helping the user to participate in the designer's (and the system's) mental model. (Sure, this isn't the best strategy, but it's certainly better than what they've got so far). "Earlier articles in today's Business Section" By setting up the relationship as time-based, and by indicating the location, they can provide some navigational cues to help the user build that model. I prefer your suggestions above, of course. This is excellent, Jared! And this seems like an excellent example of situations where the designer’s “mental model” of how the site will be used doesn’t correspond well with the user’s “mental model.” The user doesn’t have a “next” and they definitely do not have a “previous.” The labelling makes no acknowledgment of the user’s mental model, and since they don’t seem to understand the different mental models, they aren’t doing any teaching; they aren’t helping the user to participate in the designer’s (and the system’s) mental model. (Sure, this isn’t the best strategy, but it’s certainly better than what they’ve got so far).

“Earlier articles in today’s Business Section”

By setting up the relationship as time-based, and by indicating the location, they can provide some navigational cues to help the user build that model.

I prefer your suggestions above, of course.

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