Why do we pay to use a product? Understanding mental models in UX
Analyzing great apps with mental models and persuasive patterns.
“A mental model is based on belief, not facts: that is, it’s a model of what users know (or think they know) about a system such as your website.”
— Nielsen Norman Group
I’m currently living in San Francisco. There are many young entrepreneurs around me, and I consult with them and get involved in creating digital products from the early stages. So I have a lot of opportunities to see new digital products daily. I collect and analyze those good products to learn what is good about them.
There are reasons why we feel products are great. It was easy to explain why it’s excellent in terms of interaction for me. That’s because I can see it, I can hear it, I can actually touch it and feel it, and I can explain how it’s made.
But, why do we pay to use a product? In the past, I focused only on product interactions, so I hadn’t been able to give a persuasive explanation based on mental models’ principles.
I’ve known about mental models for a while, but I hadn’t systematized in my own way how many patterns there were and how to apply them to the product.
The kicker for me to pay attention to mental models again came when I found an article that summarized the insights that make great products. I use this to provide persuasive answers and patterns.
Mental Notes: https://getmentalnotes.com/cards
Why is the mental model so important? Applying mental model principles to product design can provide clues for building user connections, empathy, trust, and brands, even for products that are not well known.
This article provides some persuasive patterns of how the mental model principles are applied to the latest apps we use daily. I’m sure your product can be improved based on these mental model patterns. I hope this article will help everyone who reads it to realize how to create better products.
Cappuccino
A daily personal audio show featuring your friends
Cappuccino is an audio story-sharing app that you can enjoy with friends and families. I use it to share my thoughts and activity every day with close friends. Every morning at 8:00 a.m., you’ll receive an audio story from a friend, and you can listen to the audio with pleasant background music.
Periodic Events
Recurring events create sustained interest, anticipation and a sense of belonging. ー Mental Notes
Cappuccino has specified that you can listen to the recorded audio story the next day at 8 am. This limitation may seem like an inconvenience. However, it’s better to have a limited amount of time to listen to your friend’s latest updates than to be able to hear the latest updates at any time, which will increase your interest and expectation of your friend’s new updates. For me, it’s just a nice morning treat.
Conceptual Metaphor
We make sense of a new idea or conceptual domain by likening it to another.ー Mental Notes
LISTEN TO YOUR CAPPUCCINO: (mix of your friends’ beans) every morning at 8 am.
Cappuccino calls the short voice memos “Beans” and likens the experience of listening to a friend’s voice memo at 8 a.m. to the habit of drinking coffee every morning. The unique illustrations and copywriting make it easy to understand how to use the app and may provide you with a bright, new perspective in the morning.
Cappuccino is impressive because of the pleasant sound that plays at the start and end of a voice memo. Sound can create a sense of time and space.
Lemonade
Homeowners, Renters, and Pet Health Insurance
The only time I was aware of home insurance was when I moved into an apartment and when I moved out. I don’t really remember what the contract was always about.
My first problem with renting an apartment in the US with home insurance.
I signed up for Lemonade because I didn’t understand any of the phone calls from the first insurance company I contacted. It’s just a question of answering the Personal Insurance Assistant questions on the web to complete the registration process.
It’s easy to know how much insurance you have and what is covered by the app. If you buy a new expensive scooter or electronic device, you can also immediately register it as covered by the app. The lack of any insurance complexity can be explained by the two psychological designs found in Lemonade’s products.
Recognition over Recall
“It’s easier to recognize things we have previously experienced than it is to recall them from memory.” — Mental Notes
Lemonade’s Renters Insurance screen provides users with information about their insurance in a way that’s easy to understand with illustrations and visual information in numbers. You can also find out what warranties are not covered and what additional warranties can be applied. Visual information can also provide clues and help you recognize what you have and what is worth a high value.
Sequencing
We are more likely to take action when complex activities are broken down into smaller tasks. — Mental Notes
Completing complex tasks can be difficult, but breaking down complex tasks into smaller actions makes it easy to finish them. Lemonade uses an interactive UI with an assistant to break down any task into smaller actions.
Robinhood
Commission-free Stock Trading & Investing App
Robinhood is an app that allows you to trade stocks with no commissions. I am one of the people who use Robinhood to trade stocks, and it’s just like posting a picture on Instagram. Because of its simplicity, more and more young people are using Robinhood to invest in stocks. I’ve been buying stocks and checking the stock price two to three times a day.
Gifting
“We feel the need to reciprocate when we receive a gift.” — Mental Notes
- Sign up and transfer money and get free shares.
- Invite your friends and you get free shares.
By transferring money to Robinhood and inviting your friends, you can get shares for free. There is a barrier between signing up and actually transferring money to Robinhood, but you can start investing with a small amount of money and get your shares for free. Anyone can invest easily on the app.
Social Proof
“We tend to follow the patterns of similar others in new or unfamiliar situations.” — Mental Notes
Robinhood’s app's popularity is due to its easy to read stock price information — Analyst Ratings includes analysts’ ratings for the stock, specific comments, and buy, hold, and sell percentages in a visually pleasing way. Sign up for the paid plan, Robinhood Gold, for more detailed Research Reports.
This information can help you decide whether you should buy a stock or not, and the compilation of reliable information is an advantage for novice investors. Social proof increases the credibility of that information.
Transit
The simple and beautiful way to get around.
The city of San Francisco is served by Bart, MUNI, and other transit systems. First-time riders and even occasional users like myself can get confused about the public transit here. Standing at the train station, you will frequently be asked questions by tourists. In the beginning, I had no idea where I could get on the train or when it would be coming from. First, it’s normal for them not to show up at the scheduled time, so Transit is a handy app that allows you to see exactly what time you’ll arrive and makes it easy to understand your transfers and connections.
Familiarity bias
“We tend to develop a preference for things merely because we are familiar with them.” — Mental Notes
When you open Transit, you’ll see a map view and then a color-coded list view that covers the map view. Each item is described by a large alphanumeric character and an icon, which, if you’ve ever ridden a MUNI, you’ll immediately recognize, is a MUNI sign. The same familiar signs as the physical signs are displayed in the app in a large and prominent arrangement.
The design is organized with a consistent color scheme and symbols, even on a screen that displays large amounts of data, making it easy to identify complex transit options. The list is ordered to show the shortest accessible transit options from the map pin locations; non-MUNI transit options also appear in the list, but they use the icons for each transit system so you won’t get lost.
Feedback loops
“We are engaged by situations in which we see our actions modify subsequent results.” — Mental Notes
Transit’s Go feature is exactly the kind of feature that makes good use of the Feedback loop. As a transit companion, Go provides real-time information to take the stress away from the Trip. This real-time information is provided by users who use the Go feature.
Go automatically tracks your vehicle, walking speed, and location in real-time, so you never miss a ride. You can know and do exactly where you are and where your ride is now. When your actions affect the outcome, people are drawn to that data because they are involved in the information.
Uber Eats, Doordash
Food delivery apps
As I entered the quarantine life of COVID-19, I used food delivery services more often than before. I use User Eats, Doordash, and more recently, Eats Pass and DashPass have been introduced as subscription services that offer free shipping on orders.
Eats Pass: https://about.ubereats.com/us/en/how-it-works/uber-eats-pass/
Dash Pass: https://help.doordash.com/consumers/s/article/What-is-DashPass
Framing
The way in which issues and data are stated can alter our judgement and affect decisions. — Mental Notes
Save $27 every month — Average monthly saving for subscriptions in San Francisco.
The Use Eats tab bar has an Easts Pass screen with the data and benefits shown above. In addition to this screen, the restaurant’s menu screen has the text “Spend $15 to save with Eats Pass” in the first place you see it, and when you proceed to the actual order payment screen, it gives you a detailed estimate of the discount.
Loss aversion
“We hate losing or letting go of what we have (even if more could be had).” — Mental Notes
We use data to show what we are giving up and what we are losing by canceling. In subscription services, we see a lot of loss aversion by suggesting financial and functional loss.
However, in my experience, I believe that overemphasizing this lost opportunity more than necessary will make the user uncomfortable in return. In particular, I’d like to introduce a dark pattern: the Adobe churn screen. This is often used as a reference case, but I find it very offensive.
UberEats dares to introduce an easy one-tap cancellation system. I appreciate the design, which only offers benefits but doesn’t dare show any financial or functional loss. It doesn’t make previous users feel uncomfortable — flip a switch on Auto-Renew.
These mental model cases will not apply to be available for every project you work on. You will need to decide whether to incorporate them based on your target users and the type of product you are working on and your brand’s policies.
An analysis of the practical apps will show that they have been incorporated effectively. You should also try to analyze your great apps with mental models in mind. You’ll find clues to improve the products you’re involved with.
I will continue to publish regular articles analyzing the latest apps.
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed this article, follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, or Figma.
