[Sigia-l] Conceptual models (again): metaphors or categories?

[PeterV]

Hi all,
trying to understand better how conceptual and mental models are used. I 
found Don Norman's description quite useful:
http://www.acm.org/archives/wa.cgi?A2=ind0008A&L=chi-web&D=0&P=9325

I also had a look at Adaptivepath's deliverables, where the mental model 
they describe is about how the user organizes or *categorizes* the tasks.
http://www.adaptivepath.com/presentations/complete/

Does anyone have examples or stories about how they describe/use mental 
models of users when building websites? The Adaptivepath approach (as 
described in their deliverables) focusses on grouping tasks, finding 
*categories* that users use. I'm wondering about much of the Xerox parc 
work, where it's more about *metaphors* users use, like here
http://hci.stanford.edu/bds/2-liddle.html

So how do metaphors and categories fit in together in this whole mental 
model thing? I can think of examples (almost any website I've done) where 
finding categories that users use makes sense, but metaphors is another 
story... Any reading material / ideas?
PeterV
http://petervandijck.net

At 12:12 PM 4/16/2002 -0700, celia romaniuk wrote:
>On Mon, 15 Apr 2002, Tom Burke wrote:
>
> > You're going to want to read today's NY Times for the
> > article on textarc.org, a site featuring software that
> > maps the content and structure of literary classics
> > such as Alice in Wonderland, turning a linear
> > narrative into an interactive map.
>
>Tangentially related is something a friend of mine made a few years ago. I
>wondered aloud what would happen if you translated some mailing list
>traffic patterns into music, and within a few days he'd answered the
>question.
>
>http://www.generative.net/papers/MIDI::Realtime/
>
>"Hmm. Emails into music, weird. But hey, in previous lives I've hacked
>perl to turn databases into spreadsheets, and specification docs into C
>code, so why not mail into sound? ....
>
>"We dreamed up some more detail, and came up with two reasonably workable
>ideas about what the music should be. The first was that you should be
>able to hear each thread separately, so you could hear each one appear,
>intermingle with the others and die. The second idea was that the music
>should show how the list traffic changed over time; not only rises and
>falls, but also changes in texture. Different people post in different
>patterns, and over time, people from a wider range of timezones joined the
>list."
>
>Celia
>
>Content Management Symposium, Chicago O'Hare Marriott, June 28 - 30.
>See http://www.asis.org/CM
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