[Sigia-l] IA & Mental Models

[Rachel-Pace]

I was listening to a story on NPR a while back that described the scientist studying brain activity with a MRI machine. The study participant was shown a tool of some sort and the scientists watched the path of brain activity as the subject classified the item. I sat in my driveway marveling about technology today and thought it might just be the most perfect example of IA in action. I think the story is here: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1420325 but I can get there from work (darn firewall)...

Rachel

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org]On Behalf Of
Leslie Carter
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 11:43 AM
To: SigIA-L
Subject: [Sigia-l] IA & Mental Models


Has anyone run across research connecting specific attributes of information
architecture to users' mental or conceptual models?  Donald Norman's
principles of good design which help users form accurate mental models:
visibility, mappings, & feedback (from "The Psychology of Everyday Things")
are certainly is related to information architecture.  However, I'm looking
for research on specific IA characteristics (e.g., labeling, navigation) and
user performance.  Seen any?

If this topic interests you, be sure to see Scott McDaniel's article at
Boxes & Arrows
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/whats_your_idea_of_a_mental_model.php

Leslie Carter
Instructional Design
George Mason University

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