Assessing users mental models in designing complex systems

Our main research interest is exploring the role of users' mental models while designing complex systems, in order to Improve the design process. We use as a conceptual framework the user-centered design approach DUTCH (Van der Veer & Van Welle, 2000) and consider that the assessment of ours' mental models should be some very early in the design process. We investigate our hypothesis by performing a study in which we use scenarios to create mental models of the future system. Then, we explore the mental models using several methods. (Teach -back, Pathfinder, and Cued-Association Task). In this paper we present the results from the Teach -back method. Our conclusions show the utility of such approach in improving the design process.