The Designer's Model

[web-designer]

The Designer's Model

Defining the user experience.

The interface components and relationships intended to be seen by users and intended to become part of each user's conceptual model are described in the website designer's model. This model represents the website designer's intent in terms of components users will see and how they will use the components to accomplish their tasks.

The website designer's model identifies objects, how those objects are represented to users, and how users interact with those objects. Website user oriented objects are defined in terms of properties, behaviors, and relationships with other objects. Differences in properties and behaviors are the basis for class distinctions, such as the distinctions between folders and documents. Relationships between objects affect how they are used in accomplishing users' tasks. For example, users can use folders to contain and organize memos, reports, charts, tables, and many other classes of objects. Website users can discard an object by dragging and dropping the object's icon on a wastebasket icon, and users can print an object by dropping the object's icon on a printer icon. These actions are logical in that they maintain real-world relationships between objects.

In summary, the website designer's model is the model of objects, properties, behaviors, and relationships that the website designer intends the user to understand. The website designer's goal is that each user's conceptual model exactly matches the website designer's model. Website users who perceive the interface at this level have a precise understanding of the interface and can take full advantage of the capabilities intended by the website design.