Mental Models
in Healthcare Research & Journeymapping
Mapping Minds in Healthcare
A design approach to identify mental models, their dynamics, and their effect on the acceptability and awareness of complex service systems
Leah Putman, Shuxian Qian, Melissa Kramer
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Mental Model Research for Systemic Impact
The investigation of the mental models can help systemic designers to gain a deeper level of empathy towards humans in order to tackle the complexity of healthcare systems. Moreover, the creation of new methods to identify mental models can serve as a basis for future in-depth research and design for different fields.
Scope
We engaged students to find out more about their mental models, specifically their expectations and experiences, visiting a general practitioner in the Netherlands. Within these students, we used purposeful random sampling targeting several subgroups.
Research Method
​​Visuals to trigger memories
Initial questions to see the full breadth of the research area
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Deep reflection questions that move from general to specific
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Follow up questions to follow the passion
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Ask for expectations
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Ask for surprise
Analysis
​Two-way thinking: Participants sometimes consider different possibilities from different perspectives due to the diverse roles they have in a system.
Empathy to others: Participants will step in others’ shoes unconsciously.
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Awareness of mental model shifting by self-reflection: Participants are aware of the change in their way of thinking when they reflect on their experience.
Limitation of ideal by past experiences: Ideals are limited by what participants think as a kind of the “best of” their past experiences.
Impact of stereotype for expectations: Participants will base their expectations on a stereotype or partial information that overtakes other influences in the mental model.