Adoption
Mental Model Mismatch
The gap between how a user expects a product to work and how it actually works, causing friction, errors, and abandonment.
Mental model mismatch occurs when a product's interface, terminology, or workflow conflicts with the user's existing mental model of how that kind of work gets done. The user expects X, the product does Y. This creates cognitive load, errors, and frustration. The mismatch can happen at the macro level (the product organizes work differently than the user thinks about it) or the micro level (a button does something unexpected). Fixing mental model mismatch requires either changing the product to match the user's model, or explicitly teaching the user the product's model. The latter is harder and riskier.