How They Work : Cue existing mental models

• Surface similarities cue into pre-existing mental models of systems.  You map actions and expectations over.  So if action A causes outcome C on a physical telephone then A should cause C here
   

• Actually the new system is different.  Hitting numerical buttons on a physical phone is quite different than using a  mouse to hit images of buttons.  But at a more abstract level the actions are the same because they serve the same functional role.  So in mapping over we rely on a mental model of the functions of actions.   Hitting a number is how you key in phone numbers.  But we know that numbers on virtual phones are supposed to behave like number buttons on physical phones because we also rely on assumptions about surface properties:  numerals here represent the same function numerals on physical phones.

Trouble can arise when the metaphor is imperfect.  For instance, on physical phones the number is automatically dialed (or is transmitted sequentially) whereas in cell phones the number sequence has to be explicitly sent.  Errors arise when people forget to press Send or OK.