Why a Conceptual Model

The most important thing a conceptual model does is it gives you a big picture view of how the pieces of your information puzzle fit together. Without a visual representation, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture as you dive into development details and burn the midnight oil to deliver your solution on time. This is especially true for teams that are working on business-critical projects, such as a data warehouse, SOA, ERP or Master Data Management (DMM).

conceptual design provide a framework to identify and communicate the different elements involved in your project. In addition, they can help you visualize expected cause-and-effect relationships. This helps you plan and prioritize your tasks, making it easier to stay on track and meet deadlines.

By providing a snapshot of concepts, entities and their relationships, conceptual models allow for an early discussion about terminology, reducing the risk of overlooked relationships or confusion between team members. They also provide a common language to communicate your vision and requirements to the rest of the team.

Why a Conceptual Model is Important

This is particularly important in large applications, where it can be easy to forget the original problem or objective when working on individual screens. In these cases, it’s important to have a clear overview of the bigger picture so that you can identify potential system clashes before they occur.

A lack of a conceptual model can result in inconsistencies, incoherence or redundancies in the design of your application. For example, if the logical model for a customer account doesn’t correctly represent the relationship between a customer and their pets, it’s difficult to tell how many pets each customer has. Incorrect modeling can also lead to a mismatch between the business objectives and the functional requirements of an application, which can lead to significant costs for the company.

In the context of UX/UI design, a conceptual model provides the foundation for creating more detailed user flows and interaction models. It also ensures that your design is based on the users’ needs and expectations, which will save you time and resources in the long run.

Using a tool such as UXPin for creating your conceptual model makes it easy to share it with teammates and stakeholders for instant feedback, and you can easily convert it into a more concrete UI or data model when it’s ready.

While it’s important to keep your conceptual models simple, make sure you’re including all the necessary elements to achieve your goals. When you’re designing for a mobile app, this might include identifying the objects that your users will interact with, such as ingredients, cooking utensils or cooking methods. You should also assign actions and attributes to these objects based on how the user will interact with them. This will help you create a product that is well-designed and intuitive to use from the start, saving you time and money in the long run. Try UXPin for free to get started!