It studies the problems existing in common gestures on the mobile terminal， to explore the connection between the user mental models and gestures， and to research the gesture design based on user mental models. Through the study of common gesture operations on mobile terminal， based on the user′s perception of gesture operations， it came up with the design method of gestures， which was on the basis of user mental models. To design the gesture operation on the basis of mental models of the target population， it constantly reconstructed， improved and optimized the existing user mental models during the user using the product， and enable the user to quickly understand， accept and use the gesture in the product. Based on process of assimilating and adapting the user mental models， it summarized the specific application of many elements in the design of the gesture and user mental models， which was in the design of the whole process and put forward the principle of operation design of some gestures.