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3 Click Rule
A website design guideline stating that users should find information within 3 clicks or less, aiming for efficient navigation and content retrieval.
5 Second Test
The 5-Second Test assesses the initial impression and clarity of a design or webpage by exposing participants for a brief period, evaluating recall and first impressions.
60-30-10 Rule
A design principle that guides color distribution, suggesting proportions of 60%, 30%, and 10% for dominant, secondary, and accent colors, respectively.
80/20 Rule
Suggests that a smaller subset of factors or efforts often has a significant impact on the overall user experience, guiding prioritization and improvements.
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A/B Testing
Data-driven method to optimize web design, content, and marketing by comparing two or more variants to improve user experience, conversions, and engagement.
Accessibility
Designing websites or products that are inclusive and usable by all, including people with disabilities, through elements such as proper color contrast, keyboard accessibility, and alternative text for images.
Accessibility Guidelines
Standards and recommendations that help designers and developers create (digital) products that can be used by people with certain disabilities and limitations.
Adaptive Design
A UX design approach that creates tailored versions of a digital product for specific devices or screen sizes, optimizing layout, content, and functionality.
Aesthetic Usability Effect
The aesthetic-usability effect suggests that users are more likely to perceive a design as usable if they find it visually appealing.
Aesthetics
The visual appeal and emotional response elicited by the design of a product or service.
Affect Heuristic
The affect heuristic is a mental shortcut where people make judgments and decisions based on their emotional reactions to a situation, rather than relying on a more rational analysis.
Affordance
Refers to the inherent qualities or properties of an object or environment that suggest or enable its use or interaction by users, based on its design or functionality.
Agile UX
An iterative and collaborative approach to user experience design that integrates UX principles and practices into Agile development methodologies for efficient and user-centric product development.
Analytics
The collection and analysis of data to gain insights, inform decisions, and optimize user experience and business outcomes.
Anchoring
A cognitive bias where people rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions, even if it's unrelated or arbitrary.
Application Programming Interface
A set of protocols, routines, and tools that allow different software applications to communicate with each other.
ARIA
A set of attributes that define ways to make web content and web applications more accessible to people with disabilities.
Attitudinal Data
Measures and analyzes people's opinions, beliefs, and emotions. It informs decision-making and strategy development.
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Baileys Human Performance Model (HPM)
A systematic approach to understanding and improving human performance in complex tasks through analysis, training, and feedback
Banner Blindness
Users ignore or overlook banner ads due to habituation or perceived lack of relevance. Can impact digital advertising effectiveness.
Behavioral Design
An approach that applies insights from psychology and behavioral economics to create user experiences that align with how people think and behave.
Behavioural Economics
Self proclaimed grouping of psychology research studies relating to psychology and economics. Aim is to understand how human behavior affects economic decisions, exploring cognitive, emotional, and social factors and biases.
Behavioural Research
Study of human behavior, actions, and decision-making. Provides insights into user behavior, preferences, and interactions.
Benchmarking
Comparing and evaluating a product or service design against established standards or competitors
Berry Picking
Refers to a user's iterative and non-linear process of navigating through information or interfaces to find desired information.
Brand Experience
Encompassing all interactions and touchpoints a customer has with a brand, shaping their perceptions and feelings about it.
Brand Guideline
Brand guidelines provide instructions on logo usage, color palette, typography, imagery, tone of voice, and messaging to maintain brand consistency.
Breadcrumbs
A navigational aid that helps users understand their location within a website or application by displaying the path taken to reach the current page.
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Call to Action (CTA)
A Call to Action (CTA) is a prompt, often in the form of a button or text, that encourages users to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up
Card Sorting
A UX research method where participants organize content or concepts into categories, providing insights into how users perceive and organize information for improved design decisions.
Chatbots
AI-powered tools that simulate human conversation, providing users with instant responses and assistance through text or voice interactions.
Center-Stage Effect
The center-stage effect is the tendency to remember information or objects placed in the center of one's field of vision more vividly.
Chunking
The process of grouping pieces of information into more manageable and meaningful units or 'chunks'
Clickability
The characteristics of an element, such as a button or link, that indicates it can be interacted with or clicked/tapped to perform an action.
Cognitive Biases
Mental shortcuts or tendencies that influence decision-making and perception, sometimes leading to subjective judgments and irrational behavior.
Cognitive Load
The amount of mental effort being used in the working memory. In UX design, it's important to minimize cognitive load to enhance user experience.
Cognitive Walkthrough
A usability evaluation method that involves stepping through a task from the user's perspective to identify potential usability issues and areas for improvement.
Color Theory
Color theory explores the interaction, perception, and emotional impact of colors, guiding their selection and use in design, art, and psychology.
Confirmatory Research
A type of research methodology that seeks to test specific hypotheses or predetermined research questions using structured data collection and statistical analysis for validation or rejection.
Consistency
The uniformity and coherence of design elements and interactions within a product or service.
Content Audit
A systematic review of all digital content to evaluate performance, quality, and relevance, and make data-driven decisions for content optimization and improvement.
Content Inventory
Comprehensive list of all digital content assets, such as articles, images, videos, and media, for evaluation, optimization, and management purposes.
Content Strategy
The planning, creation, and management of content within a (web) product or service.
Context of Use
The physical, social, and environmental factors that influence how users interact with a product or service.
Context Patterns
Reusable solutions to common design problems that arise in specific contexts of use.
Contextual Design
Designing products or services that are tailored to the specific context of use and meet users' needs in that context.
Contextual Help
Providing relevant assistance or guidance based on users' context and needs.
Contextual Inquiry
Conducting research by observing users in their natural environment to understand their needs and behaviors.
Continuation
Creating flow through elements to guide the viewer's eye smoothly. Enhances visual harmony and coherence.
Controlled Vocabulary
A structured and organized list of predefined terms used to categorize, tag, or classify content, improving consistency and accuracy in information retrieval and user experience.
Conversation Design
The design of interactions and dialogues between users and systems, focusing on creating natural and effective communication.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Optimizing the design and content of a product or service to increase the percentage of users who complete a desired action or goal.
Creeping Featurism
The gradual accumulation of excessive and often unnecessary features in a product, leading to complexity, decreased usability, and potential user dissatisfaction.
Customer Experience (CX)
Encompasses all interactions and perceptions a customer has with a brand, product, or service, impacting satisfaction, loyalty, and overall business success.
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Dark Patterns
Design features that manipulate users into specific actions, often prioritizing the company/business needs over the user's.
Defaults
Predetermined settings or options that are automatically applied to a user interface, providing a baseline experience until users make specific choices or modifications according to their preferences.
Design Patterns
Reusable solutions to common design problems, providing established ways for consistent, efficient, and user-friendly designs.
Design Principles
Design principles are fundamental guidelines that inform decision-making in design, providing a framework for creating effective and user-centered solutions while achieving specific design goals.
Design Psychology
Applies psychological principles to create user-centered designs that optimize engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes.
Design System
A comprehensive set of guidelines, components, patterns, and standards that define the visual and functional elements of a product or brand. It provides a centralized resource for designers, developers, and stakeholders, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and scalability in design and development efforts.
Design Thinking
A human-centered approach to problem solving and innovation that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and iterative design to create meaningful and effective solutions.
Diary Study
A research method where participants record experiences in a personal diary. Provides qualitative data for UX research, capturing real-world behaviors and insights in users' own words.
Diversity
Diversity in design refers to the inclusion of different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences in the design process, ensuring that products and services are accessible and relevant to a wide range of users.
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Ecosystem Mapping
A visual representation of the various elements and interactions within a user experience ecosystem, helping to identify touchpoints, stakeholders, and opportunities for improvement.
Emotional Design
The intentional design of emotional experiences for users through the use of visuals, interactions, and content.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others, leading to a deeper connection and understanding.
Empathy Map
Visual tool for capturing user thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and needs. Aids in building empathy and informing user-centered design.
Error Handling
How user interfaces communicate problems to users and guide them toward resolution.
Error Prevention and Recovery
Designing systems and interfaces to minimize errors and provide ways to recover from them.
Ethical Design
Design practices that prioritize user well-being, inclusivity, and social responsibility.
Ethnographic Study
Observational research in natural settings to understand culture, behavior, and experiences. Immersive study of human behavior in real-world contexts.
Experience Ecosystem
The interconnected system of user experiences across touchpoints, channels, and interactions, aiming to create a cohesive and meaningful journey for users.
Experience Map
Visualizes user touchpoints, emotions, and interactions to understand the holistic user journey, identify pain points, and improve the overall user experience
Exploratory Research
An open-ended and flexible approach to gain insights, generate ideas, and form initial hypotheses about a topic.
Eye-tracking
Use of specialized equipment to measure and analyze users' eye movements and gaze patterns for understanding visual perception and interaction with designs
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Feedback
Providing users with informative and timely feedback on their actions and the state of the system.
First-Click Test
A first-click test assesses the usability of a website or app by analyzing users' initial clicks when given specific tasks, helping identify navigation and design improvements.
Fitts Law
Larger targets closer to starting point are faster to select. Used in interface design to optimize pointing performance for usability and efficiency.
Flat Design
A minimalist style characterized by simplicity, two-dimensional elements, bold colors, and a focus on functionality and usability
Flowchart
Visualize user flows, decision points, and scenarios, aiding in analyzing and improving the user experience of digital products.
Focus Groups
Qualitative research methods using small groups and a skilled moderator to gather insights and opinions on a topic of interest, providing valuable feedback for decision-making and product improvement.
Form Design
Involves creating user-friendly, visually clear, and efficient forms for capturing information, considering usability, visual hierarchy, and data collection.
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Gamification
Applying game design elements and principles in non-gaming contexts to motivate and engage users.
Gestalt Principles
Principles that describe how humans perceive and organize visual information.
Gesture-Based Interface
A user interface that allows users to interact with a system through gestures, such as swipes, taps, and pinches.
Golden Ratio
The golden ratio is a design principle that uses specific mathematical proportions to create visually balanced and pleasing compositions
Grid System
A framework of horizontal and vertical lines that organizes and aligns elements, promoting consistency and visual harmony in layouts.
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Haptic Feedback
Providing users with tactile feedback through physical sensations or vibrations in response to their interactions with a product or service.
Heat Map
Visually represent user interactions and attention on a design, providing insights into user behavior and areas of interest.
Heuristic Evaluation
A method where experts assess usability using established guidelines, identifying potential issues to improve the user experience.
Heuristics
Guidelines used to evaluate and improve usability. They offer quick and cost-effective insights into design issues, guiding decision-making and enhancing the user experience.
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Inclusive Design
The process of designing products or services that are accessible and usable by a wide range of users, including those with disabilities.
Inclusivity
Designing products or services that are accessible and usable by a wide range of users, including those with disabilities.
Information Architecture (IA)
The organization and structure of information within a product or service.
Interaction Design (IxD)
The design of how users interact and navigate with a product or service.
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Kano Model
Categorizes customer preferences into basic, performance, excitement, indifferent, and reverse categories to guide feature prioritization and customer satisfaction.
KPI (Key performance indicators)
Measurable values used to track and evaluate progress towards organizational goals.
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Lean UX
An iterative and collaborative approach that focuses on delivering value to users through rapid experimentation and continuous learning.
Loading States
Indicate to users that content is being loaded or processed, often using animations or progress indicators to enhance perceived performance.
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Mental Models
Cognitive frameworks individuals use to interpret information, make predictions, and navigate the world around them.
Microcopy
Concise, context-specific text used in user interfaces to guide, inform, and provide feedback to users.
Microinteractions
Small, subtle, and delightful interactions that provide feedback and enhance the user experience.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a basic version of a product with essential features, created quickly to validate its concept, gather user feedback, and minimize development risk.
Mobile First Design
An approach to web design that prioritizes the mobile user experience, ensuring that websites are fully functional and optimized for smaller screens before adapting to larger screens.
Motivation
The reasons or goals that drive user behavior and engagement with a product or service.
Multivariate test
Multivariate testing in UX assesses how different combinations of design elements impact user behavior, helping optimize webpages or interfaces for specific objectives through data-driven insights.
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Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a field of AI that focuses on the interaction between humans and computers using natural language, enabling machines to understand, interpret, and respond to human language in a valuable way.
Natural User Interface (NUI)
Natural User Interface (NUI) refers to user interfaces that are designed to be intuitive and easy to use, often leveraging natural human behaviors and interactions, such as touch, voice, and gestures.
Navigation
Navigation refers to the methods and systems used to help users find their way through a digital product or interface, ensuring they can easily access the information and features they need.
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Omnichannel Experience
Omnichannel experience refers to a seamless and integrated user experience across multiple channels and touchpoints, ensuring consistency and continuity in user interactions.
Onboarding
The process of familiarizing users with a digital product, guiding them through its features and functionalities to ensure a positive and effective user experience.
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Performance Optimization
Performance optimization refers to the process of improving the speed, efficiency, and overall performance of a digital product or interface, ensuring a smooth and responsive user experience.
Personas
Personas are stand-ins for audience profiles based on user research to represent different user types and their needs, goals, and behaviors, helping guide design decisions.
Privacy by Design
Privacy by Design is an approach to software development that takes privacy into account throughout the entire design process, ensuring user data is protected and user consent is prioritized.
Progressive Disclosure
Progressive disclosure is a design technique that involves presenting information gradually, revealing only what is necessary at each step, to avoid overwhelming users.
Prototyping
Prototyping is the process of creating early models or simulations of a product to test and validate design concepts before full-scale development.
Proximity
Elements near each other are perceived as related, allowing designers to visually group and organize information effectively.
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Screen Readers
Screen readers are assistive technologies that convert digital text into synthesized speech, enabling visually impaired users to access and interact with content.
Semantic HTML
Semantic HTML refers to the use of HTML markup that conveys meaning and structure, improving accessibility and SEO by using appropriate tags for content.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The process of improving a website's visibility in search results to increase organic traffic and online presence.
Service Blueprint
A service blueprint is a visual tool used in service design to map the entire service process, showing customer interactions, internal processes, and touchpoints. It aids in service improvement.
Service Design
Designing the entire end-to-end experience of a service, considering all touchpoints and interactions.
Stakeholder Map
A stakeholder map is a visual representation of the relationships and influences between different stakeholders in a project, helping to identify their needs and concerns.
System Status
System status refers to the current state and health of a system, often communicated to users through visual indicators or notifications.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is an approach to problem-solving that views complex systems as interconnected wholes, emphasizing the relationships and interactions between components.
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Task Analysis
A user-centered approach that breaks down tasks into smaller steps, revealing user actions, goals, and challenges to improve design and usability.
Think-Aloud Protocol
Think-aloud protocol involves participants verbalizing their thoughts as they interact with a product, revealing insights into their cognitive processes and aiding usability evaluation and improvement.
Touch Interface
A touch interface allows users to interact with a system through touch gestures, such as tapping, swiping, and pinching, enhancing usability on mobile and tablet devices.
Touchpoints
Touchpoints are the various interactions and points of contact between users and a product or service throughout their journey.
Transparency
Transparency in UX design refers to the clarity and openness of the design process, decisions, and user interactions, fostering trust and understanding.
Tree Testing
Tree testing is a usability technique used to evaluate the findability of topics in a website's information architecture by testing users' ability to locate items in a simplified site structure.
Trust
Trust in UX design refers to the confidence users have in a product's reliability, integrity, and ability to meet their needs, which is essential for a positive user experience.
Typography
Typography in UX design refers to the style, arrangement, and appearance of text, playing a crucial role in readability, accessibility, and overall user experience.
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Universal Design
Universal design is an approach to design that aims to create products and environments that are accessible and usable by all people, regardless of their age, ability, or status.
Usability
Usability in UX design refers to the ease of use and efficiency of a product or service, ensuring that users can achieve their goals effectively and satisfactorily.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is a method used to evaluate a product or service by testing it with real users, observing their interactions, and gathering feedback to identify areas for improvement.
User Activation
User activation refers to the process of encouraging users to engage with a product or service, often through onboarding experiences, tutorials, or personalized content.
User-Centered Design
User-centered design is an approach to product development that prioritizes the needs, preferences, and behaviors of end users throughout the design process.
User Engagement
User engagement refers to the level of interaction and involvement a user has with a product or service, often measured through metrics such as time spent, frequency of use, and user feedback.
User Experience
User experience (UX) encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with a company, its services, and its products.
User Flow
User flow refers to the path taken by a user to complete a task within a product or service, encompassing all interactions and touchpoints.
User Interface Design
The process of designing the visual and interactive elements of a product or service to enhance user experience.
User Patterns
Recurring behaviors observed in user interactions that help inform design decisions, optimize user experience, and enable personalization.
User Research
The approach and activities to understand users' needs, behaviors, attitudes and preferences.
User Retention
User retention refers to the ability of a company or product to keep its users engaged over time, often measured by the percentage of users who continue to use the product after a certain period.
User Stories
Concise descriptions of user needs, written from the user's perspective, to guide product development efforts and prioritize features.
User Testing
A method used to evaluate a product or service by testing it with real users, observing their interactions, and gathering feedback to identify areas for improvement.
UX Writing
The practice of writing and designing the text that appears within user interfaces, focusing on clarity, consistency, and user needs.
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Variable Reward
Variable rewards are used in behavioral psychology and refer to unpredictable or changing rewards that can reinforce certain behaviors or habits.
Vertical Prototype
A vertical prototype focuses particularly on one feature, providing a detailed and realistic representation, facilitating in-depth testing and validation of that specific functionality.
Visual Design
The use of visual elements, such as layout, color, typography, and imagery, to create an emotionally connecting and visually appealing user experience.
Visual Hierarchy
Designing the arrangement and presentation of visual elements to guide users' attention and understanding.
Voice and Tone
The style and emotional quality of the content presented in the user interface, reflecting the brand's personality and enhancing user engagement.
Voice User Interface
The design and implementation of user interfaces that are controlled by voice commands, focusing on natural language processing and user experience.
Von Restorff Effect
The Von Restorff Effect, or the isolation effect, is when an item that is distinct or different from its surroundings is more likely to be remembered.
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WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of guidelines for making web content more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities.
Whitespace
Intentional empty space in a design layout that creates visual separation, improves readability, and enhances overall aesthetics. It's purposeful, planned, and essential for effective design.
Wireframe
Creating draft designs or initial sketches of the user experience to plan and communicate the design intent.
Wireframing
The process of creating low-fidelity, structural blueprints of web pages, software or mobile app screens.
Wizard of Oz Testing
Wizard of Oz testing is a user research method where a human 'wizard' simulates system functions, allowing real users to interact with a prototype, providing insights for design improvement.
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