A cognitive bias where individuals interpret others' behaviors as having hostile intent, even when the behavior is ambiguous or benign. Important for understanding user interactions and designing experiences that mitigate negative interpretations.
A strategy where engaging, preferred activities are used to motivate users to complete less engaging, necessary tasks. Useful for designing user interfaces and experiences that encourage desired behaviors by leveraging more enjoyable activities as rewards.
The value or satisfaction derived from a decision, influencing the choices people make. Crucial for understanding user preferences and designing experiences that maximize satisfaction.
The phenomenon where individuals' expectations about a situation influence their actual experience of that situation. Useful for understanding the influence of expectations on outcomes.
A phenomenon where people better understand and remember information when it is presented visually. Crucial for designing effective and engaging visual content.
A phenomenon where people fail to recognize a repeated item in a visual sequence, impacting information processing and perception. Important for understanding visual perception and designing interfaces that avoid repetitive confusion.
A cognitive bias where people rely too heavily on their own perspective and experiences when making decisions. Important for designers to recognize and mitigate their own perspectives influencing design decisions.
A cognitive bias where users believe they have explored all available content, even when more is present. Important for designing interfaces that clearly indicate the presence of additional content.
Any process or administrative barrier that unnecessarily complicates transactions and creates friction, discouraging beneficial behaviors. Important for identifying and eliminating unnecessary obstacles that hinder user experiences.
A set of cognitive processes that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control, crucial for planning, decision-making, and behavior regulation. Crucial for designing interfaces and experiences that support users' cognitive abilities.
A cognitive bias where individuals tend to focus on positive information or events more than negative ones, especially as they age. Useful for understanding user preferences and designing experiences that emphasize positive outcomes.
Modifications or additions to a system that encourage specific user behaviors. Important for guiding user actions and improving the effectiveness of interactions.
A cognitive bias where people's decisions are influenced by how information is presented rather than just the information itself. Crucial for designers to minimize bias in how information is presented to users.
The tendency to overestimate how much our future preferences and behaviors will align with our current preferences and behaviors. Important for understanding user behavior and designing experiences that account for changes over time.
The tendency for people to believe that others are telling the truth, leading to a general assumption of honesty in communication. Important for understanding communication dynamics and designing systems that account for this bias.
The phenomenon where having too many options leads to anxiety and difficulty making a decision, reducing overall satisfaction. Important for designing user experiences that balance choice and simplicity to enhance satisfaction.
The tendency to forget information that can be easily found online, also known as digital amnesia. Important for understanding how access to information impacts memory and designing experiences accordingly.
A usability testing method where users interact with a system they believe to be autonomous, but which is actually operated by a human. Essential for testing concepts and interactions before full development.
A principle stating that productivity increases when the computer and its user interact at a pace that ensures neither has to wait on the other. Important for designing responsive systems that enhance user productivity.
The tendency for individuals to mimic the actions of a larger group, often leading to conformity and groupthink. Crucial for understanding social influence and designing experiences that consider group dynamics.
The tendency for individuals to give positive responses or feedback out of politeness, regardless of their true feelings. Crucial for obtaining honest and accurate user feedback.
The principle that elements in a digital interface maintain consistent appearance, position, and behavior across different pages and states to help users maintain orientation and familiarity. Important for creating a stable and predictable user experience, reducing disorientation and enhancing usability.
A cognitive bias where the pain of losing is psychologically more powerful than the pleasure of gaining. Important for designing user experiences that account for and mitigate loss aversion.
A preliminary version of a project or system used to test and validate its feasibility before full-scale implementation. Crucial for identifying potential issues and making necessary adjustments to improve the final product.
The principle that ensures user interface elements maintain their size and proportion across different screen densities. Essential for creating a consistent user experience across various devices.
The tendency to believe that things will always function the way they normally have, often leading to underestimation of disaster risks. Important for understanding risk perception and designing systems that effectively communicate potential changes.
The path taken by a user to complete a task on a website or application, including all the steps and interactions along the way. Essential for designing intuitive and efficient user experiences.
A technology and research method that measures where and how long a person looks at various areas on a screen or interface. Crucial for understanding user attention and improving interface design.
The process of creating representations of how users will interact with a system, including the flow of interactions and the overall experience. Crucial for planning and optimizing user interactions and experience.
A phenomenon where the probability of recalling an item from a list depends on the length of the list. Important for understanding memory processes and designing effective information presentation.
The tendency for the first items presented in a sequence to be remembered better than those in the middle. Crucial for designing information presentation and improving memory retention.
The concept of providing flexible and adaptive user interactions based on user input and behavior. Crucial for creating responsive and personalized user experiences.
A specific viewport dimension at which a website's layout adjusts to provide an optimal viewing experience across different screen sizes. Crucial for responsive web design to ensure usability on various devices.
Technology designed to change attitudes or behaviors of users through persuasion and social influence, but not coercion. Crucial for designing systems that effectively influence user behavior while maintaining ethical standards.
The discrepancy between what people intend to do and what they actually do. Crucial for designing interventions that bridge the gap between user intentions and actions.
The phenomenon where people have a reduced ability to recall the last items in a list when additional, unrelated information is added at the end. Crucial for designing information presentation to optimize memory retention.
The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Important for designing effective visual communication and iconography.
Common reading patterns users follow when scanning web content, such as the F-pattern, where users read across the top and then scan down the left side. Important for designing layouts that align with natural reading behaviors, improving content engagement and usability.
The visible elements of a brand, such as color, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds. Crucial for creating a recognizable and cohesive brand presence that resonates with target audiences.
A theoretical concept in economics that portrays humans as rational and self-interested agents who aim to maximize their utility. Important for understanding economic decision-making and designing systems that align with rational behavior.
UI patterns that excessively demand user attention, often interrupting the user experience. Important for identifying and avoiding practices that can frustrate or annoy users.
An approach to design that considers the entire user journey and all touchpoints, ensuring a seamless and cohesive experience. Crucial for creating integrated and satisfying user experiences across multiple channels and interactions.
The process of predicting how one will feel in the future, which often involves biases and inaccuracies. Important for understanding user behavior and decision-making, aiding in the design of better user experiences.
A theory in environmental psychology that suggests people prefer environments where they can see (prospect) without being seen (refuge). Useful for understanding environmental design and creating spaces that feel safe and inviting.
The process of encoding sensory input that has particular meaning or can be applied to a context, enabling deeper processing and memory retention. Important for understanding how information is processed and stored, enhancing design of educational content.
A reading pattern where users quickly scan for specific markers or keywords within the content. Important for optimizing content for quick search and retrieval.
A philosophical approach to culture and literature that seeks to confront the social, historical, and ideological forces and structures that produce and constrain it. Valuable for analyzing and addressing power dynamics and biases in design.
Pre-set options in a system that are designed to benefit users by simplifying decisions and guiding them towards the best choices. Essential for improving user experience and ensuring that users make optimal decisions with minimal effort.
A theory of motivation that emphasizes the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in fostering intrinsic motivation and psychological well-being. Important for understanding how to design experiences that support user motivation and well-being.
The belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task, influencing motivation and behavior. Crucial for designing systems that enhance user confidence and encourage goal achievement.
A principle that suggests the simplest explanation is often the correct one, favoring solutions that make the fewest assumptions. Crucial for problem-solving and designing straightforward, efficient solutions.
A dark pattern where users' activities are tracked without their explicit consent or knowledge. Designers must avoid this practice and ensure clear communication about tracking to respect user privacy.
The tendency for people to prefer things that are easy to think about and understand. Important for designing user interfaces that are intuitive and easy to use.
A dark pattern where a free trial ends and the user is automatically charged without warning. Designers should avoid this practice and ensure users are clearly informed about charges to maintain ethical standards.
The structural design of information environments, organizing and labeling content to support usability and findability. Essential for creating intuitive and navigable digital products.
Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a visual representation of the relationships between entities in a database. Essential for designing and understanding the data structure and relationships within digital products.
A cognitive bias where people wrongly believe they have direct insight into the origins of their mental states, while treating others' introspections as unreliable. Important for designing experiences that account for discrepancies between user self-perception and actual behavior.
Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, and Hierarchy (LATCH) is a framework for categorizing information. Useful for creating clear and intuitive information structures in digital products.
A cognitive bias where people prefer familiar things over unfamiliar ones, even if the unfamiliar options are objectively better. Useful for designing interfaces and products that leverage familiar elements to enhance user comfort.
A visual representation of information or data designed to make complex information easily understandable at a glance. Important for communicating insights and data effectively to stakeholders and users in digital product design.