Cultural Theory
The study of cultural norms, values, and practices and their influence on human behavior. Useful for designing products that are culturally sensitive and relevant.
The study of cultural norms, values, and practices and their influence on human behavior. Useful for designing products that are culturally sensitive and relevant.
A set of practices and principles that guide agile methodologies, such as Scrum and Kanban, to improve project management and product development. Important for structuring agile practices and ensuring effective project delivery.
A user-centered design process that involves understanding users' needs and workflows through field research and applying these insights to design. Essential for creating designs that are deeply informed by user contexts and behaviors.
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.
A framework for understanding what drives individuals to act, involving theories such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Important for designing products and experiences that align with users' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
A usability testing method where participants verbalize their thoughts while interacting with a product. Essential for understanding user thought processes and identifying usability issues.
Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task (HEART) is a framework used to measure and improve user experience success. Important for systematically evaluating and enhancing user experience.
An economic theory that explains why some necessities, such as water, are less expensive than non-essentials, like diamonds, despite their greater utility. Useful for understanding consumer behavior and designing pricing strategies.
A theory that describes how individuals pursue goals using either a promotion focus (seeking gains) or a prevention focus (avoiding losses). Crucial for designing motivation strategies and understanding user behavior in goal pursuit.
Metrics that may look impressive but do not provide meaningful insights into the success or performance of a product or business, such as total page views or social media likes. Important for distinguishing between metrics that drive real business value and those that do not.
A design principle that states the design of a product or interface should primarily serve its intended purpose or functionality. Important for creating digital designs that are both practical and user-friendly.
The study of social relationships, structures, and processes. Important for understanding the impact of social dynamics on user behavior and designing for social interactions.
The ability to understand and share the feelings of customers, crucial for creating user-centered designs and experiences. Crucial for designing products that truly meet user needs and expectations.
A detailed description of a system's behavior as it responds to a request from one of its stakeholders, often used to capture functional requirements. Essential for understanding and documenting how users will interact with a system to achieve their goals.
A framework that incorporates privacy considerations into the design and development of products and services from the outset. Crucial for ensuring user privacy and compliance with data protection regulations.
A theory in economics that models how rational individuals make decisions under risk by maximizing the expected utility of their choices. Essential for understanding decision-making under risk.
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 motivational theory suggesting that individuals are motivated to act based on the expected outcomes of their actions and the attractiveness of those outcomes. Important for understanding motivation and behavior, distinct from decision-making under uncertainty.
Principle of Least Astonishment (POLA) is a design guideline stating that interfaces should behave in a way that users expect to avoid confusion. Crucial for enhancing user experience and reducing the learning curve in digital products.
A strategic approach where multiple potential solutions are tested to identify the most promising one. Crucial for innovation and reducing risk in decision-making.
A set of principles describing how the human mind organizes visual information into meaningful wholes. Crucial for designing intuitive digital interfaces and cohesive user experiences that align with natural human perception patterns.
A research method where participants record their activities, experiences, and thoughts over a period of time, providing insights into their behaviors and needs. Important for gaining in-depth, longitudinal insights into user experiences.
An agile methodology focused on delivering value to the customer through principles such as eliminating waste, amplifying learning, and delivering as fast as possible. Crucial for improving efficiency and effectiveness in software development processes.
A system that suggests products, services, or content to users based on their preferences and behavior. Essential for personalizing user experiences and increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Behavioral Science (BeSci) is the study of human behavior through systematic analysis and investigation. Essential for understanding and influencing user behavior in design and product development.
The practice of guiding and inspiring teams to create effective, user-centered design solutions that align with business goals. Crucial for fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence in design practices within organizations.
Joint Application Development (JAD) is a collaborative approach to gathering requirements and designing solutions in software development projects. It facilitates rapid decision-making and consensus-building by bringing together key stakeholders, including users, developers, and project managers, in structured workshop sessions.
A research method that focuses on understanding phenomena through in-depth exploration of human behavior, opinions, and experiences, often using interviews or observations. Essential for gaining deep insights into user needs and behaviors to inform design and development.
A model by Don Norman outlining the cognitive steps users take when interacting with a system: goal formation, planning, specifying, performing, perceiving, interpreting, and comparing. Important for designing user-friendly and effective products by understanding and supporting user behavior at each stage.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospective customer who has shown interest in a company's product or service and meets specific criteria indicating a higher likelihood of becoming a customer. Essential for prioritizing leads and optimizing the efficiency of sales and marketing efforts by focusing resources on prospects most likely to convert.
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.
A prioritized list of tasks, features, and technical debt items that need to be addressed by the engineering team. Essential for managing and organizing work in software development projects.
Total Addressable Market (TAM) represents the total revenue opportunity available if a product or service achieves 100% market share. Essential for understanding the full potential of a market.
A principle often used in behavioral economics that suggests people evaluate options based on relative comparisons rather than absolute values. Important for understanding decision-making and designing choices that highlight beneficial comparisons.
The compromises made between different design options, balancing various factors like usability, aesthetics, and functionality. Essential for making informed decisions that optimize overall design effectiveness.
A small, specialized market segment focused on a particular product or service, often characterized by a unique demand. Essential for targeting specific customer needs and achieving higher margins with less competition.
An approach to design that relies on data and analytics to inform decisions and measure success. Crucial for making informed design decisions that are backed by evidence.
A structured routine for continuous improvement based on a scientific approach to problem-solving and process optimization. Crucial for fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within product design teams.
The tendency for people's perception to be affected by their recurring thoughts at the time. Important for understanding how current thoughts influence user perception and decision-making.
A qualitative research method involving direct conversations with users to gather insights into their needs, behaviors, and experiences. Essential for gaining deep insights into user perspectives and informing design decisions.
The tendency to overestimate the duration or intensity of the emotional impact of future events. Important for understanding user expectations and satisfaction.
Agile Release Train (ART) is a long-lived team of Agile teams that, along with other stakeholders, incrementally develops, delivers, and operates one or more solutions in a value stream. Important for coordinating Agile development and delivery at scale.
The act of persuading individuals or organizations to act in a certain way based on moral arguments or appeals. Useful for designing persuasive communications and ethical influence strategies.
The tendency for individuals to recall information that is consistent with their current mood. Important for understanding how mood affects memory and designing experiences that account for emotional states.
The study and application of ethical considerations in the development, implementation, and use of technology. Crucial for ensuring that technological advancements align with ethical standards and societal values.
The primary brand in a brand architecture that serves as the foundation for all sub-brands and extensions. Essential for providing a unified brand strategy and leveraging brand equity across multiple products.
A strategic management template for developing new business models or documenting existing ones, detailing elements like value proposition, infrastructure, and customers. Important for understanding and designing business strategies that align with product and user experience goals.
A visual representation of a sequence of events or user interactions, used to plan and communicate the flow of a narrative or process. Important for visualizing and communicating design concepts and user journeys.
A cognitive bias where individuals evaluate outcomes relative to a reference point rather than on an absolute scale. Essential for understanding decision-making and consumer behavior.
Statistical data relating to a particular population and groups within it. Crucial for market research and understanding target audiences.
A series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, creating a pattern found in nature and various fields. Useful for understanding natural growth patterns, efficient estimation techniques, and its relationship to the aesthetically pleasing Golden Ratio.
The process of predicting future customer demand using historical data and other information. Crucial for optimizing inventory levels, production schedules, and supply chain management.
A meeting at the end of a sprint where the development team presents their completed work to stakeholders. Crucial for gathering feedback and demonstrating progress.
The practice of leveraging current events or news stories to promote one's brand or product. Crucial for increasing brand visibility and engagement.
Feature Driven Development (FDD) is an agile methodology focused on designing and building features based on client-valued functionality. Essential for delivering client-valued features efficiently and effectively.
An Agile project management framework that uses iterative cycles, called sprints, to deliver incremental improvements and adapt to changing requirements. Crucial for managing projects in a flexible and iterative manner, ensuring continuous improvement and responsiveness.
Data points that represent an individual's, team's, or company's performance in the sales process. Essential for tracking progress, identifying issues, and optimizing sales strategies.
Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have (MoSCoW) is a method used to prioritize features or tasks. Crucial for effective project management and ensuring focus on essential features.
A collaborative process specific to the design phase that involves stakeholders, including users, in the refinement of user-centered design solutions. Essential for creating designs that truly meet user needs and expectations.
Cost of Delay (CoD) is a metric that quantifies the economic impact of delaying a project, feature, or task. Important for making informed decisions about project prioritization and resource allocation.