User-Centered Design (UCD) is an iterative design approach that focuses on understanding users' needs, preferences, and limitations throughout the design process. Crucial for creating products that are intuitive, efficient, and satisfying for the intended users.
Human-Centered Design (HCD) is an approach to problem-solving that involves the human perspective in all steps of the process. It ensures designs are user-friendly and meet actual user needs.
The practice of deeply understanding and sharing the feelings of users to create products and services that truly meet their needs. Crucial for creating user-centered designs that resonate with users' emotions and experiences.
Narrative descriptions of how users might interact with a product or system to achieve specific goals, used to inform design and development. Important for understanding user needs and ensuring the design supports their tasks and goals.
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.
The design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience. Essential for ensuring that digital products are intuitive and easy to use.
User Experience (UX) refers to the overall experience of a person using a product, system, or service, encompassing all aspects of the end-user's interaction. Crucial for creating products that are not only functional but also enjoyable, efficient, and satisfying to use.
An iterative design process that focuses on the users and their needs at every phase of the design process. Crucial for creating products that are effective, efficient, and satisfying for the end users.
Interaction Design (IxD) focuses on creating engaging interfaces with well-thought-out behaviors. Crucial for ensuring intuitive and effective user interactions.
The practice of designing products, services, and environments with a focus on the overall user experience. Essential for creating holistic and meaningful interactions.
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.
A design technique that overrides the default scrolling behavior, often to create a more controlled or immersive experience. Controversial; can enhance or hinder user experience depending on implementation.
A dark pattern where it's easy to get into a situation but hard to get out of it, such as signing up for a service but finding it difficult to cancel. Awareness of this tactic is crucial to design fair user experiences with straightforward entry and exit points.
A design concept where digital interfaces incorporate elements that resemble their real-world counterparts to make them more intuitive and familiar to users. Important for creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces by leveraging familiar real-world cues.
A design approach that prioritizes the practical purpose and usability of digital products over purely aesthetic considerations. Important for creating efficient, user-centered designs that effectively fulfill their intended functions.
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.
Interfaces that use multiple forms of interaction, such as visual, auditory, and tactile, to enhance user experience and accessibility. Essential for creating accessible and engaging user experiences across different sensory modalities.
An approach that places the user's needs, preferences, and behaviors at the forefront of all design and development activities. Important for fostering a design culture that prioritizes user satisfaction and engagement.
The practice of designing products that evoke specific emotional responses to enhance user experience and engagement. Crucial for creating deeply engaging and satisfying user experiences.
A design language developed by Google that uses shadow, depth, and motion to create a realistic and intuitive user interface. Crucial for creating modern, consistent, and user-friendly interfaces.
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 framework inspired by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, applied to user experience design, prioritizing basic functionality and reliability before enhancing usability and delight. Essential for creating well-rounded and satisfying user experiences.
The practice of promoting and representing the needs, interests, and rights of users in the design and development process. Important for ensuring that user needs and perspectives are prioritized in product design and development.
A design approach that uses data, algorithms, and predictive analytics to anticipate user needs and behaviors, creating more personalized and effective experiences. Crucial for enhancing user experience through anticipation and personalization.
Information provided by users about their experience with a product, used to inform improvements and adjustments. Crucial for continuous improvement and user-centered design.
The design of interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services. Crucial for creating engaging and user-friendly digital experiences.
Designing products that leverage behavioral science to influence user behavior in positive ways. Crucial for creating products that are effective in shaping user behavior and improving engagement.
A professional responsible for the creation and development of products, ensuring they meet user needs and are visually appealing and functional. Important for translating user needs and business goals into tangible product solutions.
A collaborative tool used to visualize what a user thinks, feels, says, and does to better understand their experiences and needs. Essential for gaining deep insights into user behavior and guiding design decisions.
The first interaction or touchpoint a user has with a product or service, crucial for making a strong first impression. Crucial for designing engaging and intuitive initial user experiences.
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.
The tendency to perceive and interpret information based on prior experiences and expectations, influencing how different users perceive design differently. Important for designing interfaces that meet user expectations, improving usability and intuitive navigation.
A strategic framework that designs user experiences to guide behavior and decisions towards desired outcomes. Crucial for creating effective and ethical influence in digital interfaces.
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.
The parts of a service or product that are visible to and interact with the user, as opposed to the backstage operations. Important for designing user experiences that are engaging and effective.
A research process used to identify and understand the underlying needs of users to inform the design of products and services. Essential for creating user-centered designs that address real user needs.
The principle stating that there is a limit to the amount of complexity that users can handle, and if designers don't manage complexity, users will. Crucial for designing user-friendly systems that manage complexity effectively.
A technique that visualizes the process users go through to achieve a goal with a product or service. Essential for identifying pain points and optimizing user interactions to improve overall experience.
A cognitive bias where the perception of one positive trait influences the perception of other unrelated traits. Important for designers to manage and utilize this bias effectively in user experience design.
Small bits of text in user interfaces, such as instructions, labels, and error messages, that help guide users through interactions. Essential for enhancing user experience and providing clear guidance.
A psychological phenomenon where people develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. Crucial for designing user experiences that leverage familiarity to increase user comfort and satisfaction.
A dark pattern where repetitive notifications or prompts are used to wear down user resistance. Recognizing the annoyance of this tactic is important to maintain respectful user interactions and avoid interruptions.
The psychological phenomenon where humorous content is more easily remembered and perceived positively by users. Useful for creating engaging and memorable user experiences.
The application of neuroscience principles to design, aiming to create more effective and engaging user experiences based on how the brain processes information. Crucial for creating designs that align with human cognitive and emotional processes.
A dark pattern where users are shown a preview of content that is then gated behind a paywall or sign-up. It's crucial to avoid this misleading practice and be transparent about access requirements.
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.
Pre-selected options in a user interface that are chosen to benefit the majority of users. Essential for simplifying decision-making and improving user experience by reducing the need for customization.
A type of usability testing conducted at the end of the design process to evaluate the effectiveness and overall user experience. Important for assessing the final design's usability and identifying any remaining issues.
A user research technique where participants organize information into categories to inform information architecture and design. Essential for creating intuitive information architectures and improving user experience.
Design patterns that adapt to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring a consistent user experience. Crucial for creating designs that work well across a variety of devices.
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 pop-up dialog that appears when a user attempts to leave a page or application, which can be used to prevent loss of progress or data, or to confirm user intent. While it can be used ethically to prevent data loss or confirm actions, designers must avoid using it to deceive, delay, block, or interfere with the user's intent, thus ensuring it does not become a dark pattern.
The study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. Important for designing user experiences that are intuitive and empathetic.
A design principle that involves repeating elements to create consistency and unity, making the design more cohesive and understandable. Crucial for creating visually appealing and user-friendly designs that enhance readability and usability.
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.
Universal, symbolic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious, used in design to create meaningful and resonant experiences. Useful for creating designs that tap into universal human experiences and emotions.
The degree to which a product's elements are consistent with each other. Crucial for creating a cohesive and intuitive user experience.
A design flaw where users mistakenly believe they have reached the end of the content due to a misleading visual cue. Crucial for ensuring content is properly signposted to avoid user confusion and ensure thorough exploration.
The perceived and actual properties of an object that determine how it could be used. Essential for designers to create intuitive and usable interfaces.
A psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow that outlines a five-tier model of human needs, ranging from basic physiological needs to self-actualization. Crucial for designing products and services that address various levels of user needs.