A/B Testing
1 storyA method of comparing two versions of a design or feature to determine which performs better based on user behavior and metrics.
Common UX, UI, and design terms explained in simple language.
A method of comparing two versions of a design or feature to determine which performs better based on user behavior and metrics.
The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling.It is often used to present key messaging and primary calls to action.
The practice of making products and services usable by people with disabilities, ensuring equal access and opportunity for all users.
A structured evaluation of a product’s compliance with accessibility standards. It identifies barriers for users with disabilities.
The sequence of steps users follow to register for a product. A well-designed flow reduces friction and drop-offs.
The visual appearance of an element while it is being interacted with. It provides instant feedback.
A design approach that creates distinct layouts for specific screen sizes. It differs from responsive design, which fluidly adapts to all screens.
The visual and organised structure or map created from the affinity mapping process. A tool used to organise ideas and data by grouping similar items, often used in brainstorming and user research synthesis.
A collaborative process for organising large amounts of data, ideas, or user research findings into clusters to identify patterns and actionable insights. The outcome is visually represented as Affinity Diagram
A visual or functional clue indicating how an element should be used. For example, a raised button suggests a higher level of clickability.
A working method that brings together Agile software development and UX practice. It emphasises collaboration, iteration, and continuous user feedback.
The structured positioning of elements in a layout to create visual order and clarity. Proper alignment improves readability and creates a more professional appearance.
Quantitative data collected about user behaviour within a product. It helps teams measure performance, identify issues, and guide design decisions.
Motion used within interfaces to provide feedback or guide attention. Thoughtful animation enhances clarity without distracting users.
Explanatory notes added to wireframes or prototypes to clarify functionality, interactions, or design intent. Annotations help developers and stakeholders understand design decisions.
The experience of connecting a product with external systems. Clear documentation and feedback are essential for smooth integration.
The ease with which users can navigate and complete tasks in a mobile application. It impacts engagement and retention.
A methodology for building design systems by breaking interfaces into small reusable components (atoms, molecules, organisms). It promotes scalability and consistency across products.
The concept that user attention is limited and valuable. UX design aims to use attention strategically and respectfully.
A feature that automatically saves user progress. It prevents data loss and improves user confidence.
The expected response when users navigate backwards. Consistency in back behaviour prevents confusion.
A prioritised list of features, tasks, and improvements awaiting development. It ensures alignment between product strategy and execution.
Data that tracks user actions and patterns within a product. It informs design improvements.
A design approach that uses psychology and behavioural science principles to influence user decisions and actions. It often supports habit formation or engagement goals.
The process of comparing a product’s performance against industry standards or competitors. It helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
Releasing a product to a limited audience before full launch. It gathers real-world feedback for refinement.
A mobile navigation pattern placing primary options at the bottom of the screen. It improves reachability and usability.
The overall perception users form based on interactions with a product or service. The brand identity (values, tone, visuals) with functional user experience to create consistent and emotionally resonant interactions across all digital and physical touchpoints
Documentation defining brand voice, visuals, and identity standards. It ensures a consistent user experience.
A secondary navigation system that shows users their current location within a site hierarchy. It improves orientation and reduces navigation confusion.
Visual variations of buttons (default, hover, active, disabled). They provide feedback and clarity during interactions.
A clearly designed label driving users to take a specific action, such as signing up or purchasing. Effective CTAs are visually prominent and action-oriented.
A qualitative user research method where participants categorise content into logical categories and label the groups. It informs the information architecture and navigation structure.
A design pattern that presents content in contained, modular blocks. Cards improve scannability and organisation.
The percentage of users who stop using a product over time. It reflects the quality of experience and the perception of value.
An interactive model simulating real navigation and functionality. It allows usability testing before development.
Tracking the sequence of pages users visit. It helps understand navigation behaviour.
A psychological tendency influencing decision making. UX designers consider biases when crafting user flows.
The mental effort or resources required to use a product or complete a task. Reducing cognitive load improves usability and user satisfaction.
A navigation component that expands or contracts on interaction. It saves space while maintaining access.
The difference between foreground and background colours to ensure readability and accessibility. Proper contrast supports users with visual impairments.
A structured review of competitor products to understand market positioning and feature gaps. It informs strategic design decisions.
The use of uniform patterns, components, and behaviours across a product. Consistency improves learnability and reduces user confusion.
The structured prioritisation of information on a page. It guides users toward key messages.
The planning, creation, and governance of content to support user needs and business goals. It ensures messaging clarity and cohesion.
A research method conducted in users’ real work environment to understand how users perform tasks, so products can be designed better. Typically a short session of 1 to 3 hours. The researcher asks questions when the user is doing the tasks.
Observing users while they perform tasks in real settings. It provides deep behavioural insights.
The percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or subscribing. It is a key metric for measuring design effectiveness.
Ensuring a product works consistently across different web browsers. It supports a wider audience.
Designing experiences that function seamlessly across multiple devices and operating systems. It ensures continuity and accessibility.
The broader perception users have across all brand touchpoints. UX contributes to overall CX.
A visual representation of the steps a user takes when interacting with a product or service. It highlights pain points and opportunities for improvement.
A deceptive design tactic that manipulates users into actions they might not otherwise take. Ethical UX avoids such practices.
A centralised interface or visual tool displaying important data and metrics at a glance. Dashboards provide insights, prioritise clarity and quick decision-making.
The graphical representation of information and metrics. Effective visualisation improves comprehension.
Mental exhaustion caused by excessive choices. UX reduces decision fatigue through simplification.
Pre-selected options provided by a system. Smart defaults improve efficiency and reduce friction.
Creating products or solutions that are user-centred and solve real problems while being useful, usable, desirable, accessible, and valuable, both for the user and the business.
A document outlining project objectives, constraints, target audience, and deliverables. It serves as a foundation for alignment among stakeholders.
Limitations such as budget, time, or technology that affect design decisions. Constraints encourage creative problem-solving.
Represents accumulated user experience (UX) and interface inconsistencies resulting from shortcuts, rapid, or incomplete design decisions made to meet short-term goals. It creates long-term maintenance issues, reduces team velocity, and lowers user satisfaction by making products clunky or inconsistent over time.
The process of transferring finalised designs to developers. Clear documentation ensures smooth implementation.
Repeated refinement of a design based on feedback. Iteration improves quality and usability.
The level at which UX processes are integrated within an organisation. Higher maturity leads to user-driven innovation.
A time-boxed, structured workshop used to solve problems and test ideas rapidly. It is to build and test a prototype in just five days.
A human-centred methodology focused on empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing. It encourages creative problem-solving and innovation.
Desirability testing evaluates the emotional and visual appeal of a product, measuring how users perceive its aesthetics, branding, and overall "feel"
Guidelines ensuring digital content is usable by people with disabilities. Compliance supports inclusivity.
The overall quality of user interactions within digital environments. It encompasses usability, performance, and emotional impact.
The ease with which users can find features or content. Good discoverability reduces reliance on instructions.
An interaction pattern allowing users to move elements visually. It simplifies complex tasks.
A list of options that appears when triggered. It saves space while offering choices.
An uncommon scenario that may cause issues in a system. Considering edge cases improves reliability.
A collaborative, four-quadrant visual tool used in design thinking to synthesise research and understand user needs by mapping what they say, think, do, and feel.
The design shown when no data is available. It guides users on the next steps.
The actual person who interacts with a product or service, shaping how design and product teams define success, usability, and value. UX design prioritises their needs and goals.
Data points measuring user interaction levels. Examples include session duration and feature usage.
Designing systems that reduce the likelihood of user mistakes. It improves satisfaction and efficiency.
A visual or textual response that informs users when something goes wrong. Clear error states reduce frustration and guide recovery. This could be a UI screen, message, or indicator shown when a system fails to complete an action, such as invalid input, network failures, or broken links.
A deep, immersive qualitative research method originating in anthropology. A research method involving Long-term immersion (weeks, months, sometimes years) observing users in their natural environments (homes, workplaces) to gain deep, contextual insights into their behaviours, motivations, culture, social structures and pain points.
A research method that measures where users focus their attention on a screen. Specialised cameras or sensors are used to record where users look and how long they focus on different elements. The data helps generate visual reports like heatmaps (showing areas with the most attention) or gaze plots (tracking the path of the user's eye movements).
Deciding which features to build based on impact and effort. It aligns product strategy with resources.
The system through which user actions trigger responses. Effective loops improve clarity and trust.
The level of detail and realism in a prototype or design. It ranges from low-fidelity sketches to fully interactive high fidelity models.
An umbrella term for research conducted in real-world settings. Research conducted in real-world settings to observe user behaviour. It captures context-specific challenges and workflows.
A minimalist design style without heavy textures or shadows. It emphasises simplicity and clarity.
A seamless interaction experience where users complete tasks without interruption. Good UX minimises friction to support flow.
A visual indicator showing which element is currently selected. It is essential for accessibility.
The process of checking user input against required rules or formats. Real-time validation improves accuracy and usability.
Any obstacle that slows down user progress. Reducing friction improves conversions and retention.
The user-facing portion of a product’s implementation. It translates design into interactive code.
A designer skilled in both UX strategy and implementation. They bridge design and development.
The integration of game-like elements such as rewards and badges into non-game products. It increases engagement and motivation.
Psychological principles explaining how people perceive, organise, and simplify complex visual scenes by grouping elements into a "unified whole" rather than separate parts. Key principles - Similarity, Proximity, Continuity, Closure, Figure/Ground, and Pragnanz.
A methodology centred on helping users achieve specific objectives efficiently. It prioritises outcomes over features.
A gradual transition between two or more colours. Gradients add depth and visual interest when used thoughtfully.
A layout structure that arranges content in rows and columns. It ensures alignment, balance, and consistency.
A structural framework that organises content into rows and columns. Grids create balance and alignment.
A navigation icon (three horizontal lines) that reveals a hidden menu. It is commonly used in mobile interfaces.
Physical vibrations or tactile responses triggered by user actions. It enhances interaction clarity on touch devices.
A visual representation of user interaction data using colour intensity. It highlights areas of high and low engagement. A heatmap is one of the primary visual outcomes (or data visualisations) of eye-tracking research.
The interpretation of heatmap data to understand user behaviour. It helps Optimise layout and content placement.
A prominent banner area at the top of a webpage. It typically highlights key messaging and primary actions.
A fast, cost-effective usability inspection method where experts analyse a user interface against established usability principles (heuristics) to identify design flaws. It identifies usability issues early.
The arrangement of elements to indicate importance.Visual hierarchy guides user attention effectively.
A prioritisation of usability fundamentals before aesthetic enhancements. Functional clarity comes before visual polish.
Highly detailed, interactive representations of a product that closely resemble its final design.
A visual change that occurs when a cursor moves over an element. It provides feedback in desktop interfaces.
The study of how people interact with systems and environments. It informs ergonomic and usability decisions.
A design philosophy that prioritises user needs throughout the development process. It involves continuous user feedback.
The practice of pairing icons with text labels. It improves clarity and reduces ambiguity.
refers to the use of icons, which are simplified visual symbols that represent ideas, actions, objects, or content. Icons may accompany text to reinforce meaning or function independently as intuitive visual cues, enhancing clarity, navigation, and overall usability within a design
The creative process of generating design solutions. Brainstorming and sketching are common ideation techniques.
Aims to create products, services, and experiences usable by the widest possible range of people, regardless of age, ability, background, language, or circumstance.
The practice of organising and structuring content so users can find information easily. Effective IA improves navigation, clarity, and overall usability.
A UI element allowing users to enter text or data. Clear labelling improves form usability.
The effort required to complete an action. Reducing interaction cost improves efficiency.
The design of how users interact with digital products through behaviours and responses. It focuses on feedback, motion, and task flows.
A clickable simulation of a product’s functionality. It allows testing of flows and behaviours.
A reusable solution to a common design problem. Patterns promote familiarity and efficiency.
Data tracking users’ progress across multiple touchpoints. It reveals drop-offs and friction points.
The process of documenting each step a user takes to achieve a goal. It highlights emotional states, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
The most important sequence of actions users take to achieve a goal. Optimising the key path improves overall experience.
A measurable value used to evaluate the success of a product or feature. KPIs align UX efforts with business objectives.
The terminology used for navigation and content categories. Clear labelling enhances findability.
A standalone web page designed to drive a specific action, such as sign-ups or purchases. It typically focuses on a single goal and clear messaging.
The delay between user action and system response. Minimising latency improves perceived performance.
The structured arrangement of visual elements on a page or screen. A well-designed layout improves readability and user flow.
A collaborative and experiment-driven UX approach emphasising rapid validation and iteration. It reduces documentation in favour of testing and learning.
How quickly new users can understand and use a product. High learnability reduces onboarding effort.
Mapping the stages users experience over time with a product. It supports long-term engagement strategies.
The time it takes for a page or feature to appear. Faster load times improve satisfaction and retention.
Adapting content and design for different languages and cultures. It ensures relevance across global audiences.
The sequence users follow to access their account. A smooth login flow reduces frustration and abandonment.
A basic, early-stage layout of a digital interface that focuses on structure, content placement, and user flow, without detailed visuals like colour or typography.
A design system emphasising depth, motion, and bold visuals. It promotes consistency across digital products.
The way users expect a system to function based on prior experience. Aligning with mental models improves usability.
The number of levels within a navigation hierarchy. Shallow menus are generally easier to navigate.
A small, focused interaction within a digital product that responds to a user’s action, such as a button animation or notification. It enhances feedback, usability, and overall user experience.
The earliest version of a product that includes only its core features, built to test a concept, gather user feedback, and validate assumptions with minimal time and resources.
Designing for smaller screens before scaling up to larger devices. It prioritises simplicity and clarity.
A static visual representation of a design with detailed styling that shows layout, colours, typography, and imagery. It focuses on the look and feel of the interface without interactive functionality. It shows how the final interface will look.
Building interfaces from reusable, interchangeable components. It supports scalability and consistency.
The use of animation and transitions to guide attention. Motion adds meaning when used purposefully.
Testing multiple variations of elements simultaneously. It evaluates how combinations impact performance.
The system that allows users to move through a product or interface, helping them find information and complete tasks efficiently. It includes menus, links, buttons, and other directional elements. Clear navigation ensures users can find information efficiently.
A sliding panel containing navigation links. It is commonly triggered by a hamburger icon.
A metric measuring user loyalty based on the likelihood to recommend. It reflects overall satisfaction.
A clickable simulation of a product’s functionality. It allows testing of flows and behaviours.
The influence of design on search visibility and usability. Clear structure and readability support SEO performance.
The process of introducing new users to a product’s features and value. Effective onboarding increases adoption and retention.
A guided sequence introducing users to features and value. Effective onboarding increases retention.
A research method where users create their own content categories. It reveals natural mental groupings.
Dividing content across multiple pages. It improves performance and readability for large datasets.
A specific problem or frustration users experience. Identifying pain points drives meaningful design improvements.
A visual effect where background elements move more slowly than foreground elements. It creates depth and engagement.
A documented collection of reusable UI patterns. It supports consistency and faster development.
Improving the speed and responsiveness of a product. Better performance enhances user satisfaction.
A fictional character representing a target user group. Personas are based on research and guide design decisions.
Product design is about designing the entire product strategy and experience. Product design is a broader role that requires understanding both users and the business.
A visual cue showing task completion status. It reduces uncertainty during multi-step processes.
Revealing information gradually to prevent overload. It simplifies complex interfaces.
Evaluating interactive models with users before development. It reduces risk and improves design quality.
The process of creating interactive models of a product to test ideas, explore functionality, and gather feedback before final development. Prototypes allow teams to validate ideas before development.
The design of alerts sent to users outside the app. Effective notifications are timely and relevant.
Non-numerical user insights gathered through comments or interviews. It reveals deeper motivations.
A research method focused on understanding users’ experiences, behaviours, motivations, feelings and opinions through non-numerical data such as interviews, observations, and open-ended feedback. Methods include interviews and usability testing.
A research method that collects and analyses numerical data to identify patterns, measure behaviours, and support decisions through statistics, surveys, and metrics.
Small design improvements that deliver immediate impact. They build momentum within projects.
The ease with which text can be read and understood. It depends on typography, spacing, and language clarity.
A usability principle favouring visible options over memory-based actions. It reduces cognitive load.
Specific screen widths where layout adjustments occur. Breakpoints ensure optimal design across devices.
An approach to web and interface design that ensures a product adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices, providing a consistent and usable experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
The percentage of users who continue using a product over time. It indicates long-term engagement and satisfaction.
Design and engagement tactics used to keep users returning. It focuses on long-term value and satisfaction.
A validation method where users place content into predefined categories. It tests information architecture effectiveness
A strategic plan outlining upcoming design initiatives. It aligns UX goals with product, business and organisation strategy.
Designing permissions based on user roles. It ensures relevant access and simplified interfaces.
User experience considerations specific to software as-a-service platforms. It emphasises onboarding, retention, and scalability.
The intensity or purity of a colour. Balanced saturation improves visual harmony.
The ability of a product or system to grow without compromising performance or usability. Scalable design supports future expansion.
How easily users can skim content to find key information. Clear headings and spacing improve scannability.
A narrative describing how a user interacts with a product or service to achieve a goal. Scenarios help designers visualise real world use cases.
Visualising user actions within specific contexts. It identifies friction and optimisation opportunities.
Ensuring digital content works with assistive reading software. It supports accessibility compliance.
A metric measuring how far users scroll on a page. It reveals engagement levels.
The usability and effectiveness of search functionality. Strong Search Design improves discoverability.
Using meaningful HTML elements to structure content logically. It enhances accessibility and SEO.
A visual diagram, mapping user interactions alongside backend processes. It connects front-end experience to operations.
The average time users spend during a visit. It indicates engagement quality.
A technical feature influencing UI component isolation. It affects customisation and integration experiences.
A qualitative field research method where a researcher follows a participant throughout their normal routine to observe tasks, behaviours, interactions, tools, and environmental factors in real time. The researcher stays close (like a “shadow”) but does not interfere with the participant’s natural workflow.
A visual cue indicating how an element should be used. It clarifies affordances within an interface.
Allowing users to access multiple services with one login. It simplifies authentication processes.
A hierarchical diagram showing the structure of a website. It helps plan navigation and content relationships.
A quick and informal way to visualise ideas. Sketching encourages creativity and early exploration.
Pre-filled or pre-selected options based on user behaviour. They reduce effort and speed up tasks.
Testimonials, reviews, or user counts that build trust. It influences decision-making behaviour.
Another term for A/B testing, comparing variations to measure effectiveness. It relies on data-driven validation.
Any individual or group with an interest in a project’s outcome. Stakeholders influence priorities and decision-making.
A navigation bar that remains visible during scrolling. It improves accessibility to key links.
Effort estimation units used in agile workflows. They help prioritise design tasks.
A visual sequence illustrating user interactions over time. It communicates flows and experiences clearly.
A document defining visual standards such as colours, typography, and components. It ensures consistency across a product.
Secondary navigation options within a main section. It organises deeper content layers.
A measurable indicator of design effectiveness. It aligns UX improvements with business goals.
Designing products that promote long-term environmental and digital well-being. It considers ethical impact.
A touch interaction used to navigate or perform actions. It is common in mobile interfaces.
Responses that inform users about the result of their actions. Immediate feedback builds trust.
A UI pattern using horizontal tabs to switch between content sections. It organises related information efficiently.
The process of studying how users complete tasks. It identifies inefficiencies and usability barriers.
The percentage of users who successfully finish a task. It is a key usability metric.
The detailed sequence of steps users follow for a specific action. Clear task flows improve efficiency.
Customising visual appearance while maintaining structural consistency. It supports personalisation and branding.
The time users take to complete a specific action. Shorter times often indicate better usability.
A temporary message confirming an action. It provides non-intrusive feedback.
A binary interface control that enables users to switch a setting between two mutually exclusive states (typically on/off). It clearly conveys the current state through visual affordances and applies the change immediately upon interaction.
The interactive area users tap on touchscreens. Adequate sizing improves accessibility.
Any point of interaction between a user and a product or brand. Touchpoints shape the overall experience.
It is the design family. A typeface is the visual design of a set of characters, including letters, numbers, punctuation, and symbols, unified by consistent stylistic attributes such as stroke weight, proportion, contrast, and terminal treatment.
The selection and arrangement of fonts and text styles. Good typography enhances readability and brand identity. It is not just about choosing a nice font. It includes how letters, words, and paragraphs are placed on a page or screen.
Maintaining uniform components and behaviours across interfaces. It improves learnability.
A collection of pre-designed interface elements. It accelerates design workflows and maintains consistency
Observing real users completing tasks to identify usability issues. It provides direct insight into user challenges.
Representing user needs within business decisions. UX professionals often act as advocates.
The depth of user interaction and emotional connection. High engagement drives loyalty.
User Experience (UX) focuses on how a person feels while interacting with a product. It focuses on usability, accessibility, and overall user satisfaction.
Continuous collection and implementation of user input. It fosters iterative improvement.
The path users take to complete a task within a product. Clear flows reduce friction and improve satisfaction.
The underlying goal driving user actions. Understanding intent informs design strategy.
The visual and interactive elements of a digital product through which users interact, including buttons, menus, icons, typography, colours, and layouts. It focuses on how a product looks and how users engage with it.
A structured conversation with users to gather insights about needs and behaviours. It supports qualitative research.
The complete experience a user has with a product over time. It includes interactions, emotions, and outcomes.
The systematic study of users to inform design decisions. It combines qualitative and quantitative methods.
A metric measuring how satisfied users are with a product. It reflects the overall experience quality.
Dividing users into groups based on characteristics or behaviour. It enables personalised experiences.
A short, simple, and informal description of a software feature, written from the end-user's perspective to drive Agile development.
A structured guide used during usability testing. It ensures consistency across sessions.
A design approach that prioritises user needs at every stage. It involves continuous testing and refinement
A comprehensive evaluation of a product’s usability and experience. It identifies strengths and areas for improvement.
UX design is about designing the user’s experience. UX Design focuses on making products useful, usable, and enjoyable for users.
Crafting in-product text that guides and supports users. Clear UX writing enhances usability and trust.
A clear statement explaining the benefit a product provides. It communicates why users should choose it.
A design element that visually suggests its functionality. It helps users understand how to interact without instructions.
The distribution of visual weight across a layout. Balanced designs feel stable and harmonious.
Excessive elements that overwhelm users and reduce clarity. Minimising clutter improves focus and usability.
The aesthetic aspect of a product, including colour, imagery, and layout. It supports usability and brand perception.
Immediate visual response after a user action. It confirms that the system has registered input.
Unnecessary decorative elements that distract from content. Reducing noise enhances comprehension.
An interface that allows interaction through voice commands. It supports hands-free usability.
International standards for digital accessibility. Compliance ensures inclusive design.
Designing websites to be usable by people with disabilities. It includes keyboard navigation and screen reader support.
The space around elements in a layout. It improves focus, readability, and visual balance.
A structural blueprint of a page or screen. It focuses on layout and functionality rather than styling. Used early in the UI/UX process to align teams on requirements\ reducing later-stage revision costs.
A step-by-step guided interface for completing complex tasks. It simplifies multi-stage processes.
The sequence of steps required to complete a task. Efficient workflows reduce user effort.
Designing automated processes that reduce manual effort. It improves efficiency and productivity.
A collaborative session where teams generate ideas and solve problems. Workshops align stakeholders and encourage creativity.
A common eye scanning pattern across web pages. Designers use it to place key information strategically.
The default state of an interface before any user interaction occurs. It guides users on how to begin.
A navigation method that allows users to zoom in and out of content. It provides scalable exploration.
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