UX Terminologies

The holistic experience of a user with a product.

Designing for people with disabilities.

Visualizing the process a user goes through to achieve a goal.

A fictional character representing a user type.

Organizing and labeling content for findability.

Tool used to articulate what we know about a user.

Specific problems users encounter.

The path taken by a prototypical user on a website.

A low-fidelity visual guide of a webpage’s layout.

A preliminary model of a product to test concepts.

Evaluating a product by testing it with representative users.

The amount of mental effort required to use an interface.

A methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping and testing.

What a user believes about the system at hand.

Properties of an object that show how it can be used.

Signals that communicate where an action should take place.

Users spend most of their time on other sites; they want yours to work similarly.

The time to acquire a target is a function of distance and size.

Time to make a decision increases with the number of choices.

Exceeding user expectations through positive interactions.

The visual touchpoints of a product.

Arrangement of elements to imply importance.

The art of arranging type to make language legible and appealing.

Practical guidance to color mixing and visual effects.

A structure made of intersecting lines used to align content.

The area of a layout that is left empty.

UI that scales smoothly across different screen sizes.

A collection of reusable components and standards.

Document detailing the visual brand identity.

Design that mimics real-world objects.

Minimalist style using simple elements and flat colors.

A soft UI style using inner and outer shadows.

Style characterized by translucent, frosted-glass effects.

Elements intended to prompt an immediate response (e.g., buttons).

Subtle animations providing feedback.

The visual change when a cursor rests on an element.

Visual feedback when an element is being clicked/pressed.

A placeholder version of the UI while content loads.

Visual images and symbols used in a system.

Methodology for creating design systems at the smallest level.

Comparing two versions of a design to see which performs better.

Research method for designing information architecture.

Visual data representation showing where users click/look.

Method to evaluate the findability of topics in a sitemap.

Measuring exactly where a user’s gaze stays on a screen.

Long-term research where users log their daily interactions.

Interviewing users while they perform tasks in their own environment.

Map showing the relationship between service components.

Expert review of an interface based on “rules of thumb.”

The process of using results to improve a system.

Designing the behavior of digital products.

Stories describing a user’s goals and tasks.

Adding game-like elements to non-game contexts.

Hiding complex features until the user needs them.

Designing to stop errors before they happen.

Deceptive UI used to trick users into doing things.

The process of introducing a new user to a product.

Navigational aid showing the user’s location in a hierarchy.

A window that sits on top of the main interface.

Vertically stacked list of headers that expand/reveal content.

Small info box appearing on hover.

UI component for numerical input or multi-step processes.

Loading content continuously as the user scrolls down.

Dividing content into discrete pages.

Three-line icon used for hidden navigation drawers.

Percentage of users who complete a desired action.

Percentage of visitors who leave after one page.

Metric for user loyalty and satisfaction.

Industry standard questionnaire for usability.

Percentage of correctly completed tasks by users.

Vector-based tool for UX/UI design.

Mac-based design tool for digital interfaces.

Prototyping tool focusing on high-fidelity interactions.

Platform for prototyping and design collaboration.

Collaborative cloud-based UI design tool.

Open-source design tool using SVG/CSS standards.

Behavior analytics tool for heatmaps and recordings.

Systems that learn from data patterns without explicit programming.

AI focused on interaction between computers and human language.

AI models trained on massive text data (e.g., GPT-4).

Crafting inputs to AI to get specific outputs.

Design mimicking human dialogue.

Explaining AI decisions to build user trust.

Algorithms generating layouts based on constraints.

Designing AI so results can be understood by humans.