Functionalism
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.
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.
A design approach that emphasizes simplicity, using only the necessary elements to create a clean and uncluttered look. Essential for creating intuitive and user-friendly interfaces.
A Gestalt principle that describes the visual relationship between a figure and its background, crucial for understanding visual perception. Important for designing clear and effective visual hierarchies in user interfaces.
The practice of presenting information in a way that is clear, accessible, and useful to the user. Essential for creating effective and user-friendly interfaces and communications.
A Gestalt principle stating that people will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images as the simplest form(s) possible. Important for understanding visual perception and designing intuitive user interfaces.
A usability testing approach where designers assume that users are easily confused and distracted, focusing on simplicity and clarity in design. Crucial for ensuring that interfaces are intuitive and easy to use under various conditions.
A technique used to assess the visual hierarchy of a design by squinting to see which elements stand out the most. Essential for evaluating the effectiveness of a design's layout and emphasis.
The ease with which visual information can be processed and understood by the viewer. Important for creating intuitive and accessible interfaces.
A cognitive bias where individuals overestimate how well their thoughts, feelings, and emotions are understood by others. Crucial for designing communication and user interfaces that account for and mitigate this bias.
A cognitive bias where someone mistakenly assumes that others have the same background knowledge they do. Essential for designers to ensure communications and products are clear and accessible to all users, regardless of their background knowledge.
An approach to design where content is prioritized and designed before other elements like layout and visual design. Crucial for ensuring that the design supports and enhances the content.
The process of arranging related objects in parallel or at 90-degree angles for visual organization and efficiency. Useful for designers to maintain an organized workspace, enhance visual clarity, and streamline their workflow.
A Gestalt principle stating that elements that are visually connected are perceived as more related than elements with no connection. Essential for creating designs that effectively group related elements.
A Gestalt principle stating that elements with a distinct visual feature (e.g., a unique color, size, or shape) capture attention and are perceived as a focal point. Crucial for designing interfaces that direct attention toward visual elements that signal and enable forward progress.
The number of pixels per inch (PPI) on a display, affecting the sharpness and clarity of visual elements. Crucial for optimizing visual content for different devices.
A dark pattern where a process is made more difficult than it needs to be to discourage certain behavior. Recognizing the harm of this practice is important to design straightforward user processes.
A dark pattern where questions are worded in a way that tricks the user into giving an answer they didn't intend. Recognizing the harm of this practice is important to maintain clarity and honesty in user interactions.
A Gestalt principle where elements that are located within the same closed region are perceived as being grouped together. Essential for creating designs that are easily understood and visually organized.
A structure or framework used to create effective prompts for AI systems, ensuring clarity and context. Important for standardizing and improving AI prompt design.
The default scaling factor applied by a device to render content at its optimal size and resolution. Crucial for ensuring visual clarity and consistency on various devices.
Readability is a design principle that emphasizes making text easy to read and understand. Crucial for enhancing user comprehension and engagement in digital and print media.
A Gestalt principle suggesting that elements are perceived as a single unit or group if they share an organizing visual cue like bullet points, or connecting lines. Essential for creating designs that organize and define related elements through grouping.
The way information is presented to users, which can significantly influence their decisions and perceptions. Important for designing messages and interfaces that guide user choices effectively.
A clear, concise description of the issue(s) that need to be addressed, focusing on the specific challenge and its impact. Essential for guiding problem-solving efforts and ensuring a clear understanding of the issue at hand.
A key aspect of Gestalt psychology that explains the tendency for ambiguous images to pop back and forth unstably between alternative interpretations in the mind. Important for understanding visual perception and designing interfaces that avoid ambiguity.
A writing style where the most important information is presented at the beginning, followed by supporting details in order of decreasing importance. Crucial for creating clear and effective information hierarchies in content design.
Obstacles to effective communication that arise from differences in understanding the meanings of words and symbols used by the communicators. Crucial for designing clear and effective communication systems and avoiding misunderstandings.
Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) is a language used for modeling business processes, enabling the design and implementation of process-based applications. Important for defining complex business processes and ensuring their effective implementation in digital products.
Elements in a design that draw the viewer's attention and create a visual hierarchy. Essential for guiding user attention and improving the effectiveness of visual communication.
A dark pattern where users are unknowingly signed up for a recurring subscription. Awareness of this tactic is important to ensure transparent subscription services and prevent deceptive charges.
A principle stating that a system should be liberal in what it accepts and conservative in what it sends, meaning it should handle user input flexibly while providing clear, consistent output, similar to the principle of fault tolerance. Essential for designing robust and user-friendly interfaces that accommodate a wide range of user inputs and behaviors while maintaining reliability and clarity in responses.
A Gestalt principle where the mind completes incomplete figures to form a whole, aiding in the perception of shapes and objects. Crucial for designing visual elements that are easily understood by users.
A dark pattern where additional costs are only revealed at the last step of the checkout process. It's essential to avoid this tactic and promote transparent pricing to build user trust.
A phenomenon where people better understand and remember information when it is presented visually. Crucial for designing effective and engaging visual content.
The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Important for designing effective visual communication and iconography.
A distinct text-only typographic treatment of a brand name used as a logo. Important for establishing a recognizable brand identity and ensuring consistent brand representation.
Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, and Hierarchy (LATCH) is a framework for categorizing information. Useful for creating clear and intuitive information structures in digital products.
Interference in the communication process caused by ambiguity in the meaning of words and phrases, leading to misunderstandings. Crucial for designing clear communication channels and reducing misunderstandings in user interactions.
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.
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR) are the four main principles of web accessibility. These principles are essential for creating inclusive digital experiences that can be accessed and used by people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities.
A method where a document or proposal is limited to one page and created within one hour to ensure clarity and focus. Crucial for efficient communication and decision-making.
Situation-Complication-Resolution (SCR) is a communication and problem-solving framework used to structure information clearly and logically. Crucial for effectively conveying complex ideas and solutions in business and design contexts.
A philosophy that emphasizes reason and logic as the primary sources of knowledge and truth. Useful for understanding the foundations of logical thinking and decision-making in design and development.
The Principle of Choices is an information architecture guideline that emphasizes providing users with meaningful options to navigate and interact with a system. Crucial for enhancing user experience by ensuring users can easily find what they need without being overwhelmed.
A strategic planning technique that uses visual maps to align activities with business goals and user needs. Essential for ensuring that development efforts are aligned with strategic objectives.
The study of the nature, structure, and variation of language, including phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Essential for understanding how language influences communication and user interactions in digital products.
The study of how information is transmitted and received, including the processes and methods that facilitate communication. Important for designing effective communication strategies and user interfaces.
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) Goals are a framework for setting and achieving clear objectives. Essential for setting clear and actionable objectives in personal and professional contexts.
Explainable AI (XAI) are AI systems that provide clear and understandable explanations for their decisions and actions. This transparency is crucial for building trust and confidence in AI applications across various domains.
The process of planning, creating, and managing content in a way that is user-centered and purpose-driven. Crucial for ensuring that content is engaging, relevant, and effective.
The perception of a relationship between two variables when no such relationship exists. Crucial for understanding and avoiding biases in data interpretation and decision-making.
A phenomenon where individuals' preferences between options change when the options are presented in different ways or contexts. Important for understanding and designing around inconsistencies in user choices.
The organization of content in a way that prioritizes and structures information according to its importance. Crucial for ensuring that users can easily find and understand information.
Domain-Driven Design (DDD) is an approach to software development that focuses on modeling the business domain and its logic. Essential for aligning software development with business needs and creating maintainable systems.
Getting Things Done (GTD) is a productivity methodology that emphasizes capturing tasks, organizing them, and taking action. Essential for improving personal and team productivity and task management.
A cognitive bias where decision-making is affected by the lack of information or uncertainty. Important for understanding and mitigating user decision-making biases due to uncertainty or lack of information.
The use of HTML tags to convey the meaning of content on web pages, improving accessibility and search engine optimization. Essential for creating accessible and SEO-friendly web content.
Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive (MECE) is a problem-solving framework ensuring that categories are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, avoiding overlaps and gaps. Essential for structured thinking and comprehensive analysis in problem-solving.
Information Visualization (InfoVis) is the study and practice of visual representations of abstract data to reinforce human cognition. Crucial for transforming complex data into intuitive visual formats, enabling faster insights and better decision-making.
The Principle of Exemplars is an information architecture guideline that uses representative examples to illustrate content categories. Crucial for enhancing user understanding and facilitating content discovery.