Material Design
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 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.
An iterative design process that uses algorithms and computational tools to generate a wide range of design solutions based on defined constraints and goals. Crucial for exploring innovative and optimized design solutions.
A reusable solution to common design problems that provides a standard way of addressing recurring issues in design. Essential for creating consistent and efficient design solutions.
A collection of design patterns that provides solutions to common design problems. Useful for standardizing design solutions and promoting best practices across projects.
A user experience design methodology focused on rapid iteration, collaboration, and learning through experimentation. Essential for creating user-centered designs efficiently and effectively.
A framework used in graphic and web design to organize content in a structured and consistent manner. Essential for creating balanced and readable layouts.
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 principle that suggests using an odd number of elements in a composition to create visual interest and balance. Crucial for creating aesthetically pleasing designs.
A design principle that suggests dividing an image into nine equal parts using two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines to create more engaging and balanced compositions. Important for creating visually appealing designs and improving aesthetic quality in visual compositions.
A structured set of breakpoints used to create responsive designs that work seamlessly across multiple devices. Important for maintaining consistency and usability in responsive design.
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.
A mathematical ratio, approximately 1.618:1, often used in design and art to create aesthetically pleasing compositions. Important for designing visually balanced and appealing layouts, leveraging natural aesthetics to enhance user experience.
The attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities, often used in design to make interfaces more relatable and engaging. Important for creating relatable and engaging designs that resonate with users.
The degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often used in the context of software or hardware design. Important for enhancing flexibility, reusability, and ease of maintenance in design.
A design technique that involves showing only essential information initially, revealing additional details as needed to prevent information overload. Crucial for creating user-friendly interfaces that enhance usability and reduce cognitive load.
The process of creating and developing new products, focusing on form, function, usability, and aesthetics to meet user needs. Crucial for developing products that are both functional and appealing to users.
A design philosophy that considers the diverse needs and abilities of all users, aiming to create products that are accessible to everyone. Crucial for ensuring that products are usable and accessible by the widest possible audience.
Responsive Web Design (RWD) is an approach to web design that makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes. Essential for creating flexible, adaptive web experiences that maintain functionality and aesthetics across different platforms and devices.
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 consistent spacing of text and elements in a design to create a harmonious and readable layout. Crucial for improving readability and visual appeal in design.
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 type of usability testing conducted during the design process to identify issues and improve the design iteratively. Crucial for refining designs and ensuring usability before final release.
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 Gestalt principle that states that objects that are similar in appearance are perceived as being more related than objects that are dissimilar. Essential for creating visually cohesive and intuitive designs.
A collection of reusable UI components that can be used to build applications. Helps in maintaining consistency and efficiency in the design and development process.
A key aspect of Gestalt psychology where complex patterns arise out of relatively simple interactions. Crucial for understanding how users perceive complex designs and patterns.
A dark pattern where users are tricked into confirming a subscription through misleading language or design. It's crucial to avoid misleading users and ensure clear communication about subscription terms and conditions.
A Gestalt principle stating that elements moving in the same direction are perceived as a group or a single entity. Crucial for creating visual designs that effectively convey movement and relationships.
The process of applying a consistent style, motif, or brand identity across a piece of work, design, or user experience to create coherence and enhance the overall aesthetic. Essential for ensuring visual consistency, reinforcing brand identity, and providing users with a unified and engaging experience.
The structural design of a product, defining its components, their relationships, and how they interact to fulfill the product's purpose. Important for ensuring that a product is well-organized, scalable, and maintainable.
The quality of being uniform and coherent across different elements and touchpoints in design. Crucial for creating predictable and reliable user experiences.
A design principle that ensures a system continues to function at a reduced level rather than completely failing when some part of it goes wrong. Crucial for enhancing system reliability and user experience in adverse conditions.
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.
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.
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.
Numeronym for the word "Accessibility" (A + 11 letters + Y), designing for ease of use by all people, ensuring equal access to those with disabilities. Crucial for ensuring inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.
A key aspect of Gestalt psychology describing the mind's ability to fill in gaps to create a whole object from incomplete elements. Crucial for designing creative and engaging visuals that are both pleasing to the eye and cleverly satisfying to the mind.
A schedule of reinforcement where a desired behavior is reinforced every time it occurs, promoting quick learning and behavior maintenance. Important for designing systems that encourage consistent user behavior.
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.
The study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. Useful for understanding and applying narrative techniques in design and communication.
The ability of an object to stand out and attract attention within its environment. Important for designing elements that need to be easily noticed by users.
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.
Model-View-Controller (MVC) is an architectural pattern that separates an application into three main logical components: the Model (data), the View (user interface), and the Controller (processes that handle input). Essential for creating modular, maintainable, and scalable software applications by promoting separation of concerns.
3-Tiered Architecture is a software design pattern that separates an application into three layers: presentation, logic, and data. Crucial for improving scalability, maintainability, and flexibility in software development.
A collection of pre-written code and tools that provide a foundation for building the front end of websites and applications, such as Bootstrap or React. Crucial for streamlining the development process and ensuring consistency.
A design approach that divides a system into smaller parts or modules that can be independently created, modified, replaced, or exchanged. Crucial for creating flexible, scalable, and maintainable systems.
The practice of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication, and material components of a service to improve its quality and the interaction between service providers and customers. Essential for creating effective and user-centered service experiences.
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.
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.
Also known as "Maslow's Hammer," a cognitive bias where people rely too heavily on a familiar tool or method, often summarized as "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.". Important for designers to recognize and avoid over-reliance on familiar methods in problem-solving and design.
A usability inspection method where experts review a user interface against a set of heuristics to identify usability issues. Crucial for identifying usability problems early in the design process.
The practice of designing and implementing processes, systems, or business solutions in a way that ensures their long-term viability, efficiency, and maintainability. Crucial for creating durable and efficient designs that remain practical and effective over time, ensuring the ongoing success and feasibility of digital products and operations.
A usability testing method where participants verbalize their thoughts while interacting with a product. Essential for understanding user thought processes and identifying usability issues.
The visual images, symbols, or modes of representation collectively associated with a subject, often used in design to communicate ideas quickly and effectively. Important for creating cohesive and meaningful visual systems.
A brainstorming technique where participants sketch eight ideas in eight minutes to generate a wide range of concepts quickly. Essential for fostering creativity and generating diverse ideas rapidly.
A principle that states the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices available. Crucial for designing user interfaces that minimize cognitive load and enhance decision-making efficiency.
The tendency to forget information that can be easily found online, also known as digital amnesia. Important for understanding how access to information impacts memory and designing experiences accordingly.
Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a visual representation of the relationships between entities in a database. Essential for designing and understanding the data structure and relationships within digital products.
The principle that elements in a digital interface maintain consistent appearance, position, and behavior across different pages and states to help users maintain orientation and familiarity. Important for creating a stable and predictable user experience, reducing disorientation and enhancing usability.