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.
600 topics found for:
“practical design”
Design Maturity
The level of sophistication and integration of design practices within an organization's processes and culture. Essential for assessing and improving the effectiveness of design in driving business value and innovation.
Co-Design
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.
Anti-Pattern
A common solution to a recurring problem that is ineffective and counterproductive, often resulting in negative consequences. Important for recognizing and avoiding poor design practices and improving overall design quality.
Form Follows Function
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.
Design Canon
A set of fundamental principles and guidelines that inform and shape design practices. Crucial for maintaining design consistency and ensuring high-quality outcomes.
Design Literacy
The understanding and proficiency in the principles, practices, and processes of design. Essential for empowering individuals to effectively participate in and critique design processes.
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.
Generative Design
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.
Pattern Library
A collection of design patterns that provides solutions to common design problems. Useful for standardizing design solutions and promoting best practices across projects.
Architectural Theory
The study of architectural concepts, including the principles and methodologies used in the design and construction of buildings and structures. Useful for understanding spatial design and applying architectural principles to digital interfaces.
Roach Motel
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.
Art Theory
The study of the principles and techniques of art, including visual composition, aesthetics, and the role of art in society. Important for understanding visual design principles and enhancing the aesthetic quality of digital products.
Design Advocacy
The practice of promoting and defending the value of design within an organization or community. Crucial for ensuring that design considerations are prioritized and integrated into decision-making processes.
Design Theory
The study of the principles and practices that inform and guide the design process. Essential for understanding the foundational concepts that underpin effective design.
Design Ethics
The principles and guidelines that govern the moral and ethical aspects of design, ensuring that designs are socially responsible and beneficial. Crucial for creating designs that are ethical, inclusive, and socially responsible.
Design Pattern
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.
Atomic Design
A methodology for creating design systems by breaking down interfaces into their basic components (atoms, molecules, organisms, templates, and pages). Essential for creating scalable and maintainable design systems.
Design Principles
Fundamental guidelines that inform and shape the design process, ensuring consistency, usability, and effectiveness in product creation. Essential for creating coherent, user-centered designs that align with organizational goals and user needs.
Design Concept
An overarching idea or theme that guides the design process, providing direction and coherence to the final product. Essential for ensuring that all design elements align with a central vision and purpose.
Collaborative Design
An approach where designers and non-designers work together throughout the design process to create user-centric solutions. Crucial for creating more inclusive and effective design outcomes.
Design Debt
The accumulated consequences of poor design decisions, which can hinder future development and usability. Crucial for understanding and addressing the long-term impact of design choices.
Participatory Design
An approach to design that actively involves all stakeholders (e.g., employees, partners, customers) in the design process. Crucial for creating designs that truly meet user needs and expectations.
Design System
A collection of reusable components, guided by clear standards, that can be assembled to build any number of applications, ensuring consistency and efficiency. Crucial for maintaining design consistency and efficiency across products.
Critical Design
An approach to design that challenges assumptions and provokes thought by creating speculative or provocative artifacts. Crucial for stimulating critical thinking and innovation in design.
Contextual Design
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.
Interactive Design
The design of interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services. Crucial for creating engaging and user-friendly digital experiences.
Empathy in Design
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.
Experience Design
The practice of designing products, services, and environments with a focus on the overall user experience. Essential for creating holistic and meaningful interactions.
Environmental Design
The process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. Important for creating designs that are sustainable and contextually appropriate.
Crit
Crit (Design Critique) is a structured feedback session where designers present their work and receive constructive feedback from peers. Essential for refining design quality through collaborative input.
UCD
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.
Lean UX
A user experience design methodology focused on rapid iteration, collaboration, and learning through experimentation. Essential for creating user-centered designs efficiently and effectively.
DesignOps
The orchestration and optimization of design operations to improve efficiency, quality, and impact of the design function within an organization. Crucial for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of design teams.
Grid System
A framework used in graphic and web design to organize content in a structured and consistent manner. Essential for creating balanced and readable layouts.
IxD
Interaction Design (IxD) focuses on creating engaging interfaces with well-thought-out behaviors. Crucial for ensuring intuitive and effective user interactions.
Dark Patterns
UI/UX design tactics that intentionally manipulate users into taking actions they might not otherwise take. Important for recognizing and avoiding unethical design practices.
Prägnanz
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.
Rule of Odds
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.
Wall Walk
An activity during a design audit where printed screens representing customer journeys are reviewed collaboratively with stakeholders to assess design quality and identify areas for improvement. Essential for ensuring design consistency, gathering feedback, and making informed decisions on design enhancements.
HCD
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.
Principle of Repetition
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.
Minimalism
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.
Bait and Switch
A dark pattern where users think they are going to take one action, but a different, undesirable action happens instead. Designers must avoid this deceptive practice and be aware of its impact to ensure transparent user interactions.
Wireframing
The process of creating a simplified visual guide or blueprint for the layout and structure of a webpage or app, focusing on functionality and content placement. Crucial for planning and communicating design structure before full development.
Forced Continuity
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.
Mobile-First
A design strategy that prioritizes the mobile user experience by designing for mobile devices first before scaling up to larger screens. Crucial for creating accessible and responsive designs that work well on all devices.
Color Theory
The body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of specific color combinations. Crucial for understanding color relationships and creating effective visual designs.
Summative Testing
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.
Neurodesign
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.
Modularity
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.
Breakpoint System
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.
Figure-Ground
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.
Internal Consistency
The degree to which a product's elements are consistent with each other. Crucial for creating a cohesive and intuitive user experience.
Anthropomorphism
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.
Environmental Branding
The use of physical space to convey brand identity and values through design elements like signage, architecture, and interior design. Crucial for enhancing brand presence and creating immersive brand experiences.
Nielsen’s Heuristics
A set of ten general principles for user interface design created by Jakob Nielsen to improve usability. Essential for evaluating and improving user interface designs.
Aesthetic Theory
The study of the nature of beauty, art, and taste and the creation and appreciation of beauty. Essential for creating visually appealing and engaging user interfaces.
POLA
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.
Application Architecture
The high-level structure of a software application, defining its components and their interactions. Essential for designing robust, scalable, and maintainable digital products.