Systems Theory
An interdisciplinary study of systems, examining the complex interactions and relationships between components within a whole. Crucial for understanding and designing complex, interconnected systems.
An interdisciplinary study of systems, examining the complex interactions and relationships between components within a whole. Crucial for understanding and designing complex, interconnected systems.
The study of complex systems and how interactions within these systems give rise to collective behaviors. Useful for understanding and managing the complexity in design processes and systems.
The process of creating representations of how users will interact with a system, including the flow of interactions and the overall experience. Crucial for planning and optimizing user interactions and experience.
A holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. Essential for solving complex problems and designing systems that account for interdependencies and dynamics.
A detailed description of a system's behavior as it responds to a request from one of its stakeholders, often used to capture functional requirements. Essential for understanding and documenting how users will interact with a system to achieve their goals.
A concept in communication and interaction where information or influence flows in two directions. Important for understanding and designing effective interactive systems and communication channels.
The process of determining which tasks should be performed by humans and which by machines in a system. Essential for optimizing system efficiency and usability.
Modifications or additions to a system that encourage specific user behaviors. Important for guiding user actions and improving the effectiveness of interactions.
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.
Software that acts as an intermediary between different systems or applications, enabling them to communicate and function together. Crucial for integrating various components and ensuring seamless interaction within digital products.
The study of the relationships between people, practices, values, and technologies within an information environment. Helps in understanding and designing systems that are sustainable and adaptive to human and environmental changes.
The ability of users to influence the behavior and outcomes of a system or product, allowing them to interact with it according to their preferences. Essential for creating user-friendly interfaces that allow for flexibility and customization.
The design of interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services. Crucial for creating engaging and user-friendly digital experiences.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an automated telephony system that interacts with callers, gathers information, and routes calls to the appropriate recipient. It improves customer service and automates information retrieval.
A principle stating that productivity increases when the computer and its user interact at a pace that ensures neither has to wait on the other. Important for designing responsive systems that enhance user productivity.
The process of combining different systems or components in a way that ensures they work together smoothly and efficiently without disruptions. Essential for providing a cohesive user experience and ensuring the reliability of complex systems.
The dynamic system of content creation, distribution, and interaction within an environment. Important for understanding how content flows and interacts within a system.
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 study of how humans interact with systems and products, focusing on improving usability and performance. Crucial for designing user-friendly systems and products.
AI systems that can dynamically adjust their behavior based on new data or changes in the environment. Important for developing systems that can respond to real-time changes and improve over time.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing an organization's relationships and interactions with current and potential customers. Essential for improving business relationships and driving sales growth.
AI systems designed to communicate with users through natural language, enabling human-like interactions. Crucial for developing advanced customer service and user engagement solutions.
The degree to which users feel they have control over their actions and decisions when interacting with a product or system. Crucial for designing systems that empower users and enhance their sense of control and satisfaction.
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is the study of designing interfaces and interactions between humans and computers. It ensures that digital products are user-friendly, efficient, and satisfying.
A predictive model of human movement that describes the time required to move to a target area, used to design user interfaces that enhance usability. Important for designing efficient and user-friendly interfaces.
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.
Numeronym for the word "Interoperability" (I + 14 letters + Y), the ability of different systems, devices, or applications to work together and exchange information effectively without compatibility issues. Crucial for ensuring compatibility and integration between systems.
The ability of a system to maintain its state and data across sessions, ensuring continuity and consistency in user experience. Crucial for designing reliable and user-friendly systems that retain data and settings across interactions.
The process of enabling users to take control of their interactions with a product or system, enhancing their confidence and satisfaction. Crucial for designing systems that provide users with the tools and information they need to make informed decisions.
The high-level structure of a software application, defining its components and their interactions. Essential for designing robust, scalable, and maintainable digital products.
The ability to identify and interpret patterns in data, often used in machine learning and cognitive psychology. Crucial for designing systems that leverage pattern recognition for predictive analytics and user interactions.
Design strategies aimed at preventing user errors before they occur. Crucial for enhancing usability and ensuring a smooth user experience.
The effort required for users to complete a task or interaction within a system. Essential for optimizing usability and minimizing user effort.
A high-level description of a system's structure and interactions, focusing on its market-facing aspects rather than technical details. Useful for communicating the value and structure of a digital product to non-technical stakeholders and aligning with market needs.
A mathematical framework used to analyze strategic interactions where the outcomes depend on the actions of multiple decision-makers. Useful for designing systems and processes that involve competitive or cooperative interactions.
Interaction Design (IxD) focuses on creating engaging interfaces with well-thought-out behaviors. Crucial for ensuring intuitive and effective user interactions.
A usability testing method where users interact with a system they believe to be autonomous, but which is actually operated by a human. Essential for testing concepts and interactions before full development.
Human in the Loop (HITL) integrates human judgment into the decision-making process of AI systems. Crucial for ensuring AI reliability and alignment with human values.
The process of linking language to its real-world context in AI systems, ensuring accurate understanding and interpretation. Crucial for improving the relevance and accuracy of AI-generated responses.
Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of tools and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. Essential for integrating different systems and enabling functionality in digital products.
A test proposed by Alan Turing to determine if a machine's behavior is indistinguishable from that of a human. Important for evaluating the intelligence of AI systems.
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.
The tendency to attribute intentional actions to others' behaviors, often overestimating their intent. Important for understanding and mitigating biases in user interactions and feedback.
A cohesive system of visual and interaction design principles and guidelines that ensure consistency and coherence across a product or brand's interfaces and experiences. Essential for creating a unified and recognizable user experience, ensuring consistency, usability, and brand identity across all platforms and touchpoints.
The behavior of seeking information or resources based on social interactions and cues. Important for understanding how users gather information in social contexts and designing systems that support collaborative information seeking.
Conversational User Interface (CUI) is a user interface designed to communicate with users in a conversational manner, often using natural language processing and AI. Essential for creating intuitive and engaging user experiences in digital products.
Voice User Interface (VUI) is a system that allows users to interact with a device or software using voice commands. Essential for creating hands-free, intuitive user experiences.
A cognitive bias where people underestimate the complexity and challenges involved in scaling systems, processes, or businesses. Important for understanding the difficulties of scaling and designing systems that address these challenges.
The technology of transmitting and understanding information through touch. Crucial for enhancing user interactions with devices and systems through tactile feedback.
A structure or framework used to create effective prompts for AI systems, ensuring clarity and context. Important for standardizing and improving AI prompt design.
Customer Experience Management (CEM) is the process of managing and improving the interactions and experiences customers have with a brand across all touchpoints. This process is essential for building strong customer relationships and enhancing brand loyalty.
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.
Customer Experience (CX) is the overall perception and feeling a customer has when interacting with a company, its products, or services. Crucial for ensuring positive interactions with a company, driving loyalty and satisfaction.
Software agents that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on verbal commands. Crucial for enhancing user experience through hands-free interaction and automation.
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.
The combined efforts of humans and AI systems to achieve better outcomes than either could alone. Important for leveraging the strengths of both humans and AI in various tasks.
Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) is a type of AI model that uses deep learning to generate human-like text based on given input. This technology is essential for automating content creation and enhancing interactive experiences.
Large Language Model (LLM) is an advanced artificial intelligence system trained on vast amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like text. Essential for natural language processing tasks, content generation, and enhancing human-computer interactions across various applications in product design and development.
A prompt or cue that initiates a behavior or response, often used in behavior design to encourage specific actions. Crucial for designing systems that effectively prompt desired user behaviors.
Features or elements added to enhance the functionality or user experience of a system. Crucial for improving user engagement and satisfaction by adding valuable enhancements.