Pre-set options in a system that are designed to benefit users by simplifying decisions and guiding them towards the best choices. Essential for improving user experience and ensuring that users make optimal decisions with minimal effort.
The path taken by a user to complete a task on a website or application, including all the steps and interactions along the way. Essential for designing intuitive and efficient user experiences.
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.
The effort required for users to complete a task or interaction within a system. Essential for optimizing usability and minimizing user effort.
The time it takes for a webpage to load and become interactive, impacting user experience and search engine rankings. Essential for improving user satisfaction and SEO performance.
The phenomenon where individuals' expectations about a situation influence their actual experience of that situation. Useful for understanding the influence of expectations on outcomes.
Any process or administrative barrier that unnecessarily complicates transactions and creates friction, discouraging beneficial behaviors. Important for identifying and eliminating unnecessary obstacles that hinder user experiences.
A method of comparing two versions of a webpage or app to see which performs better in terms of user engagement or conversions. Crucial for designers and product managers to test variations and optimize user experience and performance.
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.
A reading pattern where users skip over certain sections of content, often due to a lack of perceived relevance. Crucial for designing content that is engaging and relevant to prevent users from bypassing important information.
Any interaction or communication between a brand and its audience. Important for managing and optimizing all points of contact to ensure a positive brand experience.
A theory that suggests there is an optimal level of arousal for peak performance, and too much or too little arousal can negatively impact performance. Important for designing experiences that keep users engaged without overwhelming them.
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 technique that visualizes the process users go through to achieve a goal with a product or service. Essential for identifying pain points and optimizing user interactions to improve overall experience.
The first interaction or touchpoint a user has with a product or service, crucial for making a strong first impression. Crucial for designing engaging and intuitive initial user experiences.
The parts of a service or product that are visible to and interact with the user, as opposed to the backstage operations. Important for designing user experiences that are engaging and effective.
A cognitive bias where people judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak (most intense point) and its end, rather than the total sum of the experience. Crucial for designing memorable and satisfying user experiences.
The path or sequence of actions users follow based on information scent to find their desired information. Crucial for understanding user behavior and optimizing content discovery paths.
The design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience. Essential for ensuring that digital products are intuitive and easy to use.
Ensuring that user experiences are consistent across different platforms, such as web, mobile, and desktop. Essential for creating a seamless and cohesive user experience across multiple devices.
The percentage of users who continue to use a product or service over a specified period, indicating user loyalty and engagement. Essential for assessing the effectiveness of user retention strategies and improving user experience.
A pop-up dialog that appears when a user attempts to leave a page or application, which can be used to prevent loss of progress or data, or to confirm user intent. While it can be used ethically to prevent data loss or confirm actions, designers must avoid using it to deceive, delay, block, or interfere with the user's intent, thus ensuring it does not become a dark pattern.
A cognitive bias where the perception of one positive trait influences the perception of other unrelated traits. Important for designers to manage and utilize this bias effectively in user experience design.
A user research technique where participants organize information into categories to inform information architecture and design. Essential for creating intuitive information architectures and improving user experience.
A role focused on driving user acquisition, engagement, and retention through data-driven strategies and experiments. Essential for scaling products and optimizing user growth.
The percentage of users who start but do not complete a desired action, such as completing a form or purchasing a product. Important for identifying issues in user flows and improving conversion rates.
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.
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.
Moment of Truth (MoT) refers to any instance where a customer interacts with a brand, product, or service in a way that leaves a significant impression. Crucial for identifying key touchpoints in the customer journey and optimizing them to enhance overall user experience and brand perception.
A metric that measures how engaged users are with a product, often based on usage frequency, feature adoption, and user feedback. Crucial for assessing user satisfaction and identifying areas for improvement in the product experience.
The psychological phenomenon where people prefer options that are not too extreme, but just right. Crucial for designing products and experiences that cater to the majority preference.
The ease with which users can quickly find and understand information on a webpage or document, often enhanced by design elements like headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs. Crucial for improving user experience and ensuring that content is accessible and easy to navigate.
The process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting aggregate data about which pages a website visitor visits and in what order. Essential for understanding user behavior and improving website navigation and content.
A specific viewport dimension at which a website's layout adjusts to provide an optimal viewing experience across different screen sizes. Crucial for responsive web design to ensure usability on various devices.
Content or functionality that is built into a platform or device rather than being provided by an external application. Important for ensuring seamless integration and optimal performance.
Also known as Magical Number 7 +/- 2, a theory in cognitive psychology that states the average number of objects an individual can hold in working memory is about seven. Crucial for designing user interfaces that align with human cognitive limitations.
The complete set of experiences that customers go through when interacting with a company, from initial contact to post-purchase. Essential for understanding and optimizing each touchpoint in the customer lifecycle.
A detailed diagram that visualizes the processes, touchpoints, and interactions involved in delivering a service, helping to identify areas for improvement. Crucial for optimizing service delivery and ensuring a seamless user experience.
A method of categorizing information in more than one way to enhance findability and user experience. Crucial for improving navigation, search, and overall usability of complex information systems.
A marketing strategy that uses user behavior data to deliver personalized advertisements and content. Important for improving user engagement and conversion rates by providing relevant and timely information to users.
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.
The phenomenon where people have a reduced ability to recall the last items in a list when additional, unrelated information is added at the end. Crucial for designing information presentation to optimize memory retention.
The mathematical study of waiting lines or queues. Useful for optimizing user flow and reducing wait times in user interfaces.
A problem-solving method that involves asking "why" five times to identify the root cause of a problem. Useful for designers and product managers to uncover underlying issues and improve processes and solutions.
The underlying goal or motivation behind a user's search query, crucial for understanding and optimizing content to meet user needs and improve SEO. Essential for creating content that aligns with user needs and improving search engine rankings.
The process of continuously improving a product's performance, usability, and value through data-driven decisions and iterative enhancements. Crucial for ensuring that a product remains competitive and meets evolving user needs.
A cognitive bias that causes people to believe they are less likely to experience negative events and more likely to experience positive events than others. Crucial for understanding user risk perception and designing systems that account for unrealistic optimism.
Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task (HEART) is a framework used to measure and improve user experience success. Important for systematically evaluating and enhancing user experience.
Elements of a service or product that are not visible to the user but are essential for delivering the front-stage experience. Crucial for understanding and designing the full user experience, including behind-the-scenes elements.
A data visualization technique that shows the intensity of data points with varying colors, often used to represent user interactions on a website. Essential for understanding user behavior and identifying areas of interest or concern in digital product interfaces.
A behavior where users repeatedly bounce back and forth between a search engine results page and individual search results. Important for identifying issues in search result relevancy and user satisfaction.
The ratio of interactive elements (links, buttons) to the number of goals on a landing page. Important for optimizing landing page design to improve conversion rates.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the systematic process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. Crucial for improving user engagement and achieving business goals.
A design approach that focuses on building a robust core experience first, then adding more advanced features and capabilities for users with more capable browsers or devices. Essential for ensuring a consistent and accessible user experience across different devices and browsers.
Research focused on understanding and improving information architecture (IA), ensuring that information is logically and intuitively organized for users. Crucial for optimizing the organization and accessibility of information.
User interfaces that change in response to user behavior or preferences to improve usability and efficiency. Crucial for creating personalized and efficient user experiences.
A cognitive bias where people prefer a smaller set of higher-quality options over a larger set with lower overall quality. Useful for designing product offerings and experiences that emphasize quality over quantity for users.
The percentage of users who take a specific action that signifies they are engaging with a product or service. Important for measuring user engagement and the effectiveness of onboarding processes.
The practice of linking one page of a website to another page on the same website, improving navigation, user experience, and SEO. Essential for enhancing website structure, user engagement, and search engine optimization.
Measurements that track the effectiveness of each stage of the funnel, such as conversion rates and drop-off points. Crucial for identifying areas of improvement in the customer journey.