Sludge
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.
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 creating and testing user interfaces using hand-drawn sketches and mockups on paper. Essential for early-stage design validation and gathering user feedback.
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 visual exercise that helps product teams understand and prioritize features by organizing user stories into a cohesive narrative that aligns with user journeys and goals. Essential for planning and prioritizing product features and ensuring alignment with user needs.
UI/UX design tactics that intentionally manipulate users into taking actions they might not otherwise take. Important for recognizing and avoiding unethical design practices.
A theory of motivation that explains behavior as driven by a desire for rewards or incentives. Crucial for designing systems that effectively motivate and engage users.
A dark pattern where the user interface is manipulated in a way that prioritizes certain actions over others to benefit the company. It's crucial to avoid this tactic and design fair interfaces without manipulating user actions.
The process of systematically collecting, analyzing, and acting on feedback from users to improve products and services. Essential for ensuring that user insights are effectively integrated into the development process.
A marketing strategy that delivers targeted advertising and content based on the context of the user, such as their behavior or environment. Crucial for improving user engagement and relevance of marketing efforts in digital products.
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.
A recommendation system technique that makes predictions about user interests based on preferences from many users. Essential for personalizing user experiences and improving recommendation accuracy.
The practice of identifying and analyzing search terms that users enter into search engines, used to inform content strategy and SEO. Essential for understanding user intent and optimizing content to meet search demand.
The cues and hints that users follow to find information online, based on perceived relevance and usefulness. Important for designing intuitive navigation and content structures that align with user expectations.
A research method where participants record their activities, experiences, and thoughts over a period of time, providing insights into their behaviors and needs. Important for gaining in-depth, longitudinal insights into user experiences.
Providing clear, concise, and relevant navigation options to help users find what they need quickly. Crucial for improving user experience and efficiency in digital products.
A cognitive bias where people focus on the most noticeable or prominent information while ignoring less conspicuous details. Important for understanding user decision-making and ensuring balanced presentation of information.
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.
The risk that the product being developed will not deliver sufficient value to the users, meaning it won't meet their needs or solve their problems. Critical for ensuring the product will be desirable and valuable to the users, which is essential for its success.
The process of identifying user needs and market opportunities to inform the development of new products or features. Crucial for ensuring that products are user-centered and meet real market demands.
The process of predicting how one will feel in the future, which often involves biases and inaccuracies. Important for understanding user behavior and decision-making, aiding in the design of better user experiences.
Interfaces that use multiple forms of interaction, such as visual, auditory, and tactile, to enhance user experience and accessibility. Essential for creating accessible and engaging user experiences across different sensory modalities.
A usability testing method that measures the first click users make on a webpage to determine if they can successfully navigate to their goal. Essential for evaluating and improving the navigational structure of a website.
A behavioral economics concept where people categorize and treat money differently depending on its source or intended use. Crucial for understanding financial behavior and designing systems that align with users' mental accounting practices.
A psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow that outlines a five-tier model of human needs, ranging from basic physiological needs to self-actualization. Crucial for designing products and services that address various levels of user needs.
The process of designing intuitive navigation systems within a digital product that help users easily understand their current location, navigate to desired destinations, and efficiently complete tasks. Crucial for enhancing user experience, reducing cognitive load, and ensuring users can achieve their goals seamlessly.
The phenomenon where individuals' expectations about a situation influence their actual experience of that situation. Useful for understanding the influence of expectations on outcomes.
A design technique that overrides the default scrolling behavior, often to create a more controlled or immersive experience. Controversial; can enhance or hinder user experience depending on implementation.
Qualitative data that provides insights into the context and human aspects behind quantitative data. Crucial for gaining deep insights into user behaviors and motivations.
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 research method where participants take photographs of their activities, environments, or interactions to provide insights into their behaviors and experiences. Important for gaining in-depth, visual insights into user contexts and behaviors.
A cognitive bias where users believe they have explored all available content, even when more is present. Important for designing interfaces that clearly indicate the presence of additional content.
The process by which attention is guided by internal goals and external stimuli, affecting how information is processed and remembered. Useful for designing user interfaces that direct user attention effectively.
A usability evaluation method where evaluators walk through tasks to identify potential user difficulties. Essential for improving user interfaces and ensuring usability.
The use of visual elements to draw attention to important information or guide user actions. Important for enhancing user experience and ensuring key information is noticed.
A design flaw where users mistakenly believe they have reached the end of the content due to a misleading visual cue. Crucial for ensuring content is properly signposted to avoid user confusion and ensure thorough exploration.
The value or satisfaction derived from a decision, influencing the choices people make. Crucial for understanding user preferences and designing experiences that maximize satisfaction.
Managing product development with a focus on understanding and influencing user behavior through behavioral science principles. Essential for product managers to create user-centric products that drive desired behaviors.
The process of triggering particular aspects of a person's identity to influence their behavior or decisions. Important for designing personalized and effective user experiences.
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.
The tendency to avoid information that one perceives as potentially negative or anxiety-inducing. Important for designing experiences that encourage information-seeking behavior.
A visual or auditory cue that indicates how to interact with an element in the user interface. Crucial for enhancing usability by clearly communicating the purpose and function of UI elements.
Research conducted in natural settings to collect data on how people interact with products or environments in real-world conditions. Crucial for gaining authentic insights into user behaviors and contexts.
The design of interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services. Crucial for creating engaging and user-friendly digital experiences.
A cognitive bias where individuals' expectations influence their perceptions and judgments. Relevant for understanding how expectations skew perceptions and decisions among users.
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.
Call to Action (CTA) is a prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase. Crucial for guiding user behavior and increasing engagement or conversions on digital platforms.
A recommendation system technique that suggests items similar to those a user has shown interest in, based on item features. Important for providing personalized recommendations and improving user satisfaction.
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.
The use of touch sensations to communicate information to users, often through vibrations or other tactile responses in devices. Essential for enhancing user interaction and providing sensory feedback.
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 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.
The tendency for individuals to give positive responses or feedback out of politeness, regardless of their true feelings. Crucial for obtaining honest and accurate user feedback.
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.
A testing method where the internal structure of the system is not known to the tester, focusing solely on input and output. Essential for validating the functionality of digital products from an end-user perspective.
Numeronym for the word "Personalization" (P + 13 letters + N), tailoring a product, service, or experience to meet the individual preferences, needs, or behaviors of each user. Important for enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
The tendency to give more weight to negative experiences or information than positive ones. Crucial for understanding user behavior and designing systems that balance positive and negative feedback.
A qualitative research method that studies people in their natural environments to understand their behaviors, cultures, and experiences. Crucial for gaining deep insights into user behaviors and contexts.
The practice of setting defaults in decision environments to influence outcomes, often used in behavioral economics and design. Crucial for creating user experiences that encourage beneficial behaviors through preselected options.
A user experience that feels consistent and unified across different elements and touchpoints. Crucial for ensuring a seamless and engaging user journey.
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.