UX Glossary

Question 1

Accessibility

Answer 1

Accessibility or accessible design helps differently-enabled users to interact with a product. It involves designing for people who are color blind, blind, deaf, and people with cognitive disabilities, among others.

Question 2

Agile

Answer 2

Agile is a process by which a team can manage a project by breaking it up into several stages and involving constant collaboration with stakeholders and continuous improvement and iteration at every stage. Instead of building the entire product at once, Agile breaks it down into smaller bits of user functionality and assigns them to two-week cycles called iterations.

Question 3

Call-To-Action (CTA)

Answer 3

A call to action button is a visual or interface element that invites a specific action from the user. In apps and websites, CTAs often take the form of a short snippet of text, followed by a button.

Question 4

CSS

Answer 4

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS describes how a developer styles HTML elements to be displayed on screen, matching designs.

Question 5

Design Sprint

Answer 5

A collaborative methodology for rapidly identifying and solving a design problem. The five stages of a sprint are: define the challenge, diverge (ideate possible solutions), converge (choose the strongest concepts to develop), prototype, and test.

Question 6

Design Thinking

Answer 6

Design thinking is a 5-stage method for creative problem solving. The 5 stages are: Empathize: Understand the challenge Define: Define the problem Ideate: Brainstorm potential solutions Prototype: Build your solutions Test: Test your solutions

Question 7

Fidelity

Answer 7

A concept in both wireframing and prototyping. Low-fidelity wireframes and prototypes aim to cover basic layout and links between screens, while high-fidelity prototypes and wireframes aim to be very close to final visuals and functionality.

Question 8

HTML

Answer 8

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML is the set of markup codes inserted in a file intended for display on the web. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page’s words and images for the user. HTML is the structure (the words), CSS is the style and Javascript is the behavior.

Question 9

Iterative design

Answer 9

A methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. Based on the results of testing the most recent iteration of a design, changes are made. This process is intended to ultimately improve the quality and functionality of a design.

Question 10

JavaScript

Answer 10

JavaScript is a programming language used to make web pages interactive. HTML is the structure, CSS is the style and Javascript is the behaviour.

Question 11

KPI

Answer 11

Key Performance Indicators are measurable goals that allow us to judge our success when launching a digital product.

Question 12

Mockup

Answer 12

A mockup is a detailed static representation of the design that clearly displays the information structure, renders the content and demonstrates the basic functionality.

Question 13

MVP

Answer 13

MVP means Minimal Viable Product. It’s a way of developing a new product (e.g. a website) with acceptable features to suit the users. More features are only developed after considering feedback from the initial users.

Question 14

Native App

Answer 14

Native apps live on the device and are accessed through icons on the device home screen. Native apps are installed through an application store (such as Google Play for Android apps or Apple’s App Store for iOS apps). They are developed specifically for one platform, and can take full advantage of all the device features (camera, gps, gestures, notifications etc.)

Question 15

Prototype

Answer 15

A rough guide for the layout of a website or app, giving an indication of the direction that the product is heading - demonstrates page to page flow, depending on which software - can include interactions e.g. hovers, animations.

Question 16

Responsive design

Answer 16

A design approach that responds to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform, and orientation. The practice consists of a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images, and intelligent use of CSS media queries.

Question 17

Sprints

Answer 17

In agile software development, a sprint is a set period of time which set work has to be completed. A sprint can last between 1–3 weeks depending on the business. A sprint is normally scrum specific.

Question 18

Stakeholder

Answer 18

A stakeholder is anyone who has interest in your project or with whom you need to work with in some way to complete the project. Stakeholders can be internal to the organization or external to it. Some stakeholder examples are CEOs, cross-discipline managers, team leads, clients, and vendors or partners.

Question 19

Usability

Answer 19

Is the ease of use and learnability of an object, such as a book, software application, website, machine, tool or any object that a human interacts with.

Question 20

User Experience

Answer 20

The overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use. It is how it works. User journey The step by step journey that a user takes to reach their goal. It usually accounts for various touch-points, actions, feelings and can be used to ideate opportunities to address the various phases, tasks and emotions.

Question 21

User interface

Answer 21

Visual design of the user experience or screen design. UI includes the colors, fonts, final designs. It is how it looks.

Question 22

Wireframes

Answer 22

A rough guide for the layout of a website or app, either done with pen and paper or with wireframing software.