This glossary provides an overview of some of the most common terms used when discussing user experience and user-centred design practices. There may be differences among user experience professionals on the subtleties of some descriptions, and that’s a discussion we welcome!
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ACCESSIBILITY refers to the degree to which a system or device can be accessed by any user. It commonly refers to the ease of access by those with physical or cognitive disabilities. See also DDA, Pas 78, Section 508, W3C
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a technique used in web development. It allows for informa- tion on a page to update or change without the page having to reload, thereby giving the user a faster and more engaging experience.
ANALYTICS See Web analytics
BENCHMARKING can mean either measuring the benchmark of usability of a system, then measuring perform- ance over time to gauge improve- ments, or using desk-based or user research to compare a candidate site or system against several competitors using a list of relevant attributes. See also Key performance indicators
CARD SORTING involves end users organising content on cards or Post-it notes to identify potential informa- tion organisation schemes for a site.
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN involves engaging end users to work with designers and researchers to provide and feedback on design ideas for a service. Also called participative design.
CONCEPT TESTING involves vali- dating the likely benefits of design ideas with end users before they’re developed into full designs.
CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH involves observing and probing end-user behaviour in their real-world envi- ronment. This gives insight into the context of use of a system to get a broad understanding that goes beyond simple interactions.
CORRIDOR TESTING is an ad hoc informal test approach to gain quick user feedback from participants that haven’t been subject to a formal recruitment process. It’s useful when rapidly iterating designs where there’s no scope for more formal user testing, and where specific domain knowledge is a determinant factor in the user feedback being sought.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DESIGN See Experience design
DIARY STUDY involves providing participants with the materials and structure to record daily events, tasks and perceptions around a given subject in order to gain insight into their behaviour and needs over time.
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT (DDA) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (amended 2005) is a UK parliamentary act that makes it unlawful to discriminate against a disabled person in the areas of employment, education, access to goods, facilities and services, and buying or renting land or property. See also Accessibility, Pas 78, Section 508, W3C
DISCUSSION GUIDE is a detailed outline or script of the topics an interviewer will cover and the questions s/he will ask during a focus group, user test or interview. Also known as an interview guide.
END USERS refers to those people who use a website and, in the context of research, those engaged as partici- pants, often referred to as real users.
ERGONOMICS, or physical ergono- mics, is the study of the fit of physical environment, products and systems to people. Its origins are in industrial design, where scientific information on the human form (anthropometrics) was applied to design. Designs are validated using physical mock-ups of the system in question. Cognitive ergonomics analyses cognitive pro- cesses like decision making.
ETHNOGRAPHY, or ethnographic research, is a holistic qualitative observational study of users in the broad context of their real-world environment over a period of time. This gives insight into behaviours, relationships and artefacts that affect user interactions with a system. Ethnographic principles have been adapted into other contextual research techniques that require less time to complete.
EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE com- bines information architecture, inter- action design and experience design practices and thinking to design systems, products or services that are usable, provide a good user experi- ence and are beneficial to business.
EXPERIENCE DESIGN involves considering the entire user experience of a system or device across multiple channels during the design process. See also User experience
EYETRACKING uses specialised tools and technology to track users’ point of vision on an interface, to under- stand where their visual attention is focused while using a system.
FOCUS GROUP is a moderated discussion between a small group of pre-selected users to understand their needs, attitudes, behaviours and get feedback on existing systems, products or concepts.
GRAPHIC DESIGN See Visual design
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) See User interface
HEURISTIC OR EXPERT REVIEWS refer to the study of a system’s usability by a user experience pro- fessional, judging its performance against predefined rule-of-thumb measures, such as findability and learnability.
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE is an interactive prototype that behaves as the real system will in terms of inter- action and functionality. See also Low-fidelity prototype
HUMAN-CENTRED DESIGN See User-centred design
HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION (HCI) is the inter-disciplinary study of interaction between people and systems, primarily based in psycho- logy and computer science.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE (IA) is the discipline of defining an information model or concept and structuring information around this. Its origins are in library science.
INTERACTION DESIGN (IXD) is the creation and definition of the struc- ture and behaviours of a system, product or service. Its origins are in industrial design and HCI.
INTERFACE DESIGN See Interaction design, Visual design
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs), when used in user research, are measures of the usability of a website, against which improvements can be measured, such as an increase in users completing an online purchase. See also Benchmarking
LOOK AND FEEL refers to the visual design and application of a corporate identity to a website interface.
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE is a low- cost, simple illustration of a design or concept, usually laid out on paper or mocked up as ‘flat’ screens, used to gather user feedback at the very early stages of design. See also Paper proto- type, High-fidelity prototype
MARKET RESEARCH is the system- atic gathering and analysis of quanti- tative (numerical) data about custo- mers, competitors and the market.
MENTAL MODEL is a user’s internal representation and perception of how something works in the real world. This may not reflect reality, but it’s a way of learning and therefore effi- ciently using a system. An example is user expectations of how an online shopping basket will work.
PAPER PROTOTYPE is a simple working illustration of an interface design, made up of paper (or cards/ Post-its). It’s used to gather quick and cost-effective user feedback at the very early stages of design. See also Low-fidelity prototype
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING is the science of understanding the physical and cognitive abilities of humans and applying this to the design of systems. See also Human- computer interaction
PARTICIPATIVE DESIGN See Collaborative design
PAS 78 is a Publicly Available Specification developed by BSI British Standards and the Disability Rights Commission. It outlines good practice in commissioning websites that are accessible to and usable by disabled people. See also Accessibility, DDA, Section 508, W3C
PERSONA is an illustration of an archetypal user based on differing user behaviours and needs, as observed through user research. Per- sonas shouldn’t be defined by market segments or demographic data.
PRODUCT DESIGN, or industrial design, is the design of a physical product in terms of form, materials and user interactions.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH is the study of human behaviour focused on context and observed behaviour rather than numerical trends.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH involves the numerical measurement of infor- mation around human attitudes and behaviour (both actual and stated).
RAPID PROTOTYPING is a way of quickly producing prototypes or mock-ups for feedback and testing.
SCENARIOS are descriptions of likely user activity within a system. They include descriptions of user expecta- tions, motivations, actions and goals. Often provided alongside personas.
SCREENER is a tailored questionnaire used to recruit participants for user research, to ensure the right demo- graphic and user types are selected.
SECTION 508 is a US law whereby government and public sector organi- sations must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to access available to those without disabilities. See also Accessibility, PAS, W3C
SERVICE DESIGN is the practice of designing the entire user experience of a product or service, including all interactions with that service, such as the website, helpdesk and in-store experience for a retail company.
SURVEY or questionnaire involves the distribution of a set of questions to a large number of end users in order to gain mainly quantitative insight into behaviours and attitudes.
TASK ANALYSIS involves the study of tasks performed by users, including task details, dependencies and fre- quency. Often referred to as hierar- chical task analysis (HTA), its origins are in psychology and ergonomics.
TAXONOMY is a classification system used to identify an item or content types and the relationship between those items.
TRANSFORMATION DESIGN involves using traditional design methods to address social and economic issues.
USABILITY is the extent to which a system can be used by users to achieve goals with effectiveness, effi- ciency and satisfaction in a specified context of use. There are several ISO standards relating to system usability.
USABILITY LAB, or user testing lab, is a dedicated room within which researchers can conduct a usability test by observing user interactions with a system and record their activities. Additional observers may be present or may observe via two- way mirrors or video streaming. See also Usability test
USABILITY TEST, or user test, is a method used to assess a system’s usability by engaging end users to perform tasks within a system, and to measure activities, comments and outcomes. The method is predomi- nantly but not exclusively lab-based.
USER-CENTRED DESIGN (UCD) is a method that ensures that users’ needs and behaviours are considered at every stage of the design process. It involves the engagement of real end users to the testing and validation of concepts and designs, the iteration of those designs, and the provision of a recognised user experience.
USER EXPERIENCE (UE, UX) is the design of user interaction with a sys- tem, product or service, considering the usability, the experiential nature, the enjoyment and the fit to the way users think. See also Experience design
USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (UXD) See User experience, Experience design
USER INTERFACE (UI), or graphical user interface (GUI), is the visual interface that allows a user to interact with a system.
USER RESEARCH comprises multiple methods for gaining insight into user needs and behaviours from real end users. Examples of these methods are contextual research and user testing.
USER-GENERATED CONTENT (UGC) refers to web content in multiple for- mats directly provided by end users, including discussion forums, blogs, comments, ratings and podcasts.
VISUAL DESIGN, in the context of web design, is the practice of applying corporate identity, style, imagery, iconography, typography and animation to an interface.
WEB 2.0 is a term used to refer to online communities and services that allow user interaction, collaboration and social networking between users. They’re considered to be the second generation of web applications.
WEB ANALYTICS is the capture of data around usage of a website to understand user entry points, paths, conversion rates, exit points and time spent looking at pages.
WIREFRAME is a blueprint of a page design devoid of graphics illustrating the layout, grouping and prioritisa- tion of information and functional elements of an interface.
WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM, WEB ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVE, WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where member organisa- tions and the public work together to develop web standards. It includes the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), which focuses on making the web accessible to people with disabilities, including the provision of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which cover a wide range of recommendations for making web content more accessible.