Terms I need to know

Question 1

Novelty Trap

Answer 1

Is when, in an attempt to dazzle our clients and our users, we focus too much on the new and not enough on the now.

Question 2

Utilitarian product

Answer 2

Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive

Question 3

Usage Lifecycle

Answer 3

A mapping of the user’s experience with your design.

Question 4

First contact

Answer 4

When people become aware of your product/service.

Question 5

First time use

Answer 5

Probably the most critical moment in the lifecycle of your design. It’s the first real impression, the first actual use of your design and when a user seriously considers a long-term engagement.

Unfortunately, this stage is often overlooked in the design process because it happens so quickly…first time use is over in an instant.

Question 6

Ongoing Use

Answer 6

Regular use of your product/service.

Question 7

Passionate Use

Answer 7

Though it is the goal of every designer to have people using their design passionately, this stage is rarely attained. But when it is, users get into a state in which they are highly productive/immersed in your design, and often share that passion with others. This is how organic growth happens…when your design really takes off.

Question 8

Death

Answer 8

When people stop using your product/service. This can happen at any time during the lifecycle. Perhaps your design is too hard to use. Perhaps it doesn’t have a critical feature someone needs to do work. Perhaps someone found a better way to do something. Whatever the reason, UX designers gain insight by regularly doing post-mortems on the lifecycles that were cut short.

Question 9

User Interviews

Answer 9

guided conversations with existing or potential users to help you understand their preferences and attitudes

Question 10

Contextual inquiry

Answer 10

combining direct user observation with an interview that takes place in the users environment in order to better understand their work environment, the problems they are trying to solve and other related preferences

Question 11

Surveys

Answer 11

a clear set of questions distributed to a wide audience in order to gather results that can help validate existing data and personas

Question 12

Card sorting

Answer 12

a grouping task for individuals or small groups used to establish common patters and identify areas of confusion

Question 13

Usability testing

Answer 13

the process of performing a series of specific tests on a site or product to reveal potential usability problems and identify solutions to address them.

Question 14

Structural Frameworks

Answer 14

Affect the way we move through space. Creating spaces that people live in and use. Offline known as architecture. Online known as interaction design/ information architecture.

We create the possibilities for action. In this way a web page is like a room…with certain opportunities and constraints. You can enter through certain doors (links, search engine, form submissions, etc), perform certain actions there, and then leave. Well-designed pages (and rooms) serve a specific purpose. Eating in the dining room is the best…eating in the bathroom is…not such a good experience.

Question 15

Visual Frameworks

Answer 15

Affect the way we see things. The visual structure we build into every design affects the way people see it. Is our visual hierarchy strong so that people see what they are meant to see in the right order? Are elements appropriated weighted so that their relationships are clear? Do people gravitate toward the most important information on the page, or are there elements that distract? Can they see what to do next?

Question 16

Social Frameworks

Answer 16

Affect the way we interact with others. What are the opportunities for social interaction? Can you poke people? Favorite them? Favorite something they did? How is reputation managed? Are you able to import or export your relationships, and (more importantly) does it make sense to do so? This is a vast area open for exploration. We have only begun to investigate social frameworks.

Question 17

Conceptual Frameworks

Answer 17

Affect the way we think about something. Mostly communicated through words + images. Are people “registering” for your web site or “joining your community”? Are they “sharing the love” or “creating buzz”? Does this graphic help to illustrate the idea or make it more confusing? The words and images we use shape the way people think about what we build, and, in the long run become our brand. In too many cases we shape conceptual frameworks without much thought…our primary goal must be clarity. But upon achieving that, we can begin to nudge the experience further by creating a style guide…full of language and images we use to build a useful conceptual framework.

Question 18

unobtrusive

Answer 18

not conspicuous or attracting attention.

Question 19

Strong visual hierarchies

Answer 19

Guide visual & logical progression by showing what is important

Question 20

Weak visual hierarchies

Answer 20

provide little or no guidance about what is important

Question 21

HiPPO

Answer 21

Highest Paid Person’s Opinion

Question 22

Customer Acquisition

Answer 22

is one of fundamental keys to growth for any new (or existing) company. There is a significant cost (both in time and resources) that goes into understanding who you are targeting. It could be customers that have never seen or heard of your product or customers who have bought/used a product/service from one of your competitors. However, if no one uses your product you are going to have a very hard time winning them with your amazing UX.

Question 23

Customer feature requests

Answer 23

are closely tied to Customer Acquisition. Every product should have a clear roadmap and a clear understanding of what the product does and does not do. If your team does not have this in place, you will find yourself in an endless cycle of catering to customer requests instead of building out the roadmap you had outlined. This reminds me of my favorite quote from Henry Ford, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.”

Question 24

Competitors

Answer 24

are always a concern and a disruptive factor you have to be watching out for. In this day and age, time-to-market is getting shorter and shorter. Scrappy startups disrupt and un-seat the incumbents by moving quicker and operating on a significantly tighter release schedule. Everyone is watching everyone. An insignificant tweet can signal a major change in direction if you are watching for it. Down-playing your competitors is a dangerous thing. Be constantly mindful of what the other guy is doing and do it better, faster and with more impact.

Question 25

Feature wars

Answer 25

with your competitors are one of the surefire ways to derail real progress on your product and get yourself into a vicious cycle of trying match features to appease potential customers. Your time is better spent focusing on features that differentiate your product from the rest than the ones that are just a checkbox on a long list.

Question 26

Scalability

Answer 26

is another component that most people don’t think about until its too late but can lead to customer abandonment and potentially harmful press. This is a potential problem in both the real world (shipping, packaging, distribution) and online (servers, databases, etc). A wise company will invest in the Engineering talent that can address this problem before it becomes a problem—or at least know what to do when it does.

Question 27

What does it mean to simplify?

Answer 27

Have a single core idea(not several ideas, or partial idea), Improve clarity over time (don’t overwhelm with inappropriate details), Use consistency (avoid using unnecessarily unique interfaces and messages).