UX A-Z Flashcards
Above/Below the Fold
“Above the fold” refers to content that is visible at the top of a website; the user doesn’t need to
scroll to see it. “Below the fold” refers to content further down the page which the user would
need to scroll in order to see. In UX, it’s important to put meaningful, important content above
the fold
A/B Testing
UX design is all about finding what works best for your users. A/B testing is a method used to
test two different versions of a design to see which variation performs best. When running A/B
tests, you only want to vary one element or aspect of the design—this allows you to pin-point
exactly which feature influenced the result.
Accessibility
Accessibility considers whether or not—and to what extent—a product or service can be used
by everybody. Designing for accessibility means factoring in the needs of people with
disabilities, as well as the various ways in which a person might interact with your product (for
example, using assistive technology).
Adobe XD
Adobe XDis one ofthe most popularUX design tools. Part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite,
it’s a vector-based design tool used for creating wireframes, prototypes, animations, and UI
designs. We’ll explain all of these terms throughout our glossary.As of this writing in late
November 2023, Adobe XD is soon NOT to be supported by Adobe (it’s functionalities have, for
the good and the ill of it, been supplanted by Figma).
Affinity Map (or Affinity Diagram)
An affinity map (or affinity diagram) is used by UX designers to organise their findings from
qualitative user research. This entails data that can’t be counted or measured, and therefore
requires thematic analysis. For example, if you interviewed five users, you might create an
affinity map to cluster similar themes and topics together.
Affordances
An affordance refers to all the actions that are possible with a specific object or element,
depending on the user’s capabilities. For example, a cupboard has thepotentialto be opened
but only if you can reach the handle. A car has thepotentialto be driven but only if you are able
to open the car door, start the engine and so on. When designing digital products, the goal is to
create elements whose affordances (i.e. possible actions) match the user’s expectations. For
example, if you design a button, the user will likely expect to be able to click it.
Agile UX
Agile UX is a practice that has evolved to integrate agile software development principles into
theUX design process. Agile UX is all about designers and developers working collaboratively
and iteratively to build and ship versions of a product in short cycles—improving and updating
the product along the way. This contrasts the traditional approach of first preparing and
researching at length before building anything.
Animation Design
Animation design is the process of creating animated (or moving) graphics. In digital design,
motion and animation are used to provide feedback to the user after a certain action—for
example, an animation which conveys “loading” after a user clicks on a button. This clearly tells
the user that their action has been registered.
(UX) Audit
A UX audit reviews an existing product (or an aspect of the product) to identify issues in the
overall user experience. You can think of a UX audit as a user experience health check,
providing you with useful data to inform future design decisions. UX audits are typically
conducted for quality assurance purposes after the release of a new product or a major
redesign, but companies may schedule them periodically just to keep a general pulse on the
product.
Beta Testing
Beta testing is when you launch an unfinished product to a select group of users in order to see
how it performs in the real world. This allows you to identify bugs, pain points and areas of
improvement for your imperfect beta product before developing and releasing it fully.
Brainstorming
A key aspect of working in UX is coming up with ideas for how to solve user problems.
Brainstorming is a popular ideation technique used by UX designers. It’s usually done in a
groupand essentially involves coming up with ideas and sharing them without too much
thought. You can also brainstorm alone and map your ideas out on paper.
Brand Identity
Brand identity captures and conveys the essence of what a company is all about. It’s built on
company values and how you want people to feel when they interact with your product or
service. The user experience of a product plays a hand in shaping and reinforcing the brand
identity; so, as a UX designer, it’s important to factor it in.
Breadcrumb
A breadcrumb is a navigation system which shows where a user is currently situated within a
website. For example, if you’re browsing the ASOS clothing website, you might see a trail of
links which shows where you are (and how you got there) as follows: Home > Men >
Sportswear > Shoes
Card Sorting
Card sorting is a UX research methodwhich gives you insight into how users categorize
information. In a card sorting session, participants are given notecards with different labels or
topics written on them and asked to organize them in a way that feels logical. Card sorting helps
you to design the information architecture (IA) of a website or app in line with user expectations.
Case Study
Case studies are a crucial part of your UX portfolio. They outline the process you followed when
working on a design project, showcasing the problem you set out to solve, the users you were
solving it for, the methodology you used to reach the solution and the final design outcome.
Clickstream Analysis
UX designers use clickstream analysis to gain a deeper understanding of user behavior.
Clickstream analysis records a user’s trail of activity as they interact with an app or website—i.e.
the sequence of clicks they make or the pages they visit.
Cognitive Load
Cognitive load is a crucial factor to consider when designing products, services, and features.
Put simply, cognitive load is the amount of mental effort required to complete a certain task. As
a UX designer, you want to keep the user’s cognitive load to a minimum. This is all part of
designing easy, enjoyable, efficient experiences.
Competitor Analysis
UX designers usually conduct competitor analysis during the research phase of a design project. With competitor analysis, you’re looking at competing products within your niche or
market space to see what they do well, where their weaknesses lie, and to get a feel for what
your end-users will expect from a similar product (i.e. the one you’re going to design).
Competitor analysis helps you to make informed design decisions.
Consistency
Consistency is a key principle in UX design. It dictates that a user-friendly design always
provides a consistent experience—once the user is familiar with your product, they can use it
with ease; they don’t need to learn new ways of completing tasks or solving problems at every
turn. Essentially, consistency eliminates confusion!
Contextual enquiry
Contextual enquiry is a user research method which involves observing and interviewing users
while they interact with your product in their “natural” environment. So, rather than asking them
questions about their experience of the productafterthey’ve used it, you watch them in action and ask questions directly at the source to fill in any gaps.
Customer Experience (CX)
Customer experience, or CX, encompasses the entire experience a customer has when they
engage with a product, service or brand.UX and CX are two distinct areasbut, as a UX
designer, it’s important to be aware of the concept and understand how UX contributes to the
overall CX.
Dark UX
Dark UX isnota term you ever want to be associated with as a UX designer. It’s the practice of
deliberately designing in a way that tricks the user or subtly pushes them towards an action they
probably don’t want to take. A classic example of dark UX is making it confusing for users to
cancel their subscription.
Decision Matrix
A decision matrix – sometimes referred to as a prioritisation matrix – is a framework used to
evaluate and prioritise ideas based on a set of predetermined criteria. In UX, it can help you to
weigh up different design options and make informed decisions that balance available time and
resources against the needs of the user.
Design Debt
Design debt (or UX debt) is the result of taking shortcuts in the design process in order to
quickly reach a solution or produce a deliverable. This can lead to problems down the line and
can ultimately result in a negative user experience. You might accumulate design debt if you
skip user research or user testing, if you ignore style guidelines or neglect to keep adequate
documentation.
Design Deliverables
Design deliverables are the tangible “things” or artefacts a UX designer produces throughout the
design process. UX deliverables include things likepersonas, user journey maps, wireframes
and prototypes.
Design Patterns
UX and UI design patterns are repeatable, reusable design components used to solve usability
issues that users commonly experience. For example, the breadcrumb navigation system
(number 13 in our UX glossary) is a design pattern used to show the user their pathway from
the homepage to the page that they’re currently viewing.
Design Sprint
Invented by Jake Knapp, thedesign sprintis an increasingly popular practice which condenses
and accelerates the product design process. The idea is to rapidly build and test a prototype in
just five days, encouraging design teams to quickly move from problem to solution. Lego, N26,
Uber and Google are just some of the major brands who advocate for the design sprint
methodology.
Design System
A design system is a universal source of truth for the design team—a collection of design
assets, guidelines, constraints and best practices to adhere to when embarking on a new design
project.
Design Thinking
Design thinking has become something of a buzzwordin the industry, so it’s a term worth
getting to grips with. The design thinking process comprises five phases: Empathise (with the
user), Define (the problem), Ideate (potential solutions), Prototype, and Test. Design thinking is
used to address particularly tricky UX problems.
Diary Study
A diary study is aUX research methodused to gain insight into how users behave in real-world
situations and everyday contexts. When conducting a diary study, you’ll ask participants to keep
a diary of their activities, thoughts and feelings over a set period of time in relation to a specific
problem or scenario. For example, if you were designing a grocery delivery app, you might ask
participants to keep a diary about how they currently approach the task of ordering groceries
online.
(UX) Documentation
UX documentation captures all the steps you follow throughout a given design project. It allows
you to keep track of the project and create a source of truth for all stakeholders to refer back to.
UX documentation can include anything from the design problem and the project timeline to a
summary of user research findings, early concepts and sketches, and results from usability
tests.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to metaphorically put yourself in someone else’s shoes—and it’s the very
foundation of good UX design. Empathy enables you to understand your user’s needs and pain-
points, and to design solutions accordingly.
Empathy Map
An empathy map is a visualisation tool used by designers to depict and summarise what they
know about a user (or group of users). It consists of four quadrants: “Says”, “Thinks”, “Does”
and “Feels” which capture notes on what the user has said (for e.g. during an interview), what
they think about a product or experience, the actions they take in a given context and how they
feel during the process. As the name suggests, an empathy map helps you to build empathy for
your end users.
End User
It’s impossible to talk about UX (or work in the field) without referring to the “end user”. The end
user is, quite simply, the person you’re designing for. It’s the person who will use your product or
service and it’s the person whose pain-points you want to understand and solve.
Ethical Design
You can think of ethical design as the process of “designing for good.” Ultimately, it’s about
designing with the user’s wellbeing in mind. For example, an ethically designed social media
app might contain features that encourage users to develop a healthy relationship with the
app—such as a “time spent scrolling” warning to remind users to take a break.
Eye-Tracking
Eye-tracking is a method used to track users’ eye movements as they look at a website. For UX
designers, this provides valuable insight into which areas and elements of the design attract the
most attention.
Fidelity
Fidelity is used to describe the quality of wireframes and prototypes—in other words, how
closely the wireframe or prototype resembles what the live product will look like. Low-fidelity
wireframes are bare-bones outlines, whereas high-fidelity prototypes include visuals and
interactive properties, closely mimicking the look, feel and behaviour of a live website or app.
Figma
Figmais another popular UX design tool used for wireframing, building out design systems,
collaborating, running workshops and more. It’s not a UX term per se, but it is fast becoming
one of the most-used tools in the industry, so it’s worth knowing about.
Flat Design
Flat design is a design styleor language which favours simple, 2D elements and bright colours.
While skeuomorphic design is all about creating a 3D, life-like feel, flat design keeps things plain
and simple. Flat design originally came about to aid responsive design
Focus Group
Another UX research method, focus groups bring together a handful of users to discuss issues
and concerns about the features of a product. Focus groups are moderated by the researcher,
but for the participants, they feel unstructured and free-flowing. This can give way to very candid
insights, and allows you to gather a variety of perspectives.
Full-stack designer
A full-stack designer is a designer who has the skills and know-how to take on all the “stacks”
(or layers) of the product design and development process. While most designers will specialize
in just one area, such as UX design or UI design, full-stack designers can take on UX design, UI
design, interaction design and frontend development.
Gestalt Principles
TheGestalt principlescome from the field of psychology, and they’re essentially a set of laws
that describe how our minds organize and interpret visual data. The Gestalt principles can be
used to inform design decisions and shape the user experience. For example, the law of
proximity states that elements which are positioned close together appear to be more related
than elements which are spaced further apart. If you were designing a website based on the law
of proximity, you’d group related elements closer together.
Gestalt Principles - Proximity
Gestalt Principles - Chunking
Gestalt Principles - Similarity
Gestalt Principles - Symmetry
Gestalt Principles - Continuation
Gestalt Principles - Closure
Grid System
When designing, say, a page on a website, designers can follow grid systems to help them
organize the various elements on the page. A grid system is essentially a series of rows and
columns which gives you visibly marked-out areas (similar to a map) in which to place different
elements. This makes it easier to design consistently across different pages.
Heatmap
A heatmap is a data visualization which literally maps out in different colors how and where
users have spent time on your website. Red areas of the heatmap indicate popular sections of
the website, while blue areas are those which received less attention. Heatmaps are another
tool used by UX designers to understand how users behave and to design accordingly.
Heuristics
Another term from the field of psychology, a heuristic is a mental shortcut which enables people
to solve problems and make decisions quickly, based on what they’ve learned from previous
experiences. In UX, we use heuristic evaluation to assess the usability of a digital interface.
Hick’s Law
According to Hick’s law, the more options or choices a user has, the longer it will take them to
make a decision or choose a course of action. In UX, the goal is to keep the number of options
available to the user to a minimum, making it quicker and easier for them to navigate through
the experience without feeling overwhelmed.
How Might We (HMW Statement)
If you’re in the process of solving a UX problem and trying to come up with ideas, you might
frame the problem as a “How might we?” question. For example, if your problem statement is
something like “Users struggle to fill out the application form and often fill it out wrong”, you
could turn this into the following HMW: “How might we improve the application form to make it
easier for users to fill it out correctly?” How Might We questions are a great way to progress
from problem to solution while keeping the user at the forefront.
Ideation
Ideation is all about generating as many ideas and potential solutions as possible, without
considering or judging their feasibility. In the ideation phase, the focus is on quantity of ideas
rather than on quality. Some popular ideation techniques include brainstorming, bodystorming
and the SCAMPER method.
Inclusive Design
TheNielsen Norman Group describes inclusive designas a set of methodologies “to create
products that understand and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities. It may address
accessibility, age, economic situation, geographic location, language, race and more.”
Ultimately, inclusive design is about designing experiences which include and benefit everyone.
Information Architecture
In UX design, information architecture considers how the information and content is organised
within and across a product. If you’re designing a website, you’ll consider the positioning of each
piece of content the user encounters, thinking about where it sits on the pageandwhere it’s
located in terms of the overall structure of the website. Good information architecture
iscrucialto good UX.
Interaction Design (IxD)
Interaction design (or IxD) is a subset of UX. Very simply, interaction design considers the
interaction between users and products (whereas UX considers the entire user experience, not
just the moment of interaction). There are five dimensions of interaction design: words, visual
representations, physical objects or space, time and behaviour.
Intuitive Design
“Intuitive” is a word that you’ll hear time and time again in the UX world. Intuitive design is what
UX professionals strive for; it’s design that the user can instantly understand and use without
needing any kind of tutorial or instruction.
InVision Studio
InVision Studiois another powerful tool that all designers should be familiar with. It includes
features and functions for drawing, wireframing, prototyping and animating—pretty much
everything you need to bring your designs to life. It counts as one ofthe best UI design tools,
but is equally loved and used by UX designers too.
Iterative Design
Iterative design is the practice of continuously improving, refining and updating your product. An
iteration of a design is essentially a new, updated version and designing iteratively enables you
to keep improving the user experience on a regular and ongoing basis (rather than launching
one version and never updating it again, regardless of how it’s received by users).
Lean UX
Lean UX goes hand-in-hand with agile UX (number 7 in our glossary). It’s a collaborative
approach to the UX design process which focuses on getting feedback as early as possible in
order to make quick design decisions. While traditional UX focuses more heavily on first setting
out product requirements and then producing deliverables, lean UX seeks to deliver and
improve the product in ongoing, iterative cycles.
Material Design
Material Design is a design language for Android which was developed by Google in 2014. It’s
an adaptable system of guidelines, components, and tools which designers and developers can
use to build digital products quickly and collaboratively.
Mental Model
A mental model represents what we believe about how things work in the world around us.
Mental models provide us with a collection of frameworks to help us solve problems and
approach different situations. In UX, mental models relate to how our users expect a particular
product or experience to work, based on their experience with similar products. It’s important to
design with the user’s mental models in mind so as not to throw the user.
Microcopy
As you navigate a website or app, you’ll encounter all kinds of messaging: the text on a button,
error messages, the “Welcome” note as you log in… that’s all microcopy. Microcopy is the text
which guides a user throughout a digital product.
Mockup
A mockup is a visual representation of what a product will look like once it’s developed.
Whilewireframes tend to capture the bare-bones layoutand structure, a mockup fills in detail
such as colour and typography. It’s important to note that, unlike interactive prototypes,
mockups are static.
Modal
A modal, or modal window, is a box that pops up outside of the main screen when the user
clicks something on the current screen. Modals are used to draw the user’s attention and to get
them to focus on one specific thing. To close the modal, the user must complete a certain action
or actively click to exit out of it. An example of a modal could be the window that pops up when
you’re reading a blog, asking you to subscribe to their newsletter.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
MVP stands for “minimum viable product.” It’s the most minimal version of a product you can
launch which has enough functionality for people to use, but will need further development.
Launching an MVP allows you to see how the initial product idea is received before investing
too much time and money.
Navigation
Navigation is all about how a user navigates, or moves through, your product. As a designer, it’s
important to think carefully about navigation to ensure that users don’t get lost, confused and
frustrated. Simplicity, consistency, good information architecture, labels and menus are all key to
user-friendly navigation.
Onboarding
Onboarding, or user onboarding, is the process of getting new users familiar with your product.
Designing an effective, enjoyable onboarding experience is a crucial aspect of designing a good
user experience overall—and it’s especially important as it only happens once. That means you
only have one shot at making a good impression and turning new users into long-term
customers.
Pain-points
Pain-points are any issues, problems, frustrations or hiccups a user encounters during a given
experience or interaction. As a UX designer, it’s your job to conduct research in order to uncover
user pain-points and to design experiences which seek to solve them.
Paradox of Specificity
The paradox of specificity states that when we design with a very specific user group in mind,
we actually create products that appeal to a mass audience beyond that target group.
Persona
A persona is a fictional character which represents the goals, needs and characteristics of your
target user(s). UX designers create personas based on their user research and refer back to
them throughout the design process to ensure they’re keeping the user in mind.
Portfolio
A UX portfolio is a collection of your best design work. It demonstrates your skills and abilities
as a UX designer and shows employers and clients how you work. A UX portfolio is a staple for
anyone looking to land a job in the field.
Problem Statement
UX is all about solving user problems. A problem statement is, quite simply, a statement which
summarizes and defines the problem that needs to be solved.
Product Roadmap
A product roadmap maps out the vision and strategy for a particular product and sets goals and
priorities for the development of the product. UX design is a key part of the product development
process, so it’s important to be familiar with the product roadmap.
Prototype
A prototype is a simulation or model of what the final product will (or could) look like. UX
designers createprototypes to gather feedback and improve their designsbefore pushing them
through to development.
Qualitative Research
User research is a crucial part of the UX process and it can be eitherqualitative or quantitative.
Qualitative user research provides insight into your users’ thoughts, motivations and behaviours.
It gathers qualitative data—data which cannot be measured or counted but is extremely
valuable nonetheless. An example of a qualitative user research method is a user interview,
where your data comprises what the user said during the interview.
Quantitative Research
UX designers and researchers conduct quantitative research to gather objective, measurable
data about their users. An example of quantitative user data could be the number of people who
visit a website in a given time frame or what percentage of users drop out of the checkout
process at the last stage.
Responsive Design
Responsive design ensures that your designs display accurately on different screen sizes. A
website that’s been designed responsively will look great whether it’s viewed on a desktop
computer, a tablet, or a smartphone.
Sitemap
A sitemap gives a bird’s-eye view of the overall structure of a website. Very simply put, it’s a
diagram which shows how pages are prioritized, linked, and labelled.
Sketch
Sketchis an industry-standard, all-in-one digital design tool. It includes tools for collaborative
design, prototyping and developer handoff. As of this writing in late November of 2023, Sketch
is being largely supplanted across our industry and in the academic programs that support it by
Figma and some emerging AI streams.
Stakeholder Interviews
Stakeholders are the people within a company or organisation who are invested in the success
of the product you’re designing, and who can offer insights and input to inform the design
process. Just as UX designers conduct user research to find out what the end user needs from
the product, they might also conduct stakeholder interviews in order to understand the business
goals that the product (and the product design process) should serve.
Storyboards
In UX, a storyboard is a visual depiction of a user’s experience with a product. It’s a bit like a
comic strip, allowing the designer to envision all the steps in the user’s journey and to gain a
deeper understanding of how the user will relate to and experience the product.
Style Guide
A style guide is a document created by UX designers to set out the standards, conventions and
guidelines which should be followed throughout the design process. The goal of a style guide is
to ensure consistency. This is especially useful when you have lots of different stakeholders
involved in the product design and development process.
Surveys
Surveys are another popular user research method. You can gather both qualitative and
quantitative data through user surveys, depending on how you frame the questions. Surveys
offer a relatively low-cost and not-too-time-consuming way to obtain large volumes of user data.
Task Analysis
UX designers use task analysis to study and understand how users perform a series of tasks in
order to complete their goal. The output of a task analysis is simply a list of all the steps a user
will go through to complete their task. Task analysis typically takes place early on in the design
process.
Tree Testing
Tree testing is a UX research method that provides insight into how easily people can find
information on your website or app and where they get lost. Tree testing is useful for evaluating
how user-friendly your site structure is.
Typography
Typography refers to how text is arranged and styled. It’s more of a UI design term than a UX
one (you can read aboutthe difference between UX and UIhere), but it certainly plays a part in
the overall user experience. Designers must choose typography that is easily legible and
visually appealing for the user.
Usability
When we talk about usability, we’re looking at how easy a product is to use. Ultimately, is it easy
for the user to complete their desired tasks? Usability is absolutely critical to providing a good
user experience!
Usability Testing
Usability testing is the process of testing your designs or product on a sample of people who
represent your target users. During a usability test, you’ll ask participants to complete certain
tasks, observing them as they do so. This allows you to identify any usability issues which are
hampering the user experience.
User-centred design
User-centred design(UCD) places the end user front and centre throughout the product design
and development process. It’s based on a set of principles which prioritize the end user, such as
involving users from the very beginning of the process (i.e. through user research), getting real
user feedback along the way and designing iteratively to keep improving the user experience.
User Flow
A user flow is a chart or diagram which shows the path a user will take to complete a certain
task. UX designers create user flows in order to understand how a user will move through the
product and to design the product in a way that facilitates this movement.
User interface (UI)
A user interface (a UI)is the point of interaction between humans and computers. It contains all
the features a user needs to interact with a digital product: input controls which enable a user to
input information, navigational elements which allow the user to move from one point to the
next, informational components which provide the user with valuable information and containers
which group the content into meaningful sections. Designers are responsible for creating
interfaces that are user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
User Interface Design
UI design is the process of designing user interfaces. A user interface is the point of interaction
between humans and computers (see number 87 in our UX glossary). User interface design
takes care of how digital products look, feel and behave for the end user. Good UI is part of
creating a delightful user experience and UX and UI designers work closely together.
UI Elements
UI elements are the building blocks used in the design of apps and websites. When you use a
website or app, you encounter buttons, forms, menus, drop-down lists, image carousels and
more. These are all examples of UI elements.
User Interview
A user interview is a common UX research method, and it pretty much does what it says on the
tin: you ask your user (or representative user) questions in order to gain insight into their
thoughts, expectations, goals and pain-points in relation to a particular problem, product or
experience. User interviews are a type of qualitative research (refer to terms 77 and 78 in our
UX glossary to learn about the difference between qualitative and quantitative user research).
User Journey Map
A user journey map is a visualisation which depicts all the touchpoints between a user and a
product across a given time period. It also contains information about the channels a person
uses to interact with the product. User journey maps are useful as they allow designers to
visualise and understand how the user experiences a product. It’s important to note thatuser
journey maps are different to user flows.
User Research
The goal of UX design is to solve real user problems. The only way to do this is to start by
understanding your target users and the problems they face. To uncover such insights, UX
designers conductuser research. User/UX research takes place early on in the process (in fact,
it’s usually the very first step a designer will go through) and is absolutely critical to your work as
a designer.
User stories
A user story is a brief, simple statement which defines the purpose (or one of the purposes) of
creating a product. Writing user stories allows you to consider and capture what the user wants
to achieve when they interact with your product. User stories are based on the following
structure:As a [type of user], I need/want to [action] in order to achieve [goal or outcome].
User Testing
User testing is when you test your product, new feature or prototype on real users in order to
gain feedback and inform future iterations of the product. It sounds similar to usability testing
(number 84 in our glossary) but there’s a difference: User testing is often used to determine if
there’s a need for your proposed solution among your user group, while usability testing
specifically looks at how easy a design or product is to use.
UX Design
You’re probably already familiar with this one but we couldn’t have a UX glossary without
defining UX itself.UX, or user experience, relates to how a user feels whenever they use or
interact with a product or service. It captures how easy and enjoyable the product is to use
overall. UX design is the process of creating these experiences, with a focus on solving a
specific problem or pain-point for the user.
UX Strategy
UX strategy ties the day-to-day work of the design team to the overarching business goals. It
defines a vision for the product or service—that is, what the product looks like in its final state
and the value it brings. It sets out goals and milestones which should be achieved along the way
in order to reach the ultimate vision, as well as measures for success. Finally, a UX strategy
defines a plan of action for how these goals will be met.
UX writing
UX writing is a fast-growing field within UX.It’s the process of planning and writing all the text
found on a digital product interface, with the goal of guiding the user through the experience. UX
writing includes the creation of microcopy; things like error messages, welcome text and menu
labels (see number 58 in our glossary). It’s important to note thatUX writing is not the same as
copywriting.
Visual Design
Visual design considers the aesthetics of an app or website. In the context of UX, the goal of
visual design is to use text, images, color and typography to enhance and aid the overall user
experience. There is heavy overlap between visual design and UI design but one distinction
commonly made is that visual designers consider the overall visual brand and identity rather
than focusing on individual designs.
Whiteboard challenge
If you’re aiming to become a UX designer, or to switch jobs in the field, you must be familiar with
the whiteboard challenge.The whiteboard challenge is a common part of the UX
interviewprocess, requiring candidates to solve a design challenge in real-time, in front of the
interview panel. When completing a whiteboard challenge, you’ll be asked to sketch out your
thought process on a whiteboard.
White space
White space is the empty space around and between different elements in your design. White
space helps to create elegant, clutter-free designs and to direct the user’s attention to certain
components. Note that white space doesn’t have to be white; the name just refers to any blank
space on the page.
Wireframe
A wireframe depicts the bare-bones layout of a website or app, showing how each screen will
be structured and where different elements will sit on the page. Wireframing is an important part
of the UX process as it allows you to test and validate initial concepts before developing them
into high-fidelity designs and, ultimately, live products. Wireframes eventually evolve into
prototypes, which are more life-like representations of how the product will look and behave.
Learn more in ourguideto the best wireframing tools.
