A measure of the ease of understanding text.
A technique for understanding people’s experience of a product or service. Participants are asked to keep daily records of their experience using the product, and these records are taken into consideration when designing the design.
A psychological principle which predicts that when multiple homogeneous stimuli are presented, the stimulus which differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered. In other words, people tend to remember items in isolation more than those of a similar nature or objects in clusters. This phenomenon has been applied in designing websites and software with various levels of success.
A phrase that is used in reference to someone's work. The term pixel-perfect can be used to describe something as being flawless without any errors.
A well-known UI element in computer applications. It's an expandable menu of context-specific commands typically launched from the application's main menu.
A form of typographic ornament used by a type designer for decorative purposes. Common ligatures are based on joining two or more letters together, often with figures embedded in the design
A well-known cognitive psychologist's principle that says that the time it takes to make a decision varies logarithmically according to the number of choices. As more options are presented, more decision time is required due to the mental work of comparing and contrasting each potential option.
A system of columns and rows designers use to create layouts. It's used in graphic design and web development to align elements for easy use on the page. Grids are a key part of design because they help you create balance, rhythm, proportion and hierarchy in your layout.
A portion of an image where the remainder is discarded.
Typefaces that are used across large bodies of text like headlines. Text typefaces are generally more varied than body-text typefaces.
The ratio of a rectangle's width to its height. It is measured by dividing the shorter side length, here "w" or width, by the longer side length, "h" or height. The aspect ratio may be given as either a fraction or as a decimal.