The process of arranging objects in a consistent and even spatial relationship. It can refer to how text is aligned with respect to its margins or how any two or more things are aligned in general.
A graphical representation of the user on a device, used to represent various users in different contexts. It can be a photo, image or drawing.
A prediction model used in human-computer interaction. It states that the time required to move to a target area rapidly increases as the distance to the target increases. The law was proposed by Paul Fitts, an American psychologist, in 1954 as a mathematical model of movement with limited cognitive capacity.
Fitts hypothesized that one would quickly select its first apparent target when reaching for an object before considering alternatives — a phenomenon called "target fixation." This tendency would increase progressively with increased distance between the subject and object until it eventually became exponential (i.e., too far away).
A UX design technique in which you divide your users into groups, show them cards with different names for unrelated objects and ask them to categorise them.
A philosophy that companies should take a user-centred approach to design, making sure they focus on the customer's needs and not on their company's needs. UX designers need to figure out what users want before building something and not after. They must also ask themselves if including "features" will provide any value to the product or service.
The portion of a letter such as y, p, q or j that hangs below the baseline of the text.
A statistical method in which two variants of the same activity are compared against each other (typically with several variants), one at a time, and the most effective variant is selected.
A way of researching users and understanding their behaviour in the context of the product, helping designers in understanding users' needs and expectations and what motivates them to act.
Designers can use this type of research to understand better their users and what kinds of experiences they are looking for. And this will allow the designers better empathize with their users, making them a part of the learning cycle.
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 technique used to sequentially present items in a list or other data set that are too long to display at one time.
Colours that directly across the colour wheel, like blue and orange. When you put these colours next to each other, they make a great contrast together. Complementary colours are often found in nature.