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 type of design that features the strokes running predominantly from the upper left to the lower right.
It can also be used in reference to a type of lettering, typically for advertisements, to be read in either direction. It is also used to help the reader navigate through and around the advertisement.
The measure of how easily light passes through a material. It is a quantitative characteristic that can be represented as a number within the range of [0, 1], and in some cases [0%,100%], with lower numbers indicating higher transparency.
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 basic design tool that helps designers create and communicate ideas.
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 phenomenon in psychology in which recalling items in a list imposes an order on the list, with the first and last items remembered best. That is, if given a list of words to remember like "dog apple tree", people will tend to recall "dog" as being at the beginning of the sentence and "tree" as being at the end of it.
The part of lowercase letters that goes above the baseline when used in running text. As such, ascenders are considered less condensed than those used for numerals and other capital letters. Some examples of ascenders include b, d, h, k, and l. The opposite of an ascender is a descender.
An iconic design that is made up of two or three letters.
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.
Vector graphics are made up of two sets of points: control points (which determine shape) and anchor points (determining length). Anchor points attach geometry to form a shape like a ball or a heart.