Hick's Law

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.

More terms you might want to know

Brutalism

A style of architecture and design that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Brutalist buildings are typically characterised by durability, simplicity, and an emphasis on form following function. Brutalism is not a single style but an umbrella term for architecture with a stark and futuristic look.

Gamification

The process of adding game-like qualities to an experience like a website or application. To ensure that these activities are engaging enough for the users, it often includes gradual rewards such as levels and badges systems, which can further encourage engagement with the app.

Prototype

Usually the first functional form of a new product, created to test a concept or prove out some aspects of design.

Pull Quote

A brief snippet taken from the text of an article.

Legibility

How well or poorly something can be read.

Lean UX

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.

Golden Ratio

Also known as the divine proportion, is a number, or a ratio, sometimes approximated by phi and widely considered aesthetically pleasing. The golden ratio has been featured in nature and art in many ways, including hexagonal honeycombs, the human body, and mathematics. More frequently, it is used in design and digital art to represent a path (or steps) one can take to achieve a particular look or result. In art, an artist may produce something (a painting or drawing, for example) using the golden ratio as a basis for its composition.

Logotype

The typographic presentation of a company's name in a stylized form.

Scale

The distance between two points of extrusion or an object. It can also be defined as the measurement of size.

Isolation Effect

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.

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