Iterative Design

A way of developing new products or services using a process of repeated and regular refinement, in which prototypes are made, evaluated, revised, and re-evaluated until the desired result is achieved. High profile companies have successfully implemented iterative design to create effective and innovative products.

More terms you might want to know

Baseline

An imaginary line on which most letters "sit". As such, it equals the height of an em square. The expected result of a baseline is to reference the height with which text is aligned. The alignment ranges from ascenders, which are the upper strokes in b, d, and h, down to descenders like j or y.

Landing Page

A standalone web page with content intended to capture a visitor. Often, it has the same URL as the website's home page and is used in paid or sponsored search engine marketing (known more commonly as pay-per-click) advertising campaigns.

Aperture

The setting on a camera's lens which controls how much light comes into the camera. Aperture settings can usually be set to F-stop values ranging from F1.4-F22. The higher the aperture value, the smaller the opening is, and vice versa, which affects the depth of field in photos and how much light reaches and illuminates a subject or scene in a photo.

Responsive Design

The process of developing a product or design system that can be altered to fit different device and interaction contexts.

Fitts' Law

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).

Pictorial Mark

A graphic representation, such as an icon, of a company or brand. Pictorial marks can be used on marketing materials to communicate the intentions and personality of the company. Factors such as colour, placement, and shape are significant in how the general public perceives a pictorial mark.

EPS File

An Encapsulated PostScript file (.eps) is a vector graphics format. EPS files are typically used to exchange artwork between different design programs, such as Adobe Illustrator and other vector graphics applications, including CorelDRAW, Inkscape, SIAE Draw and others. EPS files can also be used to provide a file format for print.

Tracking

The adjustment of all characters in a line by moving them closer together or farther apart.

DPI

The print resolution of a printer. It's a measure of how many dots per inch can be printed on paper. Higher DPI means more detail and smoother transitions between colours.

Bowl

In typography, a bowl is a curved shape used to control the area of white space.

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