Prototype

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

More terms you might want to know

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.

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.

Glassmorphism

The use of light or dark objects positioned over colourful backgrounds. Blurred backdrops allow bright colours to come through and convey a sense of frosted glass.

CMYK

CMYK is a colour space created for the printing process. It stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow Key (black).

Hamburger Menu

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.

Widow

The last line of a paragraph following the rest, or a single line in a paragraph that is out of place with the rest.

User Research

A field of study that aims to understand the user experience of a product or service. Conducting UX research includes interviewing, observing, and surveying users. Understanding the user experience is important because it helps designers understand how to design a better product that will be more appealing and usable for people.

Cap Height

The distance from the baseline to the top of a capital letter, number, or other upper-case glyphs.

GIF

A file format that supports both static and animated images. It is a popular file format on the internet and social media due to its wide colour support, portability, and animating capabilities.

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.

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