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.

More terms you might want to know

Soft Return

Also called a line break, when you want to keep the text in one paragraph and not follow it with an airy space.

AI File

An Adobe Illustrator vector format file. Files with the extension .ai are often used for artwork and illustrations as users can resize them without distortion. It is composed of several layers with objects and text on each layer. Users can import Illustrator files into many other programs like InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop etc. If you design or print your t-shirts, you can create your designs in Illustrator and apply them to your t-shirt using a heat press.

RAW Image

A digital image captured by a digital camera or scanner that has not been processed in any way by the camera software.

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.

Skeuomorphism

The use of design features that are shaped to resemble a familiar object or thing in order to facilitate user interaction.

Die Cut

A type of print/design created with a metal stamp to create a shape out of paper using a die cutting machine. Die cuts can be used in apparel, home decor and promotional products.

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.

Leading

All available space (line-height) between two consecutive lines of text; this measurement should be adjusted for either ascenders or descenders. In hand typesetting, leading referred to thin strips of lead inserted by hand between lines of type in the composing stick to increase vertical distance.

Opacity

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.

Printer's Proof

A print that the printer receives to monitor the progress of production. Proofing is a matter of looking at the print to ensure that it has been printed correctly and that the colours are rendered accurately.

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