UX Glossary
Essential UX terms explained clearly – no jargon, no filler.
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A/B Testing
What is A/B testing in UX? Learn how to run controlled experiments to improve design decisions with data.
A/B Testing
A method for comparing two design versions by showing each to different user segments and measuring which performs better on a chosen metric.
Accessibility
Learn what accessibility (a11y) means in UX, WCAG 2.2 guidelines, and how to design digital products everyone can use. Practical tips included.
Accessibility
Designing digital products that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with – which makes them better for everyone.
Affordance
Learn what an affordance is in UX design, the difference between affordances and signifiers, and how to make interfaces intuitive. With examples.
Affordance
A property of an object or element that signals what actions are possible – a button affords pressing, a slider affords dragging, a text field affords typing.
Atomic Design
What is atomic design? Learn Brad Frost's methodology for building consistent, scalable UI component systems.
Atomic Design
A methodology for building UI systems by decomposing interfaces into five levels – atoms, molecules, organisms, templates, and pages – for consistent, scalable design.
Breadcrumbs
What are breadcrumbs in UX? Learn how breadcrumb navigation improves wayfinding and reduces user friction.
Breadcrumbs
A secondary navigation trail showing users their location within a site's hierarchy, letting them jump back to any parent level in one click.
Call to Action (CTA)
What is a call to action in UX? Learn how to design CTAs that guide users and improve conversion rates.
Call to Action (CTA)
A button, link, or element that directs users toward a specific next step – designed to be the clearest, most visually prominent path forward.
Card Sorting
Learn what card sorting is, open vs closed vs hybrid types, and how to run a card sort to improve your site's information architecture.
Card Sorting
A research method where participants group content into categories that make sense to them, revealing how users naturally organize information.
Cognitive Load
Learn what cognitive load is, its 3 types (intrinsic, extraneous, germane), and how to reduce mental effort in UX design. Practical tips included.
Cognitive Load
The total mental effort required to complete a task in an interface – every label, option, and decision adds to it until users slow down or give up.
Color Theory
What is color theory in UI design? Learn how color harmony, contrast, and psychology guide design decisions.
Color Theory
A framework for using color purposefully, balancing how colors relate to each other with contrast and accessibility requirements.
Conversion Rate
What is conversion rate in UX? Learn how to measure, benchmark, and improve the percentage of users who take action.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of users who complete a defined goal action – a purchase, signup, or form submission – out of everyone who had the chance to.
Dark Pattern
Learn what dark patterns are in UX, the most common types like confirmshaming and roach motel, and how to avoid deceptive design. With examples.
Dark Pattern
A deceptive design technique that manipulates users into unintended actions, exploiting how people read and decide to benefit the business.
Design System
What is a design system? Learn how component libraries, tokens, and guidelines create consistent products.
Design System
A collection of reusable components, tokens, and guidelines that acts as a single source of truth, closing the gap between design and development.
Design Thinking
Learn what design thinking is, its five stages, and how to apply this problem-solving framework in UX projects. Practical tips and examples.
Design Thinking
A human-centered problem-solving framework using empathy, experimentation, and iteration to find solutions users actually need.
Designing for Cognitive Trust Under Uncertainty
How to balance cognitive load reduction with user trust in high-stakes flows like payments, health, and legal decisions.
Designing for Cognitive Trust Under Uncertainty
The practice of structuring high-stakes interfaces so users feel unburdened yet in control, reducing friction while keeping cues that signal legitimacy.
Empathy Map
What is an empathy map in UX? Learn how to capture what users think, feel, say, and do.
Empathy Map
A collaborative tool organizing what a team knows about a user into four quadrants – Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels – for shared understanding.
Eye Tracking
What is eye tracking in UX research? Understand how gaze data reveals user attention patterns.
Eye Tracking
A research technique recording where users look, how long, and in what order – revealing visual attention that clicks and surveys can't capture.
Fitts's Law
Learn what Fitts's Law is, its formula, and how it applies to UX design – button sizing, touch targets, and interactive element placement.
Fitts's Law
A model stating that the time to reach a target depends on its distance and size – bigger, closer targets are faster and easier to hit.
Gestalt Principles
What are Gestalt principles in UX design? Learn how proximity, similarity, and closure shape user perception.
Gestalt Principles
A set of perceptual rules describing how humans naturally group visual information, helping interfaces work with the brain's pattern recognition.
Hamburger Menu
What is a hamburger menu? Learn the pros, cons, and alternatives of this common mobile navigation pattern.
Hamburger Menu
A three-line icon that reveals a hidden navigation drawer – widely used to save mobile screen space, and widely criticized for hiding navigation.
Heatmap
What are heatmaps in UX? Learn how click, scroll, and move heatmaps reveal user behavior patterns.
Heatmap
A visual map of user behavior using color gradients to show clicks, scroll depth, or cursor movement – hot colors mark high activity, cool colors low.
Heuristic Evaluation
Learn what heuristic evaluation is, Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics, and how to audit any interface for UX problems. Step-by-step method guide.
Heuristic Evaluation
A usability inspection method where evaluators review an interface against established design principles to catch issues without user testing.
Hick's Law
What is Hick's Law in UX? Learn how the number of choices affects decision time and user experience.
Hick's Law
The principle that decision time increases with the number of choices – doubling the options slows users down and raises the risk they'll choose nothing.
Information Architecture
Learn what information architecture (IA) is, how to organize content for intuitive navigation, and methods like card sorting. Practical UX guide.
Information Architecture
The practice of organizing and labeling content so users can find what they need – the invisible blueprint behind grouping and navigation.
Interaction Design
What is interaction design? Learn the principles of designing meaningful user interactions and micro-behaviors.
Interaction Design
The practice of defining how a product responds to clicks, taps, and gestures – turning a static interface into something users can control.
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
What is the Jobs to Be Done framework? Learn how to uncover the real reasons users choose your product.
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
A framework built on the idea that users "hire" products to complete a specific job – understanding that job is key to building what they'll choose.
Lean UX
What is Lean UX? Learn how to validate design decisions faster with experiments over deliverables.
Lean UX
A design approach replacing heavy documentation with rapid experimentation – forming hypotheses and testing them with real users before full development.
Mental Model
Learn what a mental model is in UX, how users form expectations about interfaces, and how to design products that match user thinking patterns.
Mental Model
The internal picture a user has of how a system works, shaping what they expect to happen next – matching it makes an interface feel intuitive.
Microcopy
What is microcopy in UX? Learn how small UI text like labels, tooltips, and error messages shape user experience.
Microcopy
The small pieces of interface text – button labels, errors, tooltips – that guide users and communicate a product's personality at each friction point.
Microinteraction
What are microinteractions? Learn how small design moments like toggles, pull-to-refresh, and animations improve UX.
Microinteraction
A contained, single-purpose moment – a toggle switching, a like animating – that gives feedback and makes an interface feel responsive and alive.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
What is an MVP in UX? Learn how to build the smallest version of a product that delivers real user value.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
The smallest version of a product that delivers real value and generates the learning needed to decide what to build next.
Modal
What is a modal in UX design? Learn when to use modal dialogs and how to avoid common usability pitfalls.
Modal
A dialog that appears in front of page content, blocking interaction until the user confirms, dismisses, or completes a required task.
Navigation Pattern
What are navigation patterns in UX? Learn about tabs, sidebars, breadcrumbs, and other wayfinding systems.
Navigation Pattern
The recurring structural solutions – top bars, tab bars, sidebars, mega menus – that help users move through a product's content.
Onboarding
What is user onboarding in UX? Learn patterns and strategies to help new users reach their aha moment.
Onboarding
The designed experience guiding new users from their first interaction to the moment they understand a product's core value.
Orchestrating Multi-Method Research Programs
A framework for sequencing UX research methods so each one answers what the others structurally cannot.
Orchestrating Multi-Method Research Programs
The discipline of sequencing UX research methods so each phase answers what the last one structurally couldn't, compounding findings.
Progressive Disclosure
Learn what progressive disclosure is, how it reduces cognitive load in UX, and when to use it. Practical guide with interface examples and tips.
Progressive Disclosure
A strategy showing users only essential information first, revealing details on demand instead of presenting everything at once.
Prototype
What is a prototype in UX design? Learn fidelity levels, tools, and when to prototype for maximum impact.
Prototype
A simulation of a product, from paper sketch to interactive mockup, built to be tested – not shipped – so teams learn before committing to development.
Responsive Design
What is responsive design? Learn how fluid grids, flexible media, and breakpoints create seamless multi-device experiences.
Responsive Design
An approach where layout and content adapt fluidly to different screen sizes, using a single codebase across phone, tablet, and desktop.
Systemic Information Architecture at Scale
How information architecture works differently when multiple products share one design system.
Systemic Information Architecture at Scale
Designing content and navigation structures that stay coherent across multiple products sharing one design system, without forcing uniformity.
Usability Testing
Learn what usability testing is, moderated vs unmoderated methods, and how to run effective UX tests. Step-by-step guide with practical tips.
Usability Testing
A research method where real users attempt specific tasks while a researcher observes – revealing what works and what confuses based on actual behavior.
User Flow
Learn what a user flow is, how to map one, and why it matters for UX design. Covers flow types, real examples, and practical mapping tips.
User Flow
A visual diagram mapping the sequence of screens, decisions, and actions a user takes to complete a task, showing where the experience breaks down.
User Journey Map
What is a user journey map? Learn how to visualize the complete user experience across touchpoints.
User Journey Map
A visual document telling the story of a user's full experience – their actions, thoughts, and emotions – from first awareness to goal completion.
User Persona
Learn what a user persona is, why personas matter in UX, and how to create research-based personas. Includes types, examples, and practical tips.
User Persona
A fictional, research-based profile representing a key user segment – their goals, behaviors, and pain points – giving the team a concrete person to design for.
Wireframe
Learn what a wireframe is, why it matters in UX design, and how to create effective wireframes. Covers low-fidelity vs high-fidelity types with examples.
Wireframe
A simplified visual blueprint of a page's layout and structure, stripped of color and styling so teams can decide what goes where before how it looks.