Plain-language definitions, cross-linked to the library
Glossary
Every term a designer meets in a standup, defined once and connected to the deeper resource.
137 entries across 16 categories
137 terms
A10
A/B Test
Showing two versions to different people and comparing the results.
Above the Fold
What you see before you scroll.
Acceptance Criteria
The list that says when something is actually done.
Accessibility (a11y)
Making sure disabled people can use the product too.
Activation
The moment a new user actually gets something out of the product.
Affordance
What something lets you do, whether or not you can tell.
Alt Text
A description of an image for people who cannot see it.
ARIA
Extra code labels that tell screen readers what something is.
Assistive Technology
Tools people use to operate a computer in a different way.
Atomic Design
A way of naming components by how small or composite they are.
B2
Benchmark
A starting measurement so you can tell whether things improved.
Breakpoint
The width where the layout switches to a different arrangement.
C16
Canonical URL
The one official address for a page.
Chunking
Breaking a long string into groups so it is easier to remember.
Churn
How many people leave.
Cognitive Load
How hard your brain has to work to get something done.
Cohort
A group of users who started at the same time.
Colour Vision Deficiency
Difficulty telling some colours apart, affecting around one in twelve men.
Command Palette
A search box for everything the app can do.
Component
A reusable building block of the interface.
Component Library
The set of prebuilt components you can use.
Conceptual Model
How the designers wish you would think the product works.
Consent
Someone actively agreeing, knowing what they are agreeing to.
Container Query
A rule that responds to how much space a component actually has.
Contrast Ratio
A number saying how easy text is to read against its background.
Conversion Rate
How many people did the thing you wanted, out of everyone who could have.
Core Web Vitals
Google's three measurements of whether a page feels fast and stable.
Cumulative Layout Shift
How much the page jumps around while loading.
D11
Data Minimisation
Only collect the data you actually need.
Deceptive Pattern
A design that tricks you into doing something you did not mean to.
Definition of Done
The team's agreed checklist for finishing anything.
Deprecation
Announcing that something is going away and helping people move off it.
Design Critique
A meeting where people give useful feedback on design work.
Design Debt
The mess that builds up when design decisions are rushed or never revisited.
Design Pattern
A known way of solving a common problem.
Design QA
Checking that what got built matches what was designed.
Design System
The shared toolkit and rules a team designs and builds with.
Design Token
A named value like a colour or spacing step, defined once and used everywhere.
Double Diamond
A model that says explore widely, then narrow down, twice.
E5
Edge Case
An unusual situation that still happens to real people.
Effect Size
How big the difference actually is.
Elevation
How high something appears to float above the page.
Empty State
What you see when there is nothing there yet.
Evaluative Research
Research to check whether what you built is any good.
F5
Feature Flag
A switch that turns a feature on for some people.
Fidelity
How finished something looks or behaves.
Findability
Whether people can find the thing.
Focus Order
The order things get selected as you press Tab.
Focus Trap
Focus gets stuck inside one part of the page.
G6
GDPR
The EU law about handling people's personal data.
Generative Research
Research to work out what to build.
Gestalt Principles
The rules your eye follows automatically when grouping things.
Graceful Degradation
When something breaks, the rest still works.
Grid
The invisible columns that things line up to.
Gutter
The gap between columns.
H4
Handoff
Passing designs to developers to build.
Happy Path
The version where everything works.
Heuristic
A rule that is usually right, used to spot problems quickly.
Heuristic Evaluation
Experts reviewing a design against a checklist of principles.
I7
Inclusive Design
Designing so more people can use it, not just the average user.
Infinite Scroll
The page keeps loading more as you scroll.
Information Architecture
How the content is organised and named so people can find it.
Information Scent
How well a link tells you whether it goes where you want.
Interaction Design
Designing what happens when you do things.
Interaction to Next Paint
How quickly the page reacts when you click or type.
Internationalization (i18n)
Building it so it can be translated later without breaking.
J2
Jobs to Be Done
What someone is really trying to get done.
Journey Map
A map of what someone goes through, start to finish.
K1
Kerning
Fine-tuning the gap between two particular letters.
L6
Largest Contentful Paint
How long until the main thing on the page appears.
Lazy Loading
Only loading images when you scroll near them.
Leading
The space between lines of text.
Live Region
A part of the page that screen readers announce when it updates.
Localisation (l10n)
Actually translating and adapting it for a country.
Longitudinal Study
Studying the same people over weeks or months.
M10
Measure
How long each line of text is.
Mental Model
What someone believes is going on inside the product.
Metadata
Information about the content rather than the content itself.
Microcopy
The little bits of text that tell you what to do.
Microinteraction
A tiny interaction like a toggle switching or a like button filling in.
Minimum Lovable Product
The smallest version people would actually be pleased to use.
Minimum Viable Product
The smallest thing you can build to find out whether the idea works.
Mockup
A picture of what it will look like, but you cannot click it.
Modal
A box that takes over the screen until you deal with it.
Moderated Testing
A researcher is there and can ask follow-up questions.
N1
North Star Metric
The one number the whole team is trying to move.
O2
OKLCH
A way of writing colours where equal numbers look equally different.
Optimistic UI
Showing the result straight away and fixing it if the request fails.
P6
Perceived Performance
How fast it seems, rather than how fast it is.
Persona
A short profile of a typical user, based on real research.
Plain Language
Writing so people get it straight away.
Progressive Disclosure
Show the basics, hide the extras until asked.
Progressive Enhancement
Make it work everywhere, then make it nicer where you can.
Prototype
Something you can click through to test an idea.
Q2
Qualitative Research
Research that tells you why, usually by watching or talking to people.
Quantitative Research
Research that tells you how many and how often.
R3
Responsive Design
One design that reflows to fit any screen.
Retention
How many people keep coming back.
Right-to-Left (RTL)
Languages like Arabic and Hebrew, where everything flips.
S13
Sample Size
How many people you studied.
Screen Reader
Software that reads the screen aloud.
Semantic Color
Colours that always mean the same thing.
Semantic Versioning
Version numbers that tell you whether an update will break things.
SEO
Making your content findable in search results.
Service Design
Designing everything around the product, including the parts staff use.
Severity
How bad a problem is, so you know what to fix first.
Signifier
The visual hint that tells you something is clickable.
Single Source of Truth
One place where the real version lives.
Skeleton Screen
Grey blocks showing where content will appear.
State
What condition something is currently in.
Statistical Significance
The difference is probably real, not luck.
Structured Data
Extra code that tells search engines what the content is.
T10
Tabular Figures
Numbers that line up neatly in a column.
Taxonomy
The agreed set of categories things get filed under.
Technical Debt
Shortcuts taken now that cost more to fix later.
Theming
Changing the look without changing the components.
Think-Aloud Protocol
Asking people to say what they are thinking as they use something.
Toast
A small message that pops up and then goes away.
Touchpoint
Any moment where someone deals with the company.
Tracking
How tightly the letters sit together.
Triangulation
Checking a finding more than one way before believing it.
Type Scale
The fixed list of text sizes a design is allowed to use.
U7
Universal Design
Designing one thing that works for everyone rather than a special version.
Unmoderated Testing
The participant does it on their own, with no researcher present.
Usability
Whether people can actually do what they came to do, without too much trouble.
User Experience (UX)
Everything about how it feels to use a thing, not just how it looks.
User Flow
The path someone takes through a task, including the wrong turns.
User Interface (UI)
The part of the product you actually see and touch.
User Story
A one-line description of something a user needs and why.
V5
Vanity Metric
A number that looks good and tells you nothing.
Variable Font
One font file that contains every weight instead of separate files.
Viewport
The part of the page you can see without scrolling.
Visual Hierarchy
What your eye notices first, second and third.
Voice and Tone
How the product talks, and how that changes depending on the situation.
W3
WCAG
The official rules for making digital content accessible.
Whitespace
The empty space between things, which is doing a job.
Wireframe
A rough sketch of what goes where.