Milton Ulladulla Times

Digital design dictionary: Top buzzwords used by UX designers

Get well-acquainted with some of the vocabulary you're likely to encounter when working in this discipline before enrolling in a UI or UX design course. Picture supplied
Get well-acquainted with some of the vocabulary you're likely to encounter when working in this discipline before enrolling in a UI or UX design course. Picture supplied

This is branded content.

As a rapidly evolving discipline within the world of tech, UX (or user experience) design is considered to be one of the most lucrative career pathways for Australian students seeking to enter the tech sector.

If you are looking to enter the world of UX, however, you should be prepared to get to grips with a lot of new lingo, some of which may not even be found in any other industry. This is precisely why it's a good idea to get well-acquainted with some of the unique vocabulary that you're likely to encounter when working within this evolving discipline well before enrolling in a UI or UX design course.

To help, we've compiled a list of twelve buzzwords that UX designers are likely to use on a daily basis. Read on to unearth some of the mysteries of UX.

1. UI elements

UI (or 'user interface') elements are essentially virtual design elements as they appear on your user interface. The intended users of your UX project (which will likely take the form of a mobile or web application) can engage with these UI elements in order to perform various tasks or actions.

Some examples of UI elements include clickable buttons, dropdown menus, navigation bars, slider arrows, message boxes, or any and all other design elements that allow users to navigate through your mobile or web application.

2. Prototype

A prototype is the outline of an end product that is developed prior to a finished application being launched. Prototypes are usually developed for the purposes of testing prior to launch, whether this be in the form of card sorting or any of the other app testing methods that we'll be outlining throughout the rest of this article.

3. Wireframe

Similar to prototypes but operating on a more minimalist scale, wireframes are designed to present each and every page and action presented in your proposed UX project in order to gain a deeper understanding of the functionality of each page over its aesthetics. Wireframes are generally designed to be a utilitarian presentation of the functional elements that drive your application over how the pages are supposed to appear to the end user.

Wireframes are developed in the earlier ideation stages of any UX project. Once functionality has been mapped out, prototypes outlining sketches of the final product as it will appear to the end user can then be developed.

4. User journey map

User journey mapping involves literally mapping out the steps required to facilitate the outlined user journey that you'd like your end product to facilitate. Your user journey map will help you ascertain whether your app design can get your end user to go from Point A to Point B in the smoothest way possible.

User journeys are also often referred to as 'UX flows' or 'customer journey flows', as they're tasked with examining the evolution of your user's intent from the very first landing page (like a sign-up page) of their mapped journey, to the page where users can complete the desired action that then completes the user journey (i.e. the checkout process where they can finalise their online purchase).

5. Conversion rate

Your conversion rate is the percentage of total users that complete all intended user actions along a customer journey map. When assessing the conversion rate of any UX product, it's common to separate your user journey into sections of a 'conversion funnel' or 'sales funnel'.

By segmenting your user journey into different sections of this funnel, you can accurately pinpoint which sections of your user journey record the highest rate of customers jumping off and failing to complete their journey. This information can then be used to finetune your user journey and effectively grow your conversion rate incrementally with each and every additional development of your UX product.

6. User research

User research revolves around studying the needs, concerns, and frustrations (or 'pain points') of your intended user base. User research generally involves developing user personas that can then help tailor your UX products to align with the design and functionality preferences of your outlined target audience.

User research essentially ensures that your web or mobile application is perfectly positioned to fulfil all the needs of a highly-defined user, allowing greater chances of your end UX product being a certifiable success and the digital tool of choice in that product's wider industry.

7. Pain points

A common problem encountered by your identified target users throughout existing customer journeys or buying processes. The best UX products are built upon addressing and neutralising all of your industry's most challenging pain points.

8. Design thinking

The process of design thinking is heavily considered to be a foundational practice that all UX designers follow when bringing any mobile or web application from conception to creation. There are five stages of design thinking, these being:

  • Empathising with your target user
  • Defining a prospective design brief that fulfils user needs
  • Ideating or brainstorming to improve upon this initial brief
  • Prototyping in order to transform your brief into a fully functional user experience
  • Testing your prototype in order to finetune your end product before release

9. Breadcrumb

This term in the context of UX, refers to 'breadcrumb trails' or 'breadcrumb navigation'. Breadcrumb navigation is essentially a series of ordered hyperlinks that lead you to any particular page on a website or mobile app. Breadcrumb navigation is used to categorise and subcategorise content on a website or mobile app, to ensure that the ordering of pages is logical and can easily be followed by users.

You may find breadcrumb trails on top of content in subcategory pages appear in this format:

Home Services Plumbing Emergency Callouts

Each item in that trail will also be hyperlinked, allowing you to flit between categories, subcategories, and the homepage with minimal fuss.

10. A/B testing

Also known as 'split testing', A/B testing is the practice of comparing two single variants to determine which variant (A or B) is a better fit for your particular design project. A/B testing generally occurs once an application prototype has been developed and UX designers are seeking to put the finishing touches on an end product in preparation for its release.

11. Eye tracking

Another form of usability testing, eye tracking involves providing testees with a page from your mobile or web application and recording which elements catch their attention first, essentially tracking the movement of the eye across the page.

Eye tracking can be conducted using specialised UX testing tools that position a light over the eye to follow the testee's cornea. Sensors are also used to track the movement of the eye, allowing UX testers to map out a trail across the page that presents the most eye-catching design elements and the elements that are less engaging for users.

11. HTML & CSS

Two core programming languages used in the creation of web pages, HTML stands for 'Hypertext Markup Language', and CSS for 'Cascading Style Sheets'. HTML is used to create and format page content on any web page, whilst CSS is used for dictation design and style of the wider website.

CSS is effectively responsible for managing visual elements like page colours, visual effects, and other stylistic qualities of your website, whilst HTML is used to populate a designed web page with all the content that helps users navigate your site.

~

With this digital design dictionary at your disposal, you'll be sure to provide yourself with a strong contextual foundation in UX design before embarking into this field as a student yourself. Be sure to use this dictionary as a jumping off point, and seek out your own learning resources to help complement your course materials.

With a growing global community of UX and UI designers publishing their own work and study resources everyday, there is no shortage of useful information that can be found online, including across online forums, social media groups, and information repositories and collaborative coding spaces like GitHub.