Mathias Wisdom
4 min readMar 30, 2022

20 UX Terms Every Designer Should Know

Just like doctors are accustomed to medical terms like aorta and hormonal imbalance, the same goes for tech guys. User Experience (UX) design is one of the technical facets of today’s design industry. It is imperative that every UX designer, know and understand certain UX terms for easy workflow and assimilation.

This article will show you
1) Meaning of UX
2) Reasons why you need to understand UX terms
3) Frequently used UX terms you should know.

Meaning Of UX
User experience (UX) design is the method by which design teams develop products that give users relevant and interesting experiences. This includes features of branding, design, usability, and function, as well as the design of the complete process of purchasing and integrating the product.

The practice of generating evidence-based interaction designs between human users and items or websites is known as user experience design. Research, data analysis, and test results drive UX design decisions rather than aesthetic tastes and views.

Reasons Why you Need To Understand UX Terms
* It is very easy to get lost in the world of UX design if you do not understand the meaning of certain UX terms.
* To show that you have a grasp of what to are pitching to a client, you need to infuse certain UX terminologies into your presentation.
* It also helps you to become a faster learner and a better teacher of the UX design

Here is a compilation of basic UX terms that will foster your UX career journey

A/B TESTING: Also known as split testing, A/B testing is the practice of comparing two versions of a web page with a single variable online to determine which one performs better.

ADAPTIVE: An adaptive interface is a collection of layouts designed specifically for different devices. It detects the device type being used and displays the layout designed for it.

AFFINITY MAP: A way of interpreting and grouping insights and information gotten from user research.

BEACON: Beacons are little Bluetooth radio transmitters that communicate with the user’s smartphone and are used to share information.

BREADCRUMB: Breadcrumb navigation systems help users understand their location on a website or app. They show a sequence of steps, users have taken to get where they are.

BUG: A bug is a software or hard flaw that is responsible for the malfunctioning of some features in an app or website. External influence on the program’s functioning that the developer usually does not anticipate.

BUTTON: An interface element that causes a specific action when tapped or clicked.

CLICKSTREAM: When you land on a site, you click your way through it to complete a task. The path of clicks you took on to accomplish a goal.

COMMITS: Throughout the development process, developers create commits whenever they have reached a good point in their work. Commits are similar to drafts.

COLOUR WHEEL: The relationships between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors are depicted in this circle. Red, yellow, and blue primaries are grouped at three evenly spaced places around the color wheel by artists and designers.

DESIGN VALIDATION: the process of ensuring that a product's or service's design fits the intended needs.

END USERS: This refers to those who are the actual users of any digital product. The developer has them in mind while designing the app or website.

LANDING PAGE: This is a web page that a user goes into when they click on a link.

MOCKUP: A mockup is a real depiction of how the final design will appear. Keep in mind that a mockup is an identical replica of the finished product. Which denotes that it is formed after all of the design adjustments have been completed.

MOODBOARD: A mood board is a collection of materials and assets that use photos, text, colors, and other branding aspects to help define the unique style of a product (such as a website or an app). It reveals a project's, design, our brand's voice, direction, language, and style. A mood board, unlike most other step-by-step data collection systems, is free-flowing by nature.

ONBOARDING: Creating a friendly experience for new users by gradually introducing them to it. The design of your site's onboarding process is usually constrained to a first-time use situation.

PAIN POINT: The challenges that users encounter that cause friction in specific user flows are referred to as pain points. Designers can construct a user-friendly design once they've identified them.

PERSONA: A persona is a fictional character created to help you figure out what your target audience wants. In other words, a persona is a representation of the target audience that you use to create for rather than a generic audience.

PROTOTYPE: A prototype is a sketch of the final product that is used for testing before it is released. Low-level prototypes reveal a basic outline of how a design would appear. High-level prototypes, on the other hand, flesh out the sketch but aren't full-fledged mockups.

WIREFRAME: A wireframe is a blueprint for your product, app, or website. It's a design blueprint with no text, graphics, or interactive elements. A wireframe is used to indicate where a design element will appear on the screen while also laying out the functionality and content of a page.