Glossary of terms

understanding the user, task and environment in designing the best products and services to address the whole user experience

a process led by the user and developed through user-centred evaluation with regular feedback in making adjustments to the product

multidisciplinary skills and perspectives team who understand the needs of the users and have a deep understanding of the user, task and the environment

research, concept, design, implementation and launch

shadowing, diary studies, interviews, focus groups, benchmarking, usability testing

coming up with innovative solutions to address those needs

designing and usability testing mock-ups of your product through a series of repeated cycles

product checks and testing to perform the final usability test of the working product

the roll-out of the product to ensure users experience is a smooth transition from any legacy product

expensive, difficulty interpreting different types of data into the initial design, takes more time

the design will be more intuitive to meet the needs of the user

person utilising the product

the multiple intention/purpose of the product

the place where the product is likely to be use

universally accessible products for all users including those with physical, sensory, perceptual and other challenges and impairments

a field of science on human society who want to know why things happen

direct interaction with people to gather and record data about human culture and societies

the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders

how easy it is to use a product or system

usefulness, effectiveness, learnability, attitude (like-ability)

product acceptance, user experience, productivity, user error, training and support

the tasks that it was designed to carry out and/or wants needs of user

quantitatively measured by speed of performance or error rate and is tied to a percentage of users

user's ability to operate the system to some defined level of competence after some predetermined period of training

user's perceptions, feelings and opinions of the product

simplicity, ease of use, intuitive logic and organisation, low memory burden, visibility, feedback, affordance, mapping and constraints

intuitive and easily accessible interfaces

allows new operators to quickly become competent in the basic operations of a product

burden placed on consumers due to understanding the interface/product

colours and visual symbols to show how the product is used

giving the user information to let the know they have performed a correct action with the product

property (shape/form) of the product that indicates how it can be used

correspondence between the layout/space of buttons of the controls and their required action

limits the way that a product can be used

responses that are found to be widespread in a user population based on cultural expectations

who is going to use the product

age, gender, physical condition, interests, habits, emotional responses

a fictional character that represents the profile of the primary target audience for a product

a fictional character who are not the product's primary personae, but whose needs should be met

a fictional character for whom the product is not designed

understanding the users behaviour and needs through observations, analysis and feedback

simulating the actual user experiences, which can generate new findings

a written document that describes the interaction from the user experience relates to the way a user interacts with the product's functionality

observation of customer's user experience first hand

represent the extremes of the user population plus one or two intermediate values

looking at how of people use a product and collecting data from people who have used the product

a number of individuals from the target audiences brought together to discuss specific elements of the product and customer experience

a graphic tool designed to help organise ideas generated in brainstorming or problem solving meetings

seeks to include the intended users either in the research, concept, design or production of an outcome

perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface

explains the purpose of the session to the user and how to interact with the prototype

represents the target market and interacts with the user–product interface

a human being simulating the behaviour of the computer program in response to instructions from the user

a lab in which usability testing is carried out, and test users are monitored by another group of observers in a different room.

typically a company that will test products on their site.

socio-pleasure, physio-pleasure, psycho-pleasure and ideo pleasure

Pleasure derived from social interaction and signifiers of belonging, social-enablers and other social self-identification factors e.g. Facebook

Pleasure derived from touching, smelling, hearing or tasting e.g. writing with a pen

Pleasure derived from cognition, discovery, knowledge, and other things that satisfy the intellect

Pleasure derived from advocating for an ethical or values group e.g. Fairtrade coffee

a framework for creating designs that intentionally trigger positive emotional responses

aesthetics orientated on the ACT model

interaction orientated on the ACT model

function orientated on the ACT model