DDSN 360: Glossary 2

Glossary 2

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.
— Joseph Campbell

User Interface Design – Fall 2019

Browser: An internet browser is an application that allows a user to search and view websites. Examples of browsers are Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Silk, Opera, and Internet Explorer, to name a few. Google Chrome is by far the most popular browser as of 2019. Well over half of users access the internet via Chrome.

Hyperlink: Text, image or icon that is a link to another location or file that is activated when clicked on. Here is an example: google.com.

Mobile First Design: This is a design process which focusses on the smallest possible screen first, then grows to larger desktop screen designs. Essentially designing for mobile phones first and figuring out the rest after. Since about half of websites are viewed via mobile device (and that number is growing), it is wise to consider the mobile user experience first.

User-Centered Design: UCD is the design process which constantly considers the user experience and interaction first. Alongside all steps of the design process, designers will make use of user feedback to improve their design, and essentially achieve the goal of creating a user experience that is the most pleasing.

Responsive Design: When creating a responsive website or app design, you are creating a user interface that adapts to the current screen the user is interacting with. A mobile phone screen is much smaller than a desktop screen, and the design of a site or app needs to adapt to make sure the user experience remains clear and pleasing.

UI/UX: UI stands for “user interface” and UX stands for “user experience”. These acronyms are now ubiquitous with the concept of software, web design, game design, application design, and more. A user interface is the way a user interacts with a website or application. User experience refers to the journey a user has when interacting with that website or app.

Breadcrumb Navigation: Making use of the concept of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to remember one’s location, in website design, this is making sure that your user can still understand where they are when moving between pages within your website or app. It is a handy way to find your way around an app or website.

WYSIWYG (pronounced “wizzywig”): WYSIWYG is an acronym for “What You See Is What Your Get” in regards to a website editor. A WYSIWYG editor lets you see the finished product as you are editing it. Ideally this is meant to reduce the amount of time a designer has to switch between editing mode and preview mode.

Blog: Blog is short for “web log”, which is an online written entry of some kind. Originally blogs were more like personal journals, which many still are, but there are now multiple kinds of blogs out there, covering all subjects, and innumerable followers – some have larger readerships than some major periodicals. I had a LiveJournal back in the day, which is one type of blog program that has existed. WordPress really began as a bloggers website developing program, but has evolved into all kinds of websites.

Open Source: Open Source Software, or OSS, is a kind of computer software wherein the source code of the software is released to its users freely to alter, edit, and distribute as they wish. Mozilla’s Firefox Web Browser is open source, as well as the programming language called Python. Chromium, the precursor to Google Chrome, was open source as well.