DDSN 360: Glossary 7

It is easier to feel than to realize, or in any way explain, Yosemite grandeur. The magnitudes of the rocks and trees and streams are so delicately harmonized, they are mostly hidden.

— John Muir

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User Interface Design – Fall 2019

Glossary 7

• Iterative: As in an iterative process, or iteration, is a method of repeating steps until an outcome is met. An algorithm is a formula which repeats to find various outcomes.

• Paper Prototypes: Paper prototypes are hand sketched designs, usually used in the user-centered stages of design exploration. Making paper prototypes is the time and cost-effective way of demonstrating design ideas to shareholders before going too far in the process, and wasting time on a design that ultimately the shareholder may not approve of.

• Low-Fidelity Prototypes: This is a version of a design that is still in a sketch mode of quality and clarity. The design has not been quite refined yet, but the basic ideas are there.

• High-Fidelity Prototypes: This is the more defined and interactive version of a user interface design. This version is usually incorporated into some kind of software to demonstrate to a shareholder how to interact with it. More colors and shading choices are involved.

• Heuristic: Derived from the Greek word for “to discover”, heuristic technique is the method for making something easy and quick to learn and understand. This is another way of describing the learnability of an interface.

• Rollovers: Rollovers are images or icons that change when your cursor “rolls” over them. For example a link in a paragraph may change color when your cursor is hovering over it to indicate that it is interactable.

• Front-end development: This is the development side of Web or User Interface Design that the user will see, and ultimately interact with. This is the visually pleasing side of Web Design. This side handles the color, typography and layout design choices, for example.

• Back-end development: Back-end development is the mechanics of the site or User Interface. It is the code and security, the content management system and database. The back-end developer works in tandem with the front-end developer to create a functioning final product to the user.

• Below the Fold: “Below the Fold” refers to the part of the website that you must scroll down to see. This comes from the printed news paper reference for what is printed below the actual physical fold of the paper. This part of the paper, or the website takes effort for the user to see it, so it is not as valued as real estate as “Above the Fold” real estate.

• Favicon: A favicon is the tiny icon that shows up in your browser tab, bookmarks list, url or shortcuts for websites. It helps to promote your brand. A user will respond to a visual image quicker than a long url of text if seen in a list with other urls. It helps your site to stand out and have an identity.