CPSC 4140

Abductive Reasoning - Reasoning from a fact to the action or state that caused it. A UI can facilitate this by explaining why an event, like a browser timeout, occurred.

Analytical Evaluation - A category of evaluation that includes predictive models like GOMS and expert-based methods like Heuristic Evaluation, conducted without direct user involvement.

ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) - A statistical method used to make decisions in experiments, testing if all groups are random samples of the same population.

Attention - The cognitive process of selecting things to concentrate on at a point in time from the surrounding stimuli. It can be focused or divided.

Attribution Theory - The study of why people believe they succeeded or failed, attributing the cause to themselves or to outside factors. In usability testing, the goal is for participants to attribute problems to the interface, not themselves.

Balance - A principle of visual design involving a satisfying arrangement or proportion of elements, occurring when there is an equally distributed amount of visual signal on both sides of an imaginary axis. Can be symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial.

Behavioral Design - The second of Don Norman's three levels of emotional design, concerning the pleasure and effectiveness of use.

Chartjunk - Decorative elements in a chart or graph that are not related to the data and do not contribute to its sense or substance.

Clarity Principle - A design principle stating that every element in an interface should have a reason for being there. It often involves the strategic use of white space.

Closure Principle - A Gestalt principle where humans tend to perceive incomplete shapes as a complete whole by filling in missing information.

Cognitive Dissonance - A state of having conflicting opinions or beliefs. People resolve this by either changing a belief or denying one of the conflicting ideas.

Cognitive Walkthrough - An evaluation method focused on ease of learning, where experts walk through a design prototype with a specific scenario, guided by a set of questions about the user's ability to identify and interpret actions.

Collective Effort Model - A model explaining that individuals are more likely to engage in social loafing when they expect their co-workers to perform well.

Common Fate Principle - A Gestalt principle stating that elements moving in the same direction are perceived as a single group. Aligning items to a grid can create a sense of common fate.

Conceptual Model - The model of a system that is presented to the user through the interface. It is the designer's representation of how the system works.

Consistency - A design principle that dictates uniformity across layout, images, icons, and typography, both within a single screen and across multiple screens of an application.

Constructive Interaction - An evaluation method where two people work together on a task, allowing evaluators to gain insights by monitoring their normal conversations.

Contrast - A principle of visual design that involves the juxtaposition of visually dissimilar elements to convey that they are different in category, function, or behavior.

Crew Resource Management (CRM) - A training approach focused on enhancing interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision-making to improve situational awareness and safety, originating from the airline industry.

Dark Patterns - Deceptive user interface designs that benefit a business rather than its customers, such as hiding key information or using defaults that are not in the user's best interest.

Data Ink Ratio - A concept by Edward Tufte defined as the amount of ink used to display data divided by the total ink used in the graphic. The goal is to maximize this ratio.

Declarative Learning - Learning facts about something.

Deductive Reasoning - Reasoning from a general rule to a specific conclusion (e.g., "If A, then B").

Delayed Gratification - The ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later, often larger or more enduring, reward.

Direct Manipulation - An interaction paradigm where the interface behaves as if the user is interacting with a real-world object. It is characterized by visibility of objects, rapid reversible actions, and immediate display of results.

Dunbar's Number - The theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships, calculated to be approximately 150 for humans.

Duchenne Smile - A genuine smile that involves the contraction of muscles around both the mouth (raising the corners) and the eyes (crinkling the corners).

Field Studies - An evaluation approach where users are observed in their natural environment to understand how technology is used in a real-world context.

Fitts's Law - A predictive model stating that the time to point at a target is a function of the distance to the target and the width of the target.

Formative Evaluation - Evaluation that occurs as a project is forming and continues throughout the design lifecycle.

Gestalt Principles - A set of principles from early 20th-century psychology that explain how humans simplify and organize complex images by subconsciously arranging parts into an organized whole.

Goal Gradient Effect - The tendency for individuals to accelerate their behavior as they get closer to reaching a goal.

GOMS - A predictive model for user performance on routine tasks, standing for Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection Rules.

Hawthorne Effect - The alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed. Also known as the observer effect.

Heuristic Evaluation - A "discount" evaluation method where usability experts review a system against a set of established usability principles (heuristics) to identify problems.

Inductive Reasoning - Generalizing from previous specific cases to learn about new ones.

Keystroke Level Model (KSLM) - A quantitative model derived from GOMS that provides numerical predictions of user performance by assigning execution times to basic human operators like key presses and mouse movements.

Living Labs - Evaluation environments, such as the Aware Home, where technology is embedded into people's everyday lives to be studied in a naturalistic setting.

Long Term Memory (LTM) - The component of memory that is seemingly permanent and unlimited, storing semantic, procedural, visual, and auditory information. Access to LTM is slower than to STM.

Mental Model - A person’s thought process for how something works, based on incomplete facts, past experiences, and intuitive perceptions.

Metaphor (Interface) - Tying the presentation and visual elements of an interface to a familiar, relevant real-world item or concept to help users understand it.

Mind Wandering - A cognitive state where a person transitions from working on one task to thinking about something unrelated, which can facilitate pseudo multi-tasking and creativity.

Model Human Processor (MHP) - A model that views the human as an information processing system with perceptual, cognitive, and motor processors, as well as perceptual, short term, and long-term memory stores.

Perceptual Stores - Brief but accurate sensory memory stores (e.g., visual and auditory) that hold an image of the outside world long enough for initial analysis before details decay.

Procedural Learning - Learning how to do something, involving the acquisition and automation of motor skills.

Proximity Principle - A Gestalt principle where elements that are close together in space or time are perceived as belonging to a group.

Recall - Retrieving information from Long-Term Memory without a specific external stimulus.

Recognition - Retrieving information from Long-Term Memory with the help of a stimulus. It is generally easier than recall.

Reflective Design - The third of Don Norman's three levels of emotional design, which considers the rationalization and intellectualization of a product, including the self-image and personal satisfaction derived from it.

Satisficing - A decision-making strategy that aims for an adequate or satisfactory result rather than an optimal one. The term is a portmanteau of "satisfy" and "suffice."

Scale - A principle of visual design where the relative size of elements is used to emphasize importance and guide the user's parsing of the interface.

Short Term Memory (STM) - Also known as working memory, it has a limited capacity (5-9 chunks) and short duration without rehearsal.

Similarity Principle - A Gestalt principle where elements that are similar in appearance tend to be grouped together.

Situational Awareness - The perception of environmental elements in time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future.

Social Loafing - The tendency for individuals to exert less effort in a group than when working alone.

Steering Law - A predictive model stating that moving a pointer through a constrained path is faster when the path is wider.

Stroop Effect - A cognitive interference effect where the automatic tendency to read a word makes it difficult to name the color of the ink it is printed in.

Summative Evaluation - Evaluation conducted after a system is finished to assess its overall quality.

Think Aloud Method - A usability evaluation technique where users speak their thoughts aloud as they perform tasks.

Usability Testing - An evaluation method where representative users perform tasks so evaluators can identify usability issues.

Visceral Design - The first level of emotional design, related to immediate perceptions and visual appeal.

Visual Hierarchy - A visual design principle that guides the user's eye to elements in order of importance.