WDU203c UX Design and Research Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts from the WDU203c UX Research and Design curriculum, including design thinking, cognition principles, qualitative research methodologies, and user testing metrics.

Lo-fi Prototyping

A fast, cheap, and disposable design method using paper or rough sketches to identify problems and encourage honest feedback before investing significant resources.

Design Space

The range of alternative ways that a design solution can work.

UX Design Process

An iterative cycle consisting of understanding the problem, generating possible solutions, and assessing prototypes to find new problems.

Problem Scoping

A fundamental part of the design process involving defining the correct boundaries of the problem to be solved.

Reification

The act of making an abstract idea real or concrete, such as through a sketch or a physical model.

Bill Buxton's View on Sketching

Claimed that sketching is not just a byproduct of design, but is central to design thinking and learning.

In-process Feedback

Instantaneous feedback provided during data entry (e.g., as a user types) to help prevent errors before they happen.

Passive Input

Information automatically collected by a system without the user's explicit action, such as GPS location, weather data, or health sensors.

Instantaneous System Response

A response time of approximately $100\,milliseconds$ or less, allowing the user to perceive the action as immediate.

Pull Output

A method where users actively pull information from the system when they want it, providing high levels of user control.

Push Output

A system-initiated delivery of information that can be timed for maximum effectiveness.

Signifier

A feature of a system that uses verbiage or imagery to communicate to the user what will happen if an action is taken.

Affordance

A property of an environment or object whose shape and appearance suggests to a person that a particular action could be taken (e.g., a flat plate suggests pushing).

Gulf of Execution

The discrepancy between what the user is trying to do and what they are able to do using the system’s interface.

Gulf of Evaluation

The effort required by a user to interpret a system's state and determine if their action helped achieve their goal.

Short-term Memory Capacity

Based on George Miller's research, a person can typically retain about $7 \pm 2$ items at one time.

Recognition over Recall

A design principle favoring the continuous representation of objects so users don't have to retrieve information from their own memory.

Schema

A collection of associated concepts in long-term memory that helps users understand and predict how systems work.

F-Pattern

A pattern of eye fixations identified by Nielsen where web users typically process pages in a shape resembling the letter 'F'.

Technical Determinism

The position that the properties of technologies themselves largely necessitate certain social consequences.

Social Determinism

The position that technological adoption is primarily governed by the needs of social groups rather than the technology's properties.

Social Exchange Theory

A theory suggesting that people weigh the economic and social costs against the benefits to themselves when engaging in social interactions.

Wizard of Oz Prototype

A prototyping technique where a human 'wizard' simulates the system's responses, most useful for testing non-screen-based applications like AI or voice control.

Persona

A fictional character that represents a specific class of target users, created from data gathered during formative research.

Affinity Wall

A qualitative data analysis technique where individual notes are clustered together to identify common themes and insights.

Scenario

A story in UX design that includes an agent (character), goals, actions, and events to envision how a technology might address user needs.

Social Desirability Bias

A bias in interviews where participants provide answers based on how they want to appear to the interviewer rather than their true feelings.

Think-Aloud Protocol

A user testing method where participants are asked to verbalize their thoughts continuously as they perform tasks.

System Usability Scale (SUS)

A tool used to obtain a quantified measure of a participant's subjective reaction to the perceived usability of a system.

Informed Consent

An ethical requirement ensuring participants know the study's purpose, what it involves, and their right to withdraw before participating.

Heuristic Evaluation

A usability inspection method where experts review a UI against a set of standards, such as Nielsen’s 10 heuristics.

Benchmark Testing

User testing designed to verify if a system meets specific performance goals like task completion time or error rates.

Sampling Frame

A list or source (such as an email directory) from which a research sample is drawn to represent a population.

Measurement Error

Error introduced when the design of the research questions fails to accurately capture the concept of interest.

Coverage Error

Error occurring when the sampling frame misses a significant portion of the population of interest.

QOC Framework

A design rationale framework consisting of Questions, Options, and Criteria used to evaluate design constraints.