Design Thinking and Fundamentals Flashcards

50 vocabulary flashcards covering design definitions, user-centered design principles, design thinking phases, user research techniques, and Gestalt perceptual laws based on the lecture material.

Aesthetic-Usability Effect

A perception phenomenon where people believe that a more aesthetically pleasing product is easier to use than a less aesthetic design, even if it is not.

Interaction Design (IxD)

A branch of design dedicated to defining the behavior of digital products and systems.

Industrial Design (ID)

A traditional branch of design that focuses on optimizing the function, value, and appearance of physical objects.

Graphic Design (GD)

A traditional branch of design rooted in graphic arts and print media that focuses on bringing together the meaning and appearance of a product.

Conceptual Design

A basic foundation of product creation that defines the structure of the solution, including functional elements, their relationships, and system behavior.

Physical Design

A refined level of design that defines the aesthetics of the solution, including language, branding, and product appeal.

Design Artifacts

Outputs produced during the design process that feed into development, including system models, specifications, style guides, and prototypes.

Design Thinking

An ideology and user-centric process for creative problem-solving that balances human desirability, technological feasibility, and economic viability.

Solution-Based Thinking

An iterative problem-solving approach that prioritizes ongoing experimentation to find constructive solutions rather than fixating on obstacles.

Problem-Based Thinking

An approach to problem-solving that fixates on identifying rules, obstacles, and limitations before searching for an arrangement.

The Human Rule

A core principle of design thinking stating that all design activity is social in nature and must maintain a human-centric point of view.

The Ambiguity Rule

A core principle of design thinking stating that ambiguity is inevitable and experimenting at the limits of knowledge is crucial to seeing things differently.

The Redesign Rule

A core principle of design thinking stating that all design is redesign because basic human needs remain unchanged while technology and circumstances evolve.

The Tangibility Rule

A core principle of design thinking stating that making ideas tangible through prototypes enables designers to communicate them more effectively.

Empathise

The first phase of the design thinking process, focused on understanding users on a psychological and emotional level while setting aside assumptions.

Define

The second phase of the design thinking process, where research findings are synthesized to establish a clear, user-centered problem statement.

Ideate

The third phase of the design thinking process, involving judgment-free sessions to generate as many new angles and potential solutions as possible.

Prototype

The fourth phase of the design thinking process, where ideas are turned into scaled-down, tangible experimental versions to test solutions and identify flaws.

Test

The fifth phase of the design thinking process, where prototypes are evaluated with users to gather feedback and refine previous phases.

Wicked Problem

A term coined by Horst Rittel for tricky, highly ambiguous problems that lack a definitive solution or stopping point, such as poverty or climate change.

Lean UX

A design framework focused on streamlining processes, minimizing waste, maximizing value, and gathering rapid feedback in cross-functional teams.

Agile Development

A flexible software development process that operates in iterative, incremental cycles known as sprints.

User-Centered Design (UCD)

A methodology where designers balance user needs, context constraints, and human-machine interaction challenges to develop solutions.

Contextual Enquiry

A qualitative research technique combining observation and open questioning while watching a user work in their natural environment.

Shadowing

A research method involving discreetly observing users in context to understand the gap between what people say they do and what they actually do.

Card Sorting

A research method used to understand how intended users naturally categorize and structure information or content.

Focus Group

A market research technique involving a moderated discussion with 5 to 10 participants to gather feedback on specific issues or concepts.

Ethnography

A social research technique centered on observing and conversing with subjects in their everyday contexts rather than controlled environments.

Persona

A research-based description of a fictional, archetypal user that represents specific target audience goals, behaviors, and characteristics.

Scenario

A narrative describing the context, tasks, and motivations for why and how a specific persona uses a product or service.

Empathy Map

A visual synthesis tool used to organize user research observations across thoughts, feelings, sayings, actions, pains, and gains.

Gestalt Principles

A set of psychological laws describing how human vision naturally groups similar elements, recognizes patterns, and simplifies complex visuals.

Law of Simplicity (Emergence)

A Gestalt principle stating that people perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images in the simplest form possible.

Law of Similarity

A Gestalt principle stating that visual elements sharing characteristics such as shape, size, color, or texture are perceived as related or grouped together.

Law of Proximity

A Gestalt principle stating that elements placed closer together are perceived as more related than those spaced farther apart.

Law of Closure

A Gestalt principle stating that the human mind automatically fills in missing visual information or gaps to perceive a complete, familiar image.

Law of Figure/Ground

A Gestalt principle stating that visual elements are perceived either as a foreground object of focus (figure) or as part of the background (ground).

Law of Continuity

A Gestalt principle stating that the human eye naturally follows lines or curves in a continuous direction to minimize abrupt changes.

Law of Symmetry

A Gestalt principle stating that balanced and symmetrical objects are perceived as complete, whole, and orderly forms.

Law of Synchrony (Common Fate)

A Gestalt principle stating that visual elements moving or pointing in the same direction are perceived as more related than those moving differently.

Law of Common Region

A Gestalt principle stating that visual elements enclosed within the same closed boundary region are perceived as a distinct group.

Product Design

The systematic process of conceptualizing and creating mass-produced objects by combining art, science, and technology to meet user needs.

Style

The visual or outer appearance of a product that creates aesthetic value for consumers, distinct from its core structural functionality.

Provocation

An extreme lateral-thinking ideation technique used to challenge established beliefs and explore new options.

Body Storming

An ideation technique where participants role-play scenarios physically to explore user challenges and generate solutions.

iGPS

An assessment dashboard prototype developed at BIF2011 that pinpoints a student's skill level and maps route waypoints toward learning goals.

Designare

The Latin root word for design, historically meaning to draw a plan on paper.

Attractiveness Bias

A perceptual bias where visual appeal positively influences user evaluation of function or performance, famously referenced in political debates.

Vector Network

A core feature tool introduced in Figma allowing designers to create complex visual forms using a small set of functions.

Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda

Graphic designers who established the unified visual identity for the New York City subway system in 1965 and authored its 182-page manual.