UX Glossary

On a website, content that is displayed before scrolling is referred to as 'Above the Fold'. So, any content you need to scroll down to see is considered 'Below the Fold'. The term comes from the newspaper industry - when papers are folded in half and stacked only the text above the fold will be seen by people.

In Grimm’s fairy tale, Hansel and Gretal are led deep into the dark forest to get lost. But, Hansel breaks off pieces of bread to leave a trail to show their return path. Wondering why we’re talking about breadcrumbs? Named after Hansel's trail, a breadcrumb is a navigation tool that reveals your location and the path you took to get there. Displaying breadcrumbs on the page allows you to jump back to a particular page you were previously on. They are shown on each page to help you keep track of where you are.

A call to action, also known as a CTA, is a button or bit of text that directs the user to take the next desired action on the website or app. This could be purchasing, payment, or downloading a document. CTA's are typically different in size and style to other important elements to draw people's attention.

A user research method that uses information that already exists. This is collected by the researcher from data that is published in reports which are available in public libraries, websites, and completed surveys. It also involves drawing upon open source data such as customer feedback and reviews of similar products or services. Even public social media posts can offer great insights! Depending on the subject matter, researchers can also build context by gathering industry-specific information such as best practice guidelines.

A good user experience can guide someone through a process, but it can also be used to encourage or convince someone to complete an action they didn’t intend to do. Ethical UX follows principles such as transparency, promoting autonomy, safeguarding privacy and fostering trust.

The five second test is a user research method that helps to gauge your users' first impressions. As the title suggests, users are shown a design for up to five seconds then asked a series of follow up questions to understand their thoughts and opinions.

A quick, not dirty, user research method to learn about and understand experiences. Researchers will talk to people, in real life, to observe their natural responses, behaviours and interactions with your service.

These are mental shortcuts used to make quick, but less optimal, judgements or decisions in order to solve problems and reduce the effort needed to make a decision.

Inclusive design recognises the diversity in our population and aims to create experiences that work for everyone. In design this could mean accounting for differing physical abilities, linguistic diversity, technological proficiency levels, cultural contexts, and more.