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Design systems and standards provide unified guidelines for creating consistent, user-friendly designs. From reusable components to typography and color palettes, they guide designers towards seamless implementation across platforms. This page dives into how to create, maintain, and leverage these essential tools for developing cohesive and intuitive user interfaces.
Accessibility
/ækˌsɛsəˈbɪlɪti/
Designing products to be usable by people with the widest range possible of abilities, within the widest range possible of situations.
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Affordance
/əˈfɔːrdəns/
Characteristics of an object that hint at how it should be used intuitively.
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Cognitive load
/ˈkɒgnɪtɪv loʊd/
Amount of mental processing power needed to use a product.
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Design sprint
/dɪˈzaɪn sprɪnt/
A five-step method for solving big problems and testing new ideas, borrowing elements from design thinking.
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Design system
/dɪˈzaɪn ˈsɪstəm/
A collection of reusable components, guided by clear standards, that allows for many different teams to design and develop in harmony.
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Design thinking
/dɪˈzaɪn ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/
A problem-solving approach that encourages a focal point on the user, creativity in ideation, iterative prototyping, and testing in real-world contexts.
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Double diamond
/ˈdʌbl ˈdaɪəmənd/
A four-phase model of the design process — Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver — that alternates between exploring widely and focusing down.
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Effectiveness
/ɪˈfɛktɪvnəs/
In usability, how completely and accurately users achieve their goals with a product — one of the three core measures of usability.
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Figma
/ˈfɪgmə/
A vector-based tool developed primarily for user interface and UX design, but also used for creating other types of digital graphics.
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How might we
/haʊ maɪt wiː/
A way of reframing problems as short, optimistic “How might we…” questions that open up ideation without prescribing a solution.
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Human-centered design
/ˈhjuːmənˈsɛntərd dɪˈzaɪn/
A creative approach to problem solving that starts with people and ends with innovative solutions tailored to their needs.
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Information architecture
/ˌɪnfərˈmeɪʃən ˈɑːrkɪˌtɛktʃər/
The art and science of organizing and labeling websites and apps to support usability, discoverability, and effective communication.
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Lean UX
/liːn juː ɛks/
A user-experience-centered methodology that consists of a constant cycle of designing, testing and iterating upon a product.
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Scrum
/skrʌm/
An agile framework for delivering work in short, repeatable cycles called sprints, with defined roles and ceremonies.
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WCAG
/ˈwɪkæɡ/
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – an international standard for making digital content usable by people with disabilities.
