UX Glossar: Begriffe einfach erklärt & besser anwenden
Glossar
Glossar
A/B-Test
An A/B test compares two versions of a product or feature to determine which performs better. Users are randomly assigned to one of the versions and their behavior or responses are measured.
A/B tests allow teams to make data-driven decisions. They are used to optimize websites, apps, features, or content, better understand user behavior, and evaluate the effectiveness of changes. This allows improvements to be derived and implemented in a measurable way.
AR - Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is the enhancement of the real world with digital information displayed on devices such as smartphones, tablets, or AR glasses. Virtual objects, data, or interactions are integrated into the physical environment.
AR enables new forms of interaction, visualization, and information delivery. Companies use AR to showcase products, improve training, or optimize processes by embedding digital content directly into the real-world context.
Accessibility
An A/B test compares two versions of a product or feature to determine which performs better. Users are randomly assigned to one of the versions and their behavior or responses are measured.
Accessibility includes both technical and design measures. These include clear structures, readable text, understandable content, simple navigation, assistive technologies, and alternative ways to access information. It improves usability for people with disabilities and enhances the experience for all users. Organizations can increase their reach, comply with regulations, and provide an inclusive user experience through accessible offerings.
App Design
App design refers to the creation and design of mobile applications with the goal of enabling intuitive, efficient, and engaging use. It includes structure, interactions, functionality, and visual design.
Good app design considers user needs, technical constraints, and the context of mobile usage. It ensures clear flows, understandable navigation, and consistent design so that apps are easy to use and provide a positive user experience.
Customer Journey Map
Understand and create customer journey maps: Identify pain points and improve user experience effectively – with Splore.
Sie zeigt nicht nur, was Nutzer tun, sondern vor allem, was sie denken, fühlen und erwarten – vom ersten Bedürfnis bis zur langfristigen Nutzung.
Im UX-Kontext hilft die Customer Journey Map dabei:
– Pain Points und Frustrationen sichtbar zu machen
– Entscheidungsprozesse besser zu verstehen
– Silos im Unternehmen aufzubrechen
– Nutzerbedürfnisse mit Business-Zielen zu verbinden
Statt isolierter Features betrachtet sie das gesamte Nutzungserlebnis – und schafft damit eine gemeinsame Grundlage für bessere Produktentscheidungen.
Kurz gesagt: Eine Customer Journey Map macht sichtbar, wo gute Erlebnisse entstehen – und wo sie heute noch scheitern.
Design Management
Design management involves the strategic planning, coordination, and organization of design processes within a company. Its goal is to use design efficiently, enhance innovation, and support business objectives. It connects creative processes with business decisions and ensures that design is leveraged as a strategic success factor. Design management helps teams use resources effectively, maintain product and service quality, and strengthen brand identity.
It connects creative processes with business decisions and ensures that design is leveraged as a strategic success factor. Design management helps teams use resources effectively, maintain product and service quality, and strengthen brand identity.
Design Sprint
A Design Sprint is a structured, time-boxed process to quickly develop, test, and validate ideas. Teams collaborate to make concrete concepts tangible in a short time.
Design Sprints combine creativity, user focus, and rapid decision-making. They help reduce risks early, gather feedback from users, and improve product ideas before full implementation. This allows innovations to be developed efficiently and informed decisions to be made.
Design Strategy
Design strategy defines the long-term direction and planning of design activities within a company. It determines how design is used to support business goals, foster innovation, and improve user experience.
A clear design strategy helps teams set priorities, use resources efficiently, and make consistent design decisions. It links creative approaches with business objectives and ensures design contributes measurably to company success.
Design System
Ein Design System ist eine Sammlung wiederverwendbarer Komponenten, Gestaltungsrichtlinien und Prinzipien, die ein konsistentes Nutzererlebnis über alle Produkte hinweg sicherstellen.
Es umfasst typischerweise eine Komponentenbibliothek, Typografie- und Farbdefinitionen, Spacing-Regeln, Iconografie und dokumentierte Best Practices. Bekannte Beispiele sind Googles Material Design und Apples Human Interface Guidelines. Ein gut gepflegtes Design System beschleunigt die Entwicklung und stellt sicher, dass alle Teams eine einheitliche Designsprache sprechen.
Empathy Map
An empathy map is a tool that helps understand users’ perspectives and needs. It visualizes thoughts, feelings, actions, and challenges, making user behavior tangible.
Empathy maps support teams in making informed decisions, recognizing user needs clearly, and designing products and services tailored to real requirements. They are a core component of user-centered development processes.
Formative evaluation
Formative evaluation refers to the assessment of a product, application, or process during development to identify weaknesses, improvements, and user needs early on.
It provides valuable insights to adjust design decisions, increase usability, and enable iterative improvements. Formative evaluations reduce errors and help teams create user-centered products from the start.
Gamification
Gamification refers to incorporating game-like elements into products, services, or processes to motivate users and influence their behavior. It uses mechanics such as points, levels, rewards, or progress indicators to make interactions more engaging and enjoyable.
By using gamification, organizations can increase engagement, enhance learning processes, and improve product usage. It helps boost motivation, encourage long-term interactions, and make complex tasks easier to understand. When applied effectively, gamification supports both user satisfaction and organizational goals.
Human-centered Design
Human-Centered Design is an approach in which products, services, or systems are developed based on users’ needs, abilities, and expectations. The goal is to create solutions that are intuitive, efficient, and valuable.
This approach actively involves users throughout the development process, from research and prototyping to implementation. Human-Centered Design ensures decisions are aligned with real user needs and optimizes the overall user experience.
Industrial Design
Industrial design focuses on the creation of physical products, considering functionality, ergonomics, and aesthetics. The goal is to make products user-friendly, efficient, and visually appealing.
Industrial design combines user needs with technical requirements and production capabilities. It ensures products are practical, durable, intuitive to use, and reinforce brand identity.
Information Architecture
Gamification refers to incorporating game-like elements into products, services, or processes to motivate users and influence their behavior. It uses mechanics such as points, levels, rewards, or progress indicators to make interactions more engaging and enjoyable.
A well-planned information architecture improves clarity, helps users find relevant content quickly, and reduces cognitive load. It includes navigation, menu structures, categories, tags, and search functions and forms the foundation for efficient and intuitive user guidance.
Interaction Design
Interaction Design focuses on how people interact with digital products. It ensures that workflows, controls, and feedback are intuitive, understandable, and enjoyable.
Good interaction design helps users complete tasks efficiently, avoid errors, and achieve their goals with confidence. It also maintains consistency across different products and creates a positive and thoughtful user experience.
Journey Map
A journey map visualizes the path users take through a product, service, or system to achieve a specific goal. It shows all interactions, touchpoints, and experiences along the way.
Journey maps help identify pain points, optimize processes, and improve the user experience. They provide teams with valuable insights into user expectations, needs, and challenges, supporting targeted product and service development.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a metric that makes the success of a company, project, or product measurable. KPIs help monitor progress, evaluate goals, and support informed decision-making.
They provide teams with clear guidance on what outcomes matter and serve as a basis for strategy, optimization, and performance management. KPIs can capture both quantitative and qualitative aspects, depending on objectives and context.
Lean UX
A Design Sprint is a structured, time-boxed process to quickly develop, test, and validate ideas. Teams collaborate to make concrete concepts tangible in a short time.
Lean UX emphasizes minimal documentation, quick prototypes, and validating assumptions through real user interactions. Teams can learn faster, reduce risks, and develop products that meet real user needs. This approach encourages flexibility, transparency, and efficient implementation of innovations.
Mental Model
A mental model describes the internal understanding and assumptions people have about a system, product, or process. It influences how users perceive information and make decisions.
Mental models help designers understand users’ expectations and behavior. When digital products align with these models, interactions become more intuitive, errors are reduced, and user satisfaction increases. They provide a foundation for user-centered design and clear information architecture.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used to measure customer satisfaction and likelihood of recommendation. Users are asked how likely they are to recommend a product or service.
Based on responses, users are categorized as promoters, passives, or detractors. NPS helps companies understand customer loyalty, identify areas for improvement, and enhance the quality of products and services.
Onboarding
Onboarding refers to the process of introducing users to a product, application, or service. The goal is to make the initial experience as simple and clear as possible.
Effective onboarding explains features, guides users through first steps, and helps them quickly experience value. It reduces uncertainty, increases user satisfaction, and improves long-term engagement.
Persona
A mental model describes the internal understanding and assumptions people have about a system, product, or process. It influences how users perceive information and make decisions.
Personas are created from user research, interviews, or data and serve as a reference throughout product development. They help teams understand different audiences, foster empathy, and design features, content, and interactions tailored to user needs.
Product Vision
The product vision describes the long-term goal and overall direction of a product. It defines the value the product creates for users and the role it aims to play in the market.
A clear product vision helps guide decisions and set priorities. It creates a shared understanding of goals, aligns teams, and serves as a foundation for strategy, development, and innovation.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research refers to methods used to explore user behavior, attitudes, and needs in order to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives. These include interviews, observations, or diary studies.
The focus is not on the quantity of data but on its depth and meaning. Qualitative research helps identify patterns, uncover problems, and support informed decisions in the design of products and services.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research refers to methods that analyze user behavior based on measurable data. These include surveys, usage analytics, or A/B testing evaluated through statistical methods.
The focus is on analyzing large datasets to identify patterns, trends, and correlations. Quantitative research helps validate hypotheses, support decisions, and make the performance of products and services measurable.
ROI
ROI stands for “Return on Investment” and describes the relationship between the capital invested and the profit or benefit achieved. In UX and product contexts, ROI is used to quantify the value of initiatives such as design, usability, or product improvements.
A positive ROI indicates that an investment generates more value than it costs. Companies use this metric to prioritize decisions, justify budgets, and make the economic impact of actions transparent.
Service Design
Service design refers to the planning and design of services with the goal of creating a consistent and user-centered experience across all touchpoints. It considers both visible interactions and the underlying processes and structures.
Service design connects user needs with organizational processes. It helps companies design services efficiently, optimize internal workflows, and create seamless experiences across channels while involving both customers and employees.
Styleguide
A style guide is a document or set of guidelines that defines how visual and design elements of a product or brand should be applied consistently. This includes colors, typography, layouts, icons, and other design elements. Style guides ensure design consistency across all products, platforms, and communication channels. They facilitate collaboration between design and development teams, speed up project implementation, and strengthen brand recognition.
Style guides ensure design consistency across all products, platforms, and communication channels. They facilitate collaboration between design and development teams, speed up project implementation, and strengthen brand recognition.
Target Group
The target group refers to the group of people for whom a product, service, or communication is designed. It is defined by characteristics such as age, profession, interests, needs, or behaviors.
Analyzing the target group helps companies tailor content, features, and marketing to their users. A clear target group definition increases the relevance of offerings, enhances user satisfaction, and improves the efficiency of product and communication decisions.
Touchpoint
A touchpoint is any interaction where users come into contact with a product, service, or brand. This can include digital channels like websites or apps, as well as physical interactions, customer service, or marketing materials.
Analyzing and designing touchpoints is crucial for a consistent user experience. It allows companies to optimize the experience, meet expectations, and strengthen customer loyalty. Every touchpoint influences how users perceive the brand and the emotions they associate with it.
UI - User Interface
User Interface refers to the visible interface of a digital product through which users interact with the system. It includes all controls such as buttons, menus, input fields, icons, and displays that enable interaction.
It forms the connection between people and the product and makes the system’s functions accessible. A well-structured user interface helps users orient themselves, perform actions quickly, and understand how to use the product.
USP
USP stands for “Unique Selling Proposition” and describes the unique feature of a product, service, or company. It defines what sets it apart from competitors and the special value it provides to users.
A clear USP helps sharpen market positioning, focus marketing messages, and increase attractiveness to potential customers. It serves as a guideline for product development, communication, and strategic decisions.
UX - User Experience
User Experience describes how people perceive and experience a product, application, or service. It includes all interactions and impressions users have while using it.
A good user experience ensures that products are easy to use, meet user needs, and create satisfaction. It combines usability, design, content, and service into a consistent and positive experience that benefits both users and business goals.
UX Audit
A UX audit is a systematic evaluation of a product or application to assess usability, efficiency, and the quality of the user experience. Its goal is to identify weaknesses, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
UX audits help teams make data-driven decisions, improve processes, and enhance user satisfaction. They combine analysis of user interactions, best practices, and expert insights to generate recommendations for design and development actions.
UX Prototype
A UX prototype is an early model of a product that demonstrates functions, workflows and interactions. It makes concepts tangible and allows the user experience to be evaluated.
UX prototypes help teams test ideas quickly, gather feedback from users and make decisions about functions, workflows and content before developing the final product. They can range from simple sketches to interactive digital models and provide an effective way to validate concepts.
Usability
Usability refers to how easy, efficient, and satisfying a product is to use for its users. It ensures that people can achieve their goals without unnecessary effort.
High usability ensures that functions are clear, processes run smoothly, and errors are minimized. It increases user satisfaction, improves efficiency, and makes the overall experience more pleasant.
User Journey
The user journey describes the path users take through a product, service, or system to achieve a specific goal. It includes all interactions, touchpoints, and experiences along the way.
Analyzing the user journey helps identify pain points, optimize processes, and improve the user experience. It provides teams with insights into user needs and expectations, allows targeted improvements, and ensures that products are intuitive and efficient to use.
User Test
A user test is a method where real users interact with a product, application, or prototype to evaluate usability, clarity, and overall user experience.
User tests provide valuable insights into issues, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. They help design and development teams make decisions based on real user experiences, increase usability, and optimize products effectively.
User-Friendliness
User-friendliness describes how easy and pleasant a product is to use. It ensures that users can achieve their goals efficiently and navigate the product with ease.
High usability ensures that functions are clear, processes run smoothly, and errors are minimized. It increases user satisfaction, improves efficiency, and makes the overall experience more pleasant.
VR - Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) refers to full immersion in a computer-generated digital environment, experienced via VR headsets or other devices. Users can interact as if they were physically present in the virtual world.
VR enables realistic simulations, training, and interactive experiences that would be difficult or impossible in the real world. Companies use VR to test products, enhance training, or create innovative user experiences.
Value Proposition Design
Value Proposition Design focuses on creating offerings that clearly define the value for customers and meet their needs effectively. It ensures that products or services solve relevant problems and provide real benefits.
Value Proposition Design allows companies to align offerings precisely with target groups, set priorities, and increase market success. The method combines user needs, business objectives, and competitive analysis to develop compelling solutions.
Vibe Coding
Vibe Coding is a software development approach where applications are created, refined, and tested using AI. Developers use natural language prompts instead of manually writing code, and the AI generates functional programs.
Vibe Coding allows faster prototyping, reduces errors, and accelerates development. It transforms software creation by combining creativity, efficiency, and iterative development through natural language inputs.
Visual Design
Visual design focuses on the visual presentation of products, websites, or applications. It includes colors, typography, layouts, icons, images, and all visual elements that affect the aesthetics and clarity of a product.
Good visual design ensures that content is appealing, organized, and understandable. It supports brand identity, enhances usability, and helps users perceive a product intuitively and positively.
Wireframes
Wireframes are schematic representations of a website, app, or product that show the basic structure, content arrangement, and functionalities. They focus on layout and information hierarchy, not visual design or colors.
Wireframes help teams quickly visualize ideas, plan user flows, and test the placement of elements early. They facilitate communication between design, development, and stakeholders and ensure that functions and content are arranged clearly and logically.