Welcome to the Tiller Glossary, your inside track to understanding concepts and jargon related to
branding, design, development, marketing, and more.
Term of the day
Usability is the degree of ease a user has when using your website or product. The more effective, efficient, and user-friendly a website is, the more satisfied the users will be.
Featured terms
Graphic designers manage the visual identity of a brand from the logo to the colour palette to the illustrations. Graphic design is often used in a wide range of marketing materials.
User experience (UX) design is the process of creating user-friendly products that provide end-users with an easy-to-navigate and relevant digital experience.
Logos imbue your brand’s overarching messaging, feeling, or story within one graphic or glyph.
Brand development is the continuous process of defining, refining, and testing your overall brand strategy.
Mobile and web application development is the process of creating software that helps the end-user perform specific tasks.
An application programming interface (API) connects the flow of data between two or more computers or software applications. In other words, API integrations allow your programs and devices to talk to each other.
WordPress is an open source content management system (CMS) used to build and manage business websites, eCommerce stores, blogs, and more.
Information architecture is the structure and organization of content in a digital experience (e.g. software, website, or mobile app).
Web design is the process of strategizing and creating an online user experience that will connect with your target audience.
A website footer is a content band located at the very bottom of each page on your website that contains helpful information for web users.
On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing web page content and HTML to improve organic search traffic and boost search engine rankings.
The 3-click rule is an official and unsubstantiated design rule that states that a user should always be able to find their desired information within three clicks or less.
Annotations are comments or notes of explanation. Wireframe annotations add context around design elements, functionality, user flow, rationale, and more.
The F-shaped pattern is a common left to right, top to bottom pattern of eye-movement that readers use when reading or scanning a web page.
A 5-second test is a form of usability testing that tests how effectively a message is communicated through design.
Mobile wireframes are low-fidelity blueprints for a mobile application.
A heuristic is a practical approach to problem-solving. Usability heuristics help assess the usability of user interface (UI) design and inform improvements.
Usability engineering is a professional discipline focused on optimizing the interactions between people and interactive systems.
Whiteboarding is the process of brainstorming and visually collaborating on ideas in a shared space. It can be done using a physical whiteboard and dry-erase markers, or with digital whiteboard software.
Mockups are mid to high-fidelity static visual designs that demonstrate the basic content layout, color schemes, typography, white spacing, and user navigation of a web design.
A mobile app mockup is an in-between stage between a wireframe and a developed prototype. Mockups present finished design – including colour palette, typography, imagery, layout, button styles, etc.
Low-fidelity prototyping is a fundamental phase in the web design process. Ideas and concepts are presented using simple lines and shapes without concern for aesthetics or detailed content.
User-centered design ensures that every touchpoint a user has with your product or website is meaningful.
Any display elements that can be customized and that are independent of apps on the device, are referred to as System UI.
Interaction design is the design of interactions between a user and a digital product or website. It plays a critical role in the overall user experience design.
Wireframing is an efficient and low-cost way to visually represent the structure and layout of a product or website before progressing further into design and development.
Prototyping is a crucial phase of any design project that uses an interactive, navigable version of wireframes to simulate how the final product will work.
Usability testing is a product testing method where users are asked to perform specific tasks while someone observes and gathers results that will inform product revisions.
UI sketching is the process of drawing out your user interface ideas before diving deeper into the design process. It can be done with pen and paper or with a variety of online tools.
Usability is the degree of ease a user has when using your website or product. The more effective, efficient, and user-friendly a website is, the more satisfied the users will be.
Responsive web design is a method that uses coding strategies to optimize a website’s layout for viewing on various devices (desktop, tablet, and mobile).
User interface (UI) design encompasses the visual elements a user sees and how they interact with them. Great UI makes for a visually stunning website that is accessible and easy to use.
The Gestalt Principles are based on the concept that the human eye perceives the whole shape of something differently than each part of the shape. They help explain how our brains make sense of design.
A graphical user interface (GUI) is an interface through which a user interacts with visual elements like icons or buttons on the screen of an electronic device using a pointer, keyboard, or touch screen.
Lean UX is a highly collaborative, iterative, design technique that focuses on solving specific user experience problems within the constraints of development sprints.
Term of the day
Usability is the degree of ease a user has when using your website or product. The more effective, efficient, and user-friendly a website is, the more satisfied the users will be.
