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User Interface Design Glossary Terms

  • Affordance
    When a control behaves as its appearance suggests.
  • Animation
    A simulation of movement by the rapid appearance of images in sequence.
  • Cascading style sheets (CSS)
    Code that defines how to display HTML elements in externalstyle sheets that enable you to change the appearance and layout of all the pages in a Web site by editing one single file.
  • Entry field
    The entry field, which is also known as a data or text entry field, is employed when users are required to make text or data entries, including keywords, commands, quantities, etc.
  • Graphical User Interface (GUI)
    See User Interface
  • Interface
    A view or presentation of an object or program.
  • Interface Design
    See Interaction Design, Visual Design
  • Labeling systems
    The consistent selection and placement of labels that best accommodates navigation.
  • Labels
    Naming conventions for buttons or site navigation.
  • Path
    The route taken by a user as they move through a Web site. The path can be shown by breadcrumbs.
  • User Interface (UI), or Graphical User Interface (GUI)
    What the user sees.
  • WYSIWYG
    An acronym for "What you see is what you get." It describes the way in which the layout on the graphical screen is a representation of the printed version of the document.