Terminology

Benchmark testing
Testing an application against a set of standard best practices or established criteria.

Branding
The deliberate process of creating individuality and market value around the concept of a product name.

Comparison tests
Tests done at almost any stage of the development life cycle that compare applications against a set of established criteria. These tests can be done with users or by experts.

Decision tables
From information mapping, a table that arrives at a decision by going through a set of logical decisions in a visual table.

Environmental profiles
A snapshot of the circumstances external to the users and their tasks, including the setting, circumstances, and physical systems used in accomplishing user goals with the intended system.

Formative testing
Testing the desing during development to answer and verify design decisions. Results are used to modify the exisiting design and provide direction. Usually done with paper prototypes.

Fusing data
Brining multiple levels of information into a single view in order to simplify the decision making process.

Heuristics
In web site design, a method of solving usability problems by using rules of thumb acquired from human factors experience.

Information architecture
How information is structured within a software program or a web site. The designer must determine where and how much information will reside within the various levels of the site.

Labeling systems
The selection and placement of labels that best accommodates navigation.

Localization
The process of adapting a product to meet the language, cultural, and other requirements of a specific target environment or market.

Local navigation
Provides the means for audience-specific navigation.

Persistent context
Structure used for navigation across a range of tasks that are performed in conjunction with one another.

Personas
Detailed models of end users. Helpful when there are no current users of the web site.

Protocol simulation
Users try to use a prototype. They think out loud while they are working.

Rating scales
A testing tool used to capture the user's subjective impression of a web site.

ROI
Return on investment.

Round-tables
In usability testing, a group of users who gather for the purpose of discussion and analyzing an in-progress design project.

Split site tests
In data gathering, users are randomly assigned one of two or more versions of a site to compare performance and usability differences between designs.

Task depth
The approximate vertical "depth" of a prototype in terms of its hierarchical structure.

Task flow diagrams
A diagram that maps out problems in the task flow of a design.

Tasks flow problems map
A diagram that maps out problems in the task flow of a design.

Task panels
Portions of the screen where a particular task is performed.

Tight-loop projects
Projects that have frequent tests throughout the system development life cycle. These have the greatest chance of success.

Usability centric
Refers to a mindset that focuses primarily on usability rather than features.

User- centered design
Design methodology in which interviews and empirical tests of users' needs determine the characteristic of a design or computer application.

Other names for beta

• data models gone wild
• live bootleg
• pre-release version
• prototype
• test version
• trial-balloon version
• trial-version
• uncensored behind-the-scenes rough cut

Terms for usability

• customer centered design
• human centered design
• human computers interaction
• human engineering
• logical user centered interaction design (cognetics)
• task centered design
• usability engineering
• usage centered design
• user centered design