https://designjargon.fyi New design words, each with a live demo, a plain meaning and a line you can say to your team or your AI tool. en-us Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://designjargon.fyi/design-system https://designjargon.fyi/design-system Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT A shared kit of components, design tokens and rules that designers and developers both use, so every screen looks and works the same way. To say it: Are we building from the design system here? If this is a new pattern, can we add it there instead? https://designjargon.fyi/accessibility https://designjargon.fyi/accessibility Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT Designing so everyone can use the product, including people with low vision, people using a keyboard or a screen reader, and people sensitive to motion. Often written a11y. To say it: Can we check this against accessibility basics before launch: contrast, keyboard use and labels? https://designjargon.fyi/usability https://designjargon.fyi/usability Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT How easily people can use something to do what they came to do: how fast they learn it, how few mistakes they make, and how they feel after. To say it: I think there’s a usability problem here. People keep missing this step. Can we look at why? https://designjargon.fyi/ui https://designjargon.fyi/ui Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT User interface: the parts of a product you see and touch, like buttons, text, colors and layout. UI is how it looks and responds; UX is the whole experience. To say it: The flow works, so this is a UI pass: clearer hierarchy and more consistent spacing, not new steps. https://designjargon.fyi/ux https://designjargon.fyi/ux Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT User experience: everything about how using a product feels, from finding it to finishing a task to getting help. It covers flows, words and speed, not just screens. To say it: Is the problem how it looks, or how it works? If it’s how it works, I’d look at the flow first. https://designjargon.fyi/iteration https://designjargon.fyi/iteration Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT Improving a design in rounds: make a version, test or review it, learn, and make the next one. Each round gets closer instead of starting over. To say it: Can we treat this as round one? Let’s test it, keep what works, and change one thing at a time. https://designjargon.fyi/design-brief https://designjargon.fyi/design-brief Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT A short document that says what problem to solve, for whom, and what good looks like, before anyone designs anything. It describes the problem, not the solution. To say it: Before you start, let me write a short brief: the problem, who it’s for, and how we’ll know it worked. https://designjargon.fyi/design-critique https://designjargon.fyi/design-critique Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT A structured review where people judge a design against its goals, not their taste. Good critique names what works, what doesn't, and why. To say it: Can we frame the critique around the goal? What’s the one thing this screen needs to do? https://designjargon.fyi/persona https://designjargon.fyi/persona Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT A short profile of a typical user, based on research: their goals, their context and what frustrates them. It gives the team one shared picture of who they design for. To say it: Do we have a persona for who this is for? It would help us agree on what matters most. https://designjargon.fyi/heuristic-evaluation https://designjargon.fyi/heuristic-evaluation Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT An expert review of a design against a list of well-known usability rules, like "people should always know where they are". Fast, cheap, and done without users. To say it: Could we do a quick heuristic review before the meeting, so we talk about specific problems, not taste? https://designjargon.fyi/user-interview https://designjargon.fyi/user-interview Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT A one-on-one conversation to learn how someone works, what they need and what frustrates them. It's about their life, not your design. To say it: Could we interview a few customers about how they do this today, before we show them anything? https://designjargon.fyi/usability-test https://designjargon.fyi/usability-test Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT Watching real people try to do real tasks with your design, while they think aloud. Five people usually find most of the big problems. To say it: Before we decide, could we run a quick usability test with five people? I’d rather watch than guess. https://designjargon.fyi/user-flow https://designjargon.fyi/user-flow Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT The path someone takes through a product to finish one task, step by step, from where they start to where they're done. To say it: Can we walk through the user flow for this task step by step? I think one or two steps could go. https://designjargon.fyi/variants-and-props https://designjargon.fyi/variants-and-props One component in many versions, controlled by settings: size, style, state, icon. Designers and developers use the same names for them. To say it: We have several near-identical buttons. Can we make one component with variants, so design and code use the same names? https://designjargon.fyi/navigation-patterns https://designjargon.fyi/navigation-patterns The standard ways to move around an app: top bar, sidebar, tabs, and a bottom bar on phones. Pick by how many places there are. To say it: Which navigation pattern fits the number of sections we have? I’d like it to stay consistent on phone and desktop. https://designjargon.fyi/aspect-ratio https://designjargon.fyi/aspect-ratio The proportion of width to height, like 16:9 or 1:1. Fixing it keeps images and videos from stretching or squashing. To say it: The images look stretched. Can we set a fixed aspect ratio for the thumbnails and crop them to fit? https://designjargon.fyi/z-index-and-stacking https://designjargon.fyi/z-index-and-stacking The order in which overlapping things are layered. Higher z-index sits on top, but only within the same stacking context. To say it: The dropdown opens behind the card. Can we fix the stacking order so menus always appear on top? https://designjargon.fyi/sticky https://designjargon.fyi/sticky An element that scrolls normally until it reaches the top of its area, then sticks there. Perfect for headers and table headings. To say it: When I scroll this table, I lose the column names. Can we make the header sticky? https://designjargon.fyi/layout-shift https://designjargon.fyi/layout-shift When content jumps around as the page loads, usually because an image or ad arrives late and pushes things down. To say it: The page jumps as it loads, and I’ve tapped the wrong thing because of it. Can we fix the layout shift? https://designjargon.fyi/aria-label https://designjargon.fyi/aria-label A hidden text label that a screen reader announces. An icon-only button needs one, or it just says "button". To say it: The icon-only buttons need names for screen readers. Can we add an ARIA label to each one?