A glossary of useful terms for anyone with an interest in information design
Effectiveness - The speed, accuracy and completeness with which users can perform particular tasks in particular circumstances.
Efficiency - The resources expended in relation to the speed, accuracy and completeness of tasks performed.
Empirical testing - Relying on observation and experiment, rather than theory derived from the literature.
Ethnographic research - Testing that is carried out under realistic conditions of use. Results are usually qualitative rather than quantitative.
Iterative design - The process whereby a design is tested with users, modified and retested until the result is considered satisfactory by all stakeholders.
Knowledge management – The processes an organisation utilises to make full use of the information it holds by correlating separate sources and showing how they can be exploited.
Legibility research - Research on typographic variables and their effect on legibility.
Parallel publication - Simultaneous publication of a document in printed and electronic form.
Stakeholder - Anyone who has an interest in a document (printed or electronic), whether as originator, a processor or as end user.
Taxonomy - Vocabulary for and classification of a body of information.
Total user experience - Takes into account all aspects of the circumstances in which a design will be used.
Usability testing - Systematic evaluation of a document or system by observing people using it.
User-centred approach - Evaluates the effectiveness of a design for users performing particular tasks in particular circumstances.