Tuesday, February 4, 2020

terminology - Is naming things helpful in the UX world or not?


Inspired by this question What is the information that's always present in a toolbar called in UX lingo? we have to consider how much jargon is too much.


Because too many names have the effect of creating communities who speak this jargon and therefore “they know while others doesn’t” and this allianates designers who might have the empathy but are not yet familiar with the jargon. Don’t get me wrong, this is meant to happen more or less in any community but too much makes it counterproductive for the community itself.


On the other hand I am all in for jargon that corresponds to unique names of components that are already built and you can find them easily online to integrate them in your software products.


So what’s your thoughts about it?



(as another example note that this principle is valid in coding itself since you do not use variable names for everything. Sometimes an anonymous function is ok)



Answer



Naming things isn't necessarily useful for the user as they often don't care what somethings called, they just want things to work intuitively to get things done/solve problems etc. For the UX community however I'd say naming is vital and natural evolution of the discipline.


Each named UI component or pattern is a simple word (or a few words) that summarises a broader concept. For example, if I had to explain 'Toasts' in conversation it would become laborious and ineffective, whereas if my peers and I all understand the definition and/or specification of 'Toast Notifications' then we're all on the same page:


Windows Toasts definition:



Toasts allow your app to provide time-sensitive or personally relevant notifications to users regardless of whether they are in another app or on the Start screen, lock screen, or desktop. For example, you could use a toast to inform a user of: an incoming VOIP call. a new instant message. a new text message.



from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/apps/hh465391.aspx


Imagine if I had to say all that each time! Ever industry has specific jargon and if it served no purpose it likely wouldn't be so common. Ask a friend or family member what Toasts are and they'll start talking about breakfast, and rightfully so. Just like they probably don't know what tiles, headers or widgets are.



Summary


Users aren't typically interested in how the design, development and UX community name components or patterns etc but for UX professionals it's important that there is a continuing evolution and development of definitions.


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