The Elements of User Experience
A basic duality: The Web was originally conceived as a hypertextual information space;
but the development of increasingly sophisticated front- and back-end technologies has
fostered its use as a remote software interface. This dual nature has led to much confusion,
as user experience practitioners have attempted to adapt their terminology to cases beyond
the scope of its original application. The goal of this document is to define some of these
terms within their appropriate contexts, and to clarify the underlying relationships among
these various elements.
Jesse James Garrett
jjg@jjg.net
Visual Design: graphic treatment of interface
elements (the "look" in "look-and-feel")
Information Architecture: structural design
of the information space to facilitate
intuitive access to content
Interaction Design: development of
application flows to facilitate user tasks,
defining how the user interacts with
site functionality
Navigation Design: design of interface
elements to facilitate the user's movement
through the information architecture
Information Design: in the Tuftean sense:
designing the presentation of information
to facilitate understanding
Functional Specifications: "feature set":
detailed descriptions of functionality the site
must include in order to meet user needs
User Needs: externally derived goals
for the site; identified through user research,
ethno/techno/psychographics, etc.
Site Objectives: business, creative, or other
internally derived goals for the site
Content Requirements: definition of
content elements required in the site
in order to meet user needs
Interface Design: as in traditional HCI:
design of interface elements to facilitate
user interaction with functionality
Information Design: in the Tuftean sense:
designing the presentation of information
to facilitate understanding
Web as software interface
Web as hypertext system
Visual Design: visual treatment of text,
graphic page elements and navigational
components
Concrete
Abstract
time
Conception
Completion
F