Reader Question: Design Terminology

7th Apr 2007 - Posted to Outer Monologue

I’m a big fan of trying to use a common vocabulary to describe things, especially when working with different departments, companies etc. - the more people you have involved the more important I believe that becomes.

So I was wondering how designers (I’m talking about visual designs here, UI etc.) refer to designs, I’ve heard some of the following being used within my time (mostly with my current company):

  • Design
  • Design candidate
  • Mock-up
  • Concept

I’d like to know how do you refer to designs, especially if you work in a design shop etc.

Comments

There have been 4 comments so far, join the discussion.

1. Susanna - 7th Apr 2007 - 5:42 pm

I’m the only UI/design person where I work, so I try to network with other designers to keep current. I’d define those terms as follows:
Design – final, approved interface
Design candidate – agreed-upon design selected from among other options, may still be changed before it becomes final
Mock-up – a sample design to show an example of how a design might look, usually more than one of these are presented to the client to select from
Concept – scribbles, ideas, bits and pieces the designer uses to select a direction for the design; could even just be a one-sentence description of design idea

2. Dave - 7th Apr 2007 - 6:28 pm

Susanna:
Thanks for that, are those the terms that you use then, or are there some that I missed?

3. Susanna - 7th Apr 2007 - 11:44 pm

The main one I can think of that you missed is “wireframe.” To me, that’s a crucial part of the design process. It lets the client see how the UI will work without all the distraction of colors, fonts, and graphics; and lets the designer make changes on the fly.

4. Javier Julio - 9th Apr 2007 - 8:04 pm

Yeah wireframe is a big one. Where I work we are a ColdFusion house so wireframing an application is a big part of any project. I do the UI, even though I’m a CF developer as well. I’d like to start trying this interface driven architecture though. Building the wireframe in HTML so the user can click around and get a feel for it rather than use something like Visio.

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