Love it or hate it, you need to stay updated with the latest buzzwords in the web design industry. Keeping this up to date information can be a bit of a headache as every week, a new collection of words is released each having a specific meaning, often to make something sound more convincing or technologically advanced than it really is.
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This is especially true for young startup companies that try to convince investors and customers for the value of their product or services, often as an attempt to project them as more exciting and useful than they actually are. In fact, not just the start-ups, you’ll find even the established companies adopting buzzwords as frequently as their fresh counterparts.
Whatever the reason might be, buzzwords have become a part of everyday life in the web industry and so, here we are listing some of the most frequently used buzzwords.
Design-thinking is one of those terms that have been used a lot, but no one is sure of its exact definition. Our definition says that design is not an isolated discipline; instead it involves adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to crafting a solution. This one particular term brings together many different elements of a process in harmony.
Deep Empathy is a buzzword that relates to the idea of a design that is engaging and able to make a connection with the user at a meaningful level. The idea is not particularly new, but the phrase ‘deep empathy’ certainly is. It basically refers to an approach where a design is engineered to appeal at more than a visual level.
The buzzword, Design with a big D, says that design is a multi-faceted discipline. You actually beautify something through presentation, and when we talk about graphic design or web design, there’s an over-arching idea behind it.
Localization is the process whereby a design is adapted to suffice the unique specific requirements of a particular geographical territory or market. For instance, repagination of content to accommodate a different text direction (probably for a local language), or including images and photographs to reflect local tastes and culture.
Storytelling (or Brand storytelling) isn’t a new term, but it is increasingly gaining a wide popularity in the context of marketing. It involves giving your marketing an overriding philosophy. To be more specific, if your brand is not associated with a compelling story, your marketing efforts will always be a level low no matter how efficient they are.
In short, your brand is required to raise a sense of aspiration that is conveyed in every aspect of communication. It’s a pretty important concept, holding a serious underlying point.
First coined in the 1980s as a strict programming concept, Heisenbug is a bug that changes when you try to study it. The buzzword has become more widespread in the web design industry lately. This relates to the more technical aspect of designing, where a bug, most probably a visual glitch or a usability issue, alters when you try to study it.
It is perhaps one of the simplest words on our list. Authenticity simply refers to an idea where design adopts a relevant, believable and practical approach to presenting concepts, products or services.
For design to be fully authentic, it is required to accurately portray the values, concepts and aesthetics of the underlying idea. This may sound simple, but actually requires a considerable amount of effort to get it done right.
Context visibility is nothing but a fancy way of saying that a part of the underlying design remains transparent or visible via the foremost design components. Again, this is not a new concept, but the language surrounding it is.
Thought Leaders are the people most influential in a particular field. The phrase supports the idea that the webmasters should orient their designs towards these right people, and try to influence them so that they go on to spread the word about your brand to their followers.
Frankly speaking, you can’t even go a single day on the web without encountering overuse or misuse of these buzzwords in tweets, posts or emails. So, get a hand on them before they do.
