Glossary Of Terms

Unix: An interactive time-sharing operating system invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the Multics project, originally so he could play games on his scavenged PDP-7. Dennis Ritchie, the inventor of {C}, is considered a co-author of the system.

Source: Dictionary.com

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): An Internet address (for example, http://www.hmco.com/trade/), usually consisting of the access protocol (http), the domain name (www.hmco.com), and optionally the path to a file or resource residing on that server (trade).

Source: Dictionary.com

URL Redirection: When a web server tells the client browser to obtain a certain requested page from a different location. This is controlled by directives in the server's configuration files or a "Location: header output by a CGI script.

The web server stores all its documents in a directory tree rooted at some configured directory, known as its "document root". Normally the URI part of the URL (the part after the hostname) is used as a relative path from the document root to the desired file or directory. A redirect directive allows the server administrator to specify exceptions to this general mapping from URL to file name by telling the browser "try this URL instead". The new URL may be on the same server or a different one and may itself be subject to redirection.

The user is normally unaware of this process except that it may introduce extra delay while the browser sends the new request and the browser will usually display the new URL rather than the one the user originally requested.

Source: Dictionary.com

Usability: Usability measures the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system - whether a Web site, a software application, mobile technology, or any user-operated device.

In general, usability refers to how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that process. Usability, as defined by Joseph Dumas and Janice (Ginny) Redish, means that people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their tasks. Usability may also consider such factors as cost-effectiveness and usefulness.

Source: Usability.gov

Use Cases: A use case is a description of how users will perform tasks on your Web site.

A use case describes a sequence of interactions between a user and a Web site, without specifying the user interface.

Source: usability.gove

Use Experience (UX): "User Experience", often abbreviated "UX", is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design.

User experience (UX) represents the perception left in someone's mind following a series of interactions between people, devices, and events - or any combination thereof. "Series" is the operative word.

Source: fatdux.com

USENET: A messaging system that uses a computer network, especially the Internet, to transfer messages organized in thematic groups.

Source: Dictionary.com

User-Centered design: User-centered design (UCD) is an approach for employing usability

It is a structured product development methodology that involves users throughout all stages of Web site development, in order to create a Web site that meets users' needs. This approach considers an organization's business objectives and the user's needs, limitations, and preferences.

Source: usability.gov

Glossary of Terms