A linked visual dictionary of design and UI vocabulary: new entries as they are published.https://vocab.designenhttps://vocab.design/anti-patternhttps://vocab.design/anti-patternA solution reached for again and again for a familiar problem, which fails at the thing it was reached for and often leaves the situation worse than doing nothing.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternhttps://vocab.design/contribution-graphhttps://vocab.design/contribution-graphA year of days as a grid of week columns, each cell shaded by how much happened that day, so a habit reads as a pattern instead of a number.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdataviztimehttps://vocab.design/easter-egghttps://vocab.design/easter-eggA reward hidden behind an action nobody was told about, put there to be found rather than to be used.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTinteractionhttps://vocab.design/error-pagehttps://vocab.design/error-pageThe whole screen a site serves instead of the page that was asked for: what happened, in the reader's words, and the shortest way back to something that works.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterncontent-designerrorshttps://vocab.design/fake-doorhttps://vocab.design/fake-doorA control that looks shipped and leads nowhere, put in the interface on purpose to count how many people want the feature behind it.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternhttps://vocab.design/fine-printhttps://vocab.design/fine-printQualifying text set small and set last, carrying the conditions that the larger claim above it leaves out.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtypographycontent-designeditorialhttps://vocab.design/microcopyhttps://vocab.design/microcopyAn interface's smallest strings: the verb on the button, the line under the field, the sentence when it fails. Short enough to be read every time.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterncontent-designhttps://vocab.design/mockuphttps://vocab.design/mockupA screen shown as it will look rather than as it will work: colour, type and real copy all settled, and nothing in it clickable.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterndesign-toolshttps://vocab.design/prototypehttps://vocab.design/prototypeA design wired up just enough to be tried: screens linked so that a tap goes somewhere, with nothing real behind the links.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterndesign-toolshttps://vocab.design/wireframehttps://vocab.design/wireframeA screen drawn as structure only: blocks where the content goes, a crossed box for an image, ruled lines for text, with no colour or type decided yet.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterndesign-toolshttps://vocab.design/additive-colorhttps://vocab.design/additive-colorColour made by adding light, where red, green and blue at full strength give white, which is why a screen is at its brightest when it is showing all three.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolorperceptionhttps://vocab.design/agenda-viewhttps://vocab.design/agenda-viewThe same events as a chronological list grouped by day, so the next thing is at the top instead of somewhere inside a grid.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponenttimehttps://vocab.design/autoplayhttps://vocab.design/autoplayPlayback that starts with no gesture from the reader, which browsers now allow only while the sound is off, so autoplay in practice means a silent moving picture.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternmediasoundhttps://vocab.design/blame-viewhttps://vocab.design/blame-viewEach line of a file labelled with the change that last touched it, so the file answers who and when rather than what it says.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdevtoolshttps://vocab.design/bulletproof-buttonhttps://vocab.design/bulletproof-buttonA mail button built to survive a renderer that drops CSS: the fill carried by a cell or box behind the link rather than by a background the client can refuse.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternemailhttps://vocab.design/color-codinghttps://vocab.design/color-codingGiving each category its own colour so the eye can group and find by hue, which holds only while the set stays small and one colour means one thing everywhere.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolordatavizperceptionhttps://vocab.design/concentric-corner-radiushttps://vocab.design/concentric-corner-radiusSizing a nested shape's corners so its curve shares a centre with the one outside it, the inner radius being the outer radius less the padding between them.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTsurfacetokenshttps://vocab.design/conversational-interfacehttps://vocab.design/conversational-interfaceAn interface operated in turns of language rather than by controls, where the transcript is the state and the only visible affordance is a box to type in.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternaihttps://vocab.design/corner-radiushttps://vocab.design/corner-radiusHow far a shape's corners are rounded off, measured as the radius of the circle that replaces the square angle, and the one number that decides how soft a UI reads.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTsurfacetokenshttps://vocab.design/dark-mode-emailhttps://vocab.design/dark-mode-emailDesigning a mail for clients that will invert its palette without asking, where a near-black behaves better than black and a logo needs a ground it survives on.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternemailtheminghttps://vocab.design/diff-viewerhttps://vocab.design/diff-viewerThe view that puts two versions of a text against each other, side by side or interleaved, marking every line added, removed or changed and aligning what did not.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdevtoolstext-editinghttps://vocab.design/digital-rainhttps://vocab.design/digital-rainColumns of glyphs falling and trailing away, green on black, the Matrix screen quoted so often that it now reads as shorthand for a computer thinking.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaestheticretrohttps://vocab.design/double-opt-inhttps://vocab.design/double-opt-inAsking a new subscriber to confirm from the address they typed, so a list holds only addresses whose owner agreed and a typo never becomes a stranger's mail.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternconsentemailhttps://vocab.design/drag-to-createhttps://vocab.design/drag-to-createMaking a new object by dragging out its extent rather than pressing Add: an event drawn across two hours, a frame drawn on a canvas, a range drawn on a chart.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTinteractioncanvasdragginghttps://vocab.design/edge-routinghttps://vocab.design/edge-routingHow a connector gets from one node to another: a bezier sweep, a right-angled staircase, or a straight line, picked so the crossings stay readable.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutcanvashttps://vocab.design/elevationhttps://vocab.design/elevationHow high a surface sits above the one behind it, expressed as a shadow, a tint, or both, and held to a few named steps so that height means something.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTsurfacedepthtokenshttps://vocab.design/flame-graphhttps://vocab.design/flame-graphStacked bars where width is time spent and depth is call nesting, so the widest plateau rather than the tallest tower is the thing worth fixing.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdatavizdevtoolshttps://vocab.design/flowcharthttps://vocab.design/flowchartA diagram of steps in boxes joined by arrows, read rather than operated, and now more often generated from a few lines of text than drawn by hand.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentcanvasdatavizhttps://vocab.design/fluid-hybridhttps://vocab.design/fluid-hybridA mail layout that reflows with no media query at all: percentage widths held in by max-width, with fixed-width ghost tables that only Outlook can see.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutemailscreen-sizehttps://vocab.design/gantt-charthttps://vocab.design/gantt-chartOne row per task with a bar along a time axis, the bar showing when the work runs and lines between bars showing what waits for what.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdataviztimehttps://vocab.design/graph-layouthttps://vocab.design/graph-layoutPlacing the nodes of a wired diagram by algorithm rather than by hand: layered for a flow, radial for a hub, force-directed for a mesh that has no direction.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutcanvashttps://vocab.design/hidden-gesturehttps://vocab.design/hidden-gestureAn action reachable only by an input the reader has to guess: a swipe, a long press, a two-finger tap, with nothing on screen saying it is there.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTinteractionperceptionhttps://vocab.design/interest-invokerhttps://vocab.design/interest-invokerA link or button that shows more when a reader shows interest in it, by hovering, focusing or long pressing, with no click and no script deciding what interest means.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternoverlayspointerweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/invoker-commandhttps://vocab.design/invoker-commandA button that names the element it acts on and what to do to it, in markup, so opening a dialog or toggling a popover needs no script at all.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternoverlaysweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/node-graphhttps://vocab.design/node-graphA canvas of boxes wired to each other by lines, where each box does one job and the wiring between them is the thing being built, rearranged by dragging.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentcanvasdevtoolshttps://vocab.design/node-porthttps://vocab.design/node-portThe typed stub on a node where a wire may land, coloured or shaped by what it accepts, so a connection that would make no sense refuses to complete.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentcanvashttps://vocab.design/operational-transparencyhttps://vocab.design/operational-transparencyShowing the work as it happens, the kitchen made visible, so a wait is understood rather than merely endured and the result is trusted more for having been watched.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternperceived-performanceprogresshttps://vocab.design/oversized-typographyhttps://vocab.design/oversized-typographyType set far past reading size so the words carry the layout, the headline doing the work a photograph would otherwise be hired for.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtypographyeditorialperceptionhttps://vocab.design/preview-texthttps://vocab.design/preview-textThe line an inbox prints under a subject, written as hidden text at the top of the mail so the client shows those words instead of scraping whatever body copy comes first.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterncontent-designemailhttps://vocab.design/print-stylesheethttps://vocab.design/print-stylesheetThe rules that decide what a page becomes on paper: navigation dropped, link targets spelled out, backgrounds abandoned, and the content given page margins.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterneditorialweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/recurring-eventhttps://vocab.design/recurring-eventAn event stored once as a rule instead of as copies, so every second Tuesday can be edited, skipped for one week, or ended, without touching the rest.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterntimehttps://vocab.design/schedulerhttps://vocab.design/schedulerA grid of days crossed with hours where each event is a block in its own slot, so a week's free time is visible and an event is moved by dragging it.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponenttimehttps://vocab.design/sender-namehttps://vocab.design/sender-nameThe name a mail appears to come from, chosen rather than inherited, because a reader scanning an inbox decides on it before reading a word of the subject.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterncontent-designemailhttps://vocab.design/styled-alt-texthttps://vocab.design/styled-alt-textAlt text given size, colour and weight so a mail whose images are blocked still reads as something designed instead of as a column of grey stubs.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternemailmediahttps://vocab.design/subject-linehttps://vocab.design/subject-lineThe one line a mail is opened or ignored on, written to survive a list that truncates it and shows it wedged between the sender and the preview text.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterncontent-designemailhttps://vocab.design/subtractive-colorhttps://vocab.design/subtractive-colorColour made by taking light away, where inks stack towards black and every added layer can only darken, which is why a screen blue cannot be printed.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcoloreditorialperceptionhttps://vocab.design/syntax-highlightinghttps://vocab.design/syntax-highlightingColouring code by what each token is, keyword or string or comment or name, so the structure and the typo are visible before a line has actually been read.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolordevtoolstext-editinghttps://vocab.design/table-based-layouthttps://vocab.design/table-based-layoutLaying a page out in nested tables because the renderer has no box model worth trusting, which is how mail is still built and how the web was built before CSS.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutemailretrohttps://vocab.design/three-way-mergehttps://vocab.design/three-way-mergeThree versions on screen at once, mine, theirs, and the ancestor they both came from, with the result edited underneath so a conflict is decided rather than guessed.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdevtoolstext-editinghttps://vocab.design/time-zone-displayhttps://vocab.design/time-zone-displayWhose clock a time is shown on, the reader's or the event's, and saying which, because a time with no zone beside it is a meeting somebody is going to miss.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterni18ntimehttps://vocab.design/top-shelfhttps://vocab.design/top-shelfThe band across the top of a television home screen that the focused app fills with its own content, so an app advertises itself before anyone opens it.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutplatform-registershttps://vocab.design/trace-viewerhttps://vocab.design/trace-viewerThe view that lays a request's spans on one time axis, each nested under the span that called it, so the bar that is too long or starts too late is the finding.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentdevtoolstimehttps://vocab.design/transactional-emailhttps://vocab.design/transactional-emailMail sent because one person did one thing, a receipt or a reset, which is why it may carry no marketing and why its design is a record rather than a pitch.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternemailhttps://vocab.design/unsubscribe-linkhttps://vocab.design/unsubscribe-linkThe way out of a mailing list, which the law and the mail clients now both insist is one click, and whose difficulty is the honest measure of a sender.Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternconsentemailhttps://vocab.design/autofillhttps://vocab.design/autofillThe browser filling a form from values it has already saved, on its own or from a dropdown of the reader's own profile, so a field arrives answered.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternauthformshttps://vocab.design/hydrationhttps://vocab.design/hydrationThe pass where script attaches behaviour to server-rendered HTML, turning a page that is already painted and readable into one that answers input.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternperceived-performanceweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/labor-illusionhttps://vocab.design/labor-illusionShowing the work a system is doing, or stretching it, so the answer feels earned: the search that lists the sites it is checking instead of answering at once.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternperceived-performanceprogresshttps://vocab.design/overloaded-commandhttps://vocab.design/overloaded-commandOne command word or icon wired to different outcomes depending on where it sits, so having used it once teaches the reader nothing about the next one.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternmenusperceptionhttps://vocab.design/speculative-loadinghttps://vocab.design/speculative-loadingFetching, or fully rendering, a page before the reader asks for it, on a guess about where they go next, so the navigation is already done when the click lands.Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternperceived-performanceweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/ten-foot-uihttps://vocab.design/ten-foot-uiThe register for screens read from a couch: focus-driven navigation with a remote, oversized type and cards, horizontal rails, and safe margins for TV overscan.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternplatform-registersscreen-sizehttps://vocab.design/twelve-column-gridhttps://vocab.design/twelve-column-gridThe web's default column count, chosen because twelve divides cleanly into halves, thirds, quarters and sixths.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutgridshttps://vocab.design/tilt-effecthttps://vocab.design/tilt-effectRotating a card in perspective toward the pointer so it appears to tip in three dimensions, often with a moving highlight to sell the depth.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTmotiondepthpointerhttps://vocab.design/sixty-thirty-ten-rulehttps://vocab.design/sixty-thirty-ten-ruleA proportion guideline that gives about 60 percent of a layout to a dominant colour, 30 percent to a secondary, and 10 percent to an accent.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolorperceptionhttps://vocab.design/eight-point-gridhttps://vocab.design/eight-point-gridA spacing convention where every size and gap is a multiple of eight, so values stay whole numbers at every common screen density.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutgridsspacingtokenshttps://vocab.design/abbreviationhttps://vocab.design/abbreviationA shortened form of a word or phrase, from Dr. to NASA, with its own typographic conventions and an expansion assistive tech can speak.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtypographya11ycontent-designhttps://vocab.design/accent-colorhttps://vocab.design/accent-colorThe one saturated colour an interface spends sparingly on the things it wants clicked, so its rarity is what makes it read as important.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolorperceptiontokenshttps://vocab.design/access-keyhttps://vocab.design/access-keyA single letter, usually shown underlined, that jumps straight to a menu or control once the access modifier is held.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTinteractiona11ykeyboardhttps://vocab.design/accessibility-annotationhttps://vocab.design/accessibility-annotationNotes attached to a design file that spell out the things a mockup cannot show: heading levels, focus order, names, roles, live regions, and alt text.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesign-toolshttps://vocab.design/accessibility-groupinghttps://vocab.design/accessibility-groupingCollapsing a cluster of elements, an icon plus a label plus a value, into one thing assistive technology stops at, instead of three stops that mean nothing apart.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techhttps://vocab.design/accessibility-overlayhttps://vocab.design/accessibility-overlayA third party script bolted onto a site with a promise of automatic compliance, usually a floating widget of font and contrast toggles that fixes nothing underneath.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techhttps://vocab.design/accessibility-traithttps://vocab.design/accessibility-traitThe platform flag on a native view that says what it is and how it behaves, the mobile counterpart to a role plus a state, and the thing a custom control has to set by hand.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techplatform-registershttps://vocab.design/accessibility-treehttps://vocab.design/accessibility-treeThe parallel tree a browser derives from the DOM, holding the role, name, state, and value that assistive technology actually reads.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/accessible-authenticationhttps://vocab.design/accessible-authenticationA sign-in route that never requires a cognitive function test such as recalling a password or solving a puzzle without offering an alternative.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityauthwcaghttps://vocab.design/accessible-descriptionhttps://vocab.design/accessible-descriptionSupplementary text announced after a control's name, carrying hint or error detail without becoming part of the name itself.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techhttps://vocab.design/accessible-namehttps://vocab.design/accessible-nameThe string assistive technology announces for a control, computed from label, aria-labelledby, aria-label, or its own content in a fixed order of precedence.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techcontent-designhttps://vocab.design/accordionhttps://vocab.design/accordionA stack of headers, each expanding to reveal its own section of content.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponenthttps://vocab.design/achievement-badgehttps://vocab.design/achievement-badgeA collectible marker awarded for a milestone and displayed on a profile, often shown greyed out before it is earned so the set is visible.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatterngamificationiconshttps://vocab.design/acid-graphicshttps://vocab.design/acid-graphicsA 2020s rave revival style of chrome and liquid 3D objects, warped and stretched lettering, clashing saturated colour on near black, smileys, globes, and wireframe motifs.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaestheticdepthretrohttps://vocab.design/action-listhttps://vocab.design/action-listA vertical list of commands with icons, descriptions and dividers, the shared body used inside menus, panels and side sheets.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentmenushttps://vocab.design/action-sheethttps://vocab.design/action-sheetA modal list of choices that slides up from the bottom of a phone screen in response to something you just did, with cancel at the end.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentmenusoverlaysplatform-registerstouchhttps://vocab.design/active-descendanthttps://vocab.design/active-descendantA focus technique where DOM focus stays on a container or input and aria-activedescendant names which child is active, used when focus must not move.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techkeyboardhttps://vocab.design/activity-feedhttps://vocab.design/activity-feedA reverse chronological list of things that happened, each entry naming an actor, a verb, and an object, grouped when many are alike.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternmessagingtimehttps://vocab.design/adaptive-layouthttps://vocab.design/adaptive-layoutA layout that switches between a few discrete arrangements chosen per size class, rather than flowing continuously as the window changes.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutscreen-sizehttps://vocab.design/additive-animationhttps://vocab.design/additive-animationComposing an animation on top of whatever is already animating the same property instead of replacing it, so a second nudge adds to the first rather than restarting it.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTmotionweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/address-autocompletehttps://vocab.design/address-autocompleteReplacing a set of address fields with one lookup that suggests full addresses after a few characters and fills the rest on selection.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpatternformssearchhttps://vocab.design/affordancehttps://vocab.design/affordanceWhat an element makes possible for the person using it, such as a surface that can be pushed, dragged, or scrolled.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTinteractionperceptionhttps://vocab.design/afrofuturismhttps://vocab.design/afrofuturismA style that pictures technology through the African diaspora, combining cosmic imagery, textile and mask pattern, gold and indigo, and geometric ornament used structurally.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaestheticillustrationretrohttps://vocab.design/alert-dialoghttps://vocab.design/alert-dialogA dialog that interrupts the flow to demand acknowledgement or confirmation of a consequential action before anything else can continue.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponenterrorsoverlayshttps://vocab.design/all-capshttps://vocab.design/all-capsText set entirely in capitals, which reads slower than mixed case because the word's outline shape disappears.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtypographycontent-designperceptionhttps://vocab.design/alpha-channelhttps://vocab.design/alpha-channelThe transparency component carried inside a colour value itself, which lets a border or fill blend with whatever surface it lands on instead of assuming one.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolordepthhttps://vocab.design/alpha-compositinghttps://vocab.design/alpha-compositingThe arithmetic that combines a translucent layer with what is beneath it, and the reason two stacked 50 percent layers do not add up to fully opaque.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolordepthhttps://vocab.design/alt-texthttps://vocab.design/alt-textThe text alternative that stands in for an image, written to serve the same purpose in the same context rather than to describe every detail.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityassistive-techcontent-designmediawcaghttps://vocab.design/analogous-colorshttps://vocab.design/analogous-colorsA palette built from hues that neighbour each other on the wheel, giving a calm scheme with no colour fighting another for attention.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolorperceptionhttps://vocab.design/anchor-positioninghttps://vocab.design/anchor-positioningA CSS mechanism that tethers one element to another, sizing and placing it against its anchor and trying fallback positions when the default one would overflow.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutoverlaysweb-platformhttps://vocab.design/anti-designhttps://vocab.design/anti-designA deliberately awkward style that breaks layout, type, and color conventions so the interface reads as a statement rather than as a polished product.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTaestheticgridshttps://vocab.design/anticipationhttps://vocab.design/anticipationA small move in the opposite direction just before the main one, borrowed from character animation to telegraph what is about to happen.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTmotionperceptionhttps://vocab.design/apcahttps://vocab.design/apcaA perceptual contrast algorithm proposed for WCAG 3 that scores a text and background pair as an Lc value and takes font size and weight into account.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcolora11yperceptionwcaghttps://vocab.design/aperturehttps://vocab.design/apertureThe partly enclosed opening in a letter, such as the gap where the two terminals of a c stop or the mouth at the bottom of an e.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTtypographyfontshttps://vocab.design/app-barhttps://vocab.design/app-barThe persistent bar across the top of an application carrying its title, navigation, and primary actions.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomponentnavigationwindowinghttps://vocab.design/app-shellhttps://vocab.design/app-shellThe persistent frame of an application, its header, navigation and footer, that stays put while only the content region swaps as you move around.Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTlayoutperceived-performancewindowing