English for UX Designers: Vocabulary and Phrases for Design Reviews
Master UX design English — wireframe, prototype, affordance, cognitive load, heuristic evaluation, design tokens, and phrases for running effective design critiques.
Design reviews, critiques, and handoff meetings happen every week in product teams — and they have their own vocabulary. If you are a designer who works in English, or a developer who collaborates closely with designers, knowing the right words makes the conversation sharper, feedback more actionable, and handoff far smoother. This guide covers the core UX vocabulary you will use in real meetings.
UX vs UI: Clearing Up the Difference
UX (User Experience)
UX refers to the overall experience a person has when interacting with a product — how easy it is to use, how it makes them feel, whether it meets their needs. UX encompasses research, information architecture, interaction design, and usability testing.
“The checkout flow has a UX problem — users keep abandoning it at step three. We need to investigate why.”
UI (User Interface)
UI refers specifically to the visual and interactive elements — buttons, typography, colour, spacing, icons. A product can have beautiful UI but poor UX if the underlying flow is confusing.
“The UI looks polished, but the UX is broken — users can’t find the settings because the navigation is unclear.”
Deliverables: What Designers Produce
Wireframe
A wireframe is a low-fidelity, schematic representation of a screen. It shows layout and structure — where elements will be positioned — without colour, typography, or detailed visuals.
“Before we design anything, let’s produce wireframes for all five screens so we agree on the structure first.”
Lo-Fi vs Hi-Fi Mockup
A lo-fi (low-fidelity) mockup is rough — sketches or basic shapes, focused on layout. A hi-fi (high-fidelity) mockup is polished — final colours, fonts, and realistic content. It closely resembles the finished product.
“These are still lo-fi — we haven’t finalised the design system yet. Hi-fi mockups come after the layout is approved.”
Prototype
A prototype is an interactive simulation of the product. Unlike a static mockup, you can click through it. Prototypes range from simple click-dummies to complex animated flows.
“I’ve built a prototype in Figma — you can walk through the entire onboarding flow and test it with users before we write a single line of code.”
Architecture and Flow
Information Architecture (IA)
Information architecture is the organisation and labelling of content so users can find what they need. It covers navigation structure, taxonomy, and the hierarchy of pages or screens.
“The information architecture needs rethinking — users expect account settings under their avatar, not in the sidebar.”
User Flow
A user flow is a diagram showing the path a user takes to complete a specific task — from entry point through each screen to the goal.
“Let’s map the user flow for password reset before we design the screens — I want to see every decision point.”
User Journey
A user journey is broader than a user flow. It maps the full experience across touchpoints — including emotions, pain points, and moments outside the app itself (e.g., receiving an email, talking to support).
“The user journey shows that people are happy inside the app but frustrated by the onboarding email sequence — that’s where we’re losing them.”
Design Systems
Design System
A design system is a collection of reusable components, guidelines, and standards that ensure visual and functional consistency across a product. It includes a component library, design tokens, and documentation.
“We adopted a design system so every team uses the same button styles, spacing rules, and colour palette — no more inconsistency between features.”
Component Library
A component library is the coded implementation of the design system’s components — the actual React, Vue, or web components developers use.
“The new card component is already in the component library — use it instead of building your own.”
Design Token
A design token is a named variable for a design decision — a colour, spacing value, font size, or shadow — expressed in a format that can be consumed by both design tools and code.
“We defined
color-primary-500as a design token so changing the brand colour updates every component at once.”
Cognitive and Interaction Concepts
Affordance
An affordance is a property of an element that suggests how it should be used. A raised button affords clicking; a text field affords typing. Poor affordances confuse users.
“That flat rectangle looks like a label, not a button — it has no affordance. Add a shadow or outline so it looks clickable.”
Cognitive Load
Cognitive load is the mental effort required to use an interface. High cognitive load leads to errors and frustration. Good UX design reduces cognitive load by simplifying choices and providing clear guidance.
“The form has 14 fields on one screen — that’s too much cognitive load. Can we split it into three steps?”
Gestalt Principles
Gestalt principles are psychological rules about how humans perceive visual patterns. The most relevant for UX: proximity (nearby elements feel related), similarity (elements that look alike seem grouped), and continuity (the eye follows lines and curves).
“Group the related fields using proximity — users will perceive them as belonging together without any explicit labelling.”
Testing and Evaluation
Usability Testing
Usability testing means observing real users as they attempt to complete tasks with your product. You watch where they struggle, where they succeed, and listen to their comments.
“We ran usability testing with six participants. Four of them couldn’t find the export button — it needs to move.”
Heuristic Evaluation
A heuristic evaluation is an expert review of an interface against established usability principles (heuristics). Jakob Nielsen’s 10 heuristics are the most widely used framework.
“I did a heuristic evaluation and flagged three violations of error prevention — the app lets users delete data without a confirmation step.”
Design Critique Phrases
Use these phrases in design reviews to give and receive feedback professionally.
| Situation | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Asking about intent | ”What problem are you solving with this pattern?” |
| Giving critical feedback | ”My concern here is that users might not see the CTA above the fold.” |
| Suggesting an alternative | ”Have we considered using a bottom sheet here instead of a modal?” |
| Acknowledging trade-offs | ”I see why you went this way — the trade-off is more scrolling for mobile users.” |
| Prioritising feedback | ”This is a must-fix before launch. The others are nice-to-haves.” |
| Asking for rationale | ”Can you walk me through the thinking behind this layout?” |
| Proposing a test | ”Let’s put both versions into a usability test and see which one users prefer.” |
Quick Reference: Design Review Vocabulary
| Term | Plain English |
|---|---|
| Above the fold | Visible without scrolling |
| CTA | Call to action — the primary button or link |
| Empty state | What users see when there is no content yet |
| Error state | What an input or screen shows when something goes wrong |
| Happy path | The ideal flow with no errors or edge cases |
| Edge case | An unusual scenario the design must also handle |
| Handoff | Passing the design to developers to build |
| Spec / Redline | Design file with measurements and behaviour notes for developers |