Easy concepts in Design & UX, page 4
Scarcity and Urgency: Driving Action by Limiting Supply
Scarcity drives action by making items seem more valuable because their availability is limited. This 'get it before it's gone' effect appears in e-commerce with 'only 3 left' notices or limited-time offers. The footgun is overuse, which erodes trust.
The 4 P's Formula: Picture, Promise, Prove, Push
The 4 P's formula structures persuasive copy in four steps: picture, promise, prove, push. It shines in emails and landing pages that must convert attention fast.
The Rainbow Spreadsheet: Collaborative UX Observation
A Rainbow Spreadsheet makes UX research a team sport. It's a shared doc where observers log findings in real-time, with each participant assigned a color. This replaces a slow, formal report and builds shared understanding.
AEIOU: Five Buckets for Field Notes
AEIOU sorts notes into five buckets—Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects, Users—so patterns emerge from chaos. Use it during field studies to categorize raw data. The footgun is treating its categories as rigid rules not editable heuristics.
The Buyer's Journey: A Funnel, Not a Tunnel
Think of the buyer's journey as a funnel, not a rigid path. It models how a customer moves from awareness of a problem to purchasing a solution. The footgun is assuming customers follow its stages linearly, when real behavior is often messy.
The TOFU/MOFU/BOFU Content Marketing Funnel
The TOFU/MOFU/BOFU framework maps content to a buyer's journey, from initial awareness to a final decision. It ensures you create broad educational articles (Top), solution comparisons (Middle), and case studies (Bottom) to guide users.
POUR: The Four Pillars of Web Accessibility
POUR is a mental model for web accessibility. It asks: can users Perceive content, Operate the interface, Understand the information, and use it with Robust tools? It applies to all UI design.
Design System Triage: Treating Your DS Like a Product
Treat your design system like a product, not a static library. It requires a triage process to handle bugs and feature requests from its users—your designers and developers. This applies when a component breaks or needs a new feature.
Stevens' Four Levels of Measurement
Data is not just numbers; Stevens' levels classify the nature of information each variable holds. In UX research, this determines whether you can average feedback or only count it. Treating every rating scale as a ratio number wrecks your analysis.
Alt Text: Giving Images a Voice for Everyone
Alt text gives an image a voice when it can't be seen. It's read by screen readers for accessibility and displayed if an image breaks. The footgun is writing "image of..." or leaving it blank; instead, describe the image's content and purpose.
Driving Design System Adoption
A design system's value isn't in its components, but in its use. Drive adoption by creating collaborative feedback loops with users through interactive workshops and dedicated office hours.
Normal Distribution: Two Parameters, One Bell Curve
A normal distribution is a bell curve for real-valued variables, defined by mean and standard deviation. Use it when values cluster around a center. The footgun is forcing normality on skewed or bounded data, which corrupts the probability density.
Correlation Does Not Mean Causation
Two metrics moving together does not mean one drives the other. In UX research, a spike in clicks after a redesign does not prove the redesign caused it. The footgun is treating every coincidence as proof your change worked.
Email Subject Lines: Your First Impression
Your subject line is the hook that gets an email opened. It's not a label, but a pitch. Boost open rates with personalization (like a name) and descriptive, concise language—ideally under 9 words. The footgun is overusing urgency, which looks like spam.
Email Spam: The Origin of Junk Mail
Email spam is any unsolicited message sent in bulk. Named after a Monty Python sketch for its intrusive nature, it grew to comprise 90% of all email by 2014, making spam filters a universal necessity.
Topline Report: The Research Snapshot
A topline report is the snapshot of a study: goals, key learnings, and context in one doc. Teams use it to align stakeholders days after research, sometimes before full analysis. Never skip the disclaimer or stakeholders will treat impressions as final.
Design System Feedback: Start with User Needs
A design system's success depends on feedback from the end-users of the products it builds, not just its internal consumers. Prioritize features and validate designs by continuously testing with real people to ensure the system solves actual user problems.
Insight Wall: Synthesize Mixed Research Data
An insight wall clusters mixed research data so teams spot patterns interviews alone hide. Use it when notes, analytics, and stakeholder input must become design decisions. Teams often collect data but skip synthesis, so insights never form.
Figma Dev Mode: The Developer's View of Design Files
Figma's Dev Mode is a developer-focused lens for design files, translating visuals into code specs. Developers use it to inspect properties, grab code snippets, and track changes. The footgun is building from designs not explicitly marked 'Ready for dev'.
Figma: Exporting Assets for Handoff and Sharing
Exporting is Figma's shipping department, packaging designs into standard files like PNGs or SVGs. Use it to hand off assets to developers or share mockups with stakeholders. Footgun: If you can't see the Export panel, the file owner likely restricted it.
We are hiring for this. Every open role lists the topics its interview covers, so you can prepare for the real thing rather than guessing.
See open roles