Route · Public Design Atlas
Organize information
So people find what they are looking for and get their bearings: in a document, a building, an exhibition, a website, or an app.
Understand how people think
How they group and name things.
Mental model
The often incomplete idea a person forms of how something works, and uses to predict what will happen when they act.
How it’s used
Why it happens
- We can't see how a system works on the inside.
- We form an idea from what we see and what we already know.
- If the idea doesn't match the system, we make mistakes.
- Avoid
- Assuming people understand the system the way the team does.
Card sorting
A method in which people group and name cards with content items to reveal how they mentally organize information.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Each content item is written on a card.
- People group them and name the groups.
- You look for the patterns that repeat across participants.
- Output
- The groups and labels people use to organize the content
- Avoid
- Using cards with technical names only the team understands.
Structure
Categories, labels, and paths.
Information architecture
Organizes, labels and connects the content of a website, an app or a service so people find what they are looking for and understand where they are.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- Test your menu labels with people before building it.
- Avoid
- Copying the company’s org chart into the menu.
Wayfinding design
Designs what helps people orient themselves and find their way in a place: signs, maps, architecture, sounds, and textures.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- Place information at the points where people have to decide.
- Avoid
- Filling the place with signs that compete with each other.
Make it visible
Hierarchy, grouping, and rhythm on the page or in the space.
Rules by which perception groups what we see: things that are close, look alike, follow the same line or share an outline are seen as a whole.
How it’s used
Why it happens
- The eye doesn't look at each element separately:
- it organizes them instantly by proximity, similarity and continuity,
- and we see groups and figures before the pieces.
- Avoid
- Spacing everything evenly, related or not, or placing unrelated things close together.
Grid system
A structure of columns, modules, and margins used as a base to place text and images in an orderly, consistent way across several pages or screens.
How it’s used
How it works
- The space is divided into columns and gutters.
- Text and images take up one or more modules.
- The same structure repeats on every page.
- Avoid
- Breaking the grid for no reason in each piece.
Typography
The design and setting of type: choosing typefaces, sizes, spacing, and measures so that a text reads well and has the right tone.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- Start with the body text: size, line spacing, and line length.
- Avoid
- Using many typefaces in the same piece.
Data visualization
Represents data with shapes, positions, and colors so they can be compared, explored, and understood.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- To compare quantities, use bars aligned on a common axis.
- Avoid
- Pie charts with many similar slices.
Write so it is understood
Words guide people too.
Content strategy
Plans the creation, publication and maintenance of useful, usable content.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- Before creating content, decide who will maintain it.
- Avoid
- Measuring success by the amount of content published.
UX writing
Chooses the words of an interface (headings, buttons, form fields, and error messages) so the person understands and does what they came to do.
How it’s used
- When to use it
- Write buttons with the verb of what will happen: “Send payment,” not “OK.”
- Avoid
- Error messages that blame the person or do not say how to fix the problem.
Test
Check that people find what they are looking for.
Usability testing
A method in which real people try to do specific tasks with a product while being observed, to find out where they get stuck and why.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Prepare realistic tasks, without saying how to do them.
- Observe each person as they try and think aloud.
- Note where they get stuck and decide what to fix first.
- Output
- A list of usability problems, with where they appear and why
- Avoid
- Asking “do you like it?”: measure what people do, not what they think.