Glossary

Accessibility · Acessibilidade

Practice of designing products that can be used by everyone, including people with motor, cognitive, visual or hearing limitations.

See also: Making workshops accessible

AI Agent · Agente de IA

An autonomous AI system that breaks down goals into steps and executes tasks without constant supervision. Unlike an assistant, an agent starts before you ask.

See also: The Agentic Era , 5 Human-AI Interaction Types

AI Assistant · Assistente de IA

A reactive AI system that responds to user commands and helps with simple tasks, such as answering questions or filling a form.

See also: The Agentic Era

Biodesign · Biodesign

Structured approach to identifying clinical needs and designing viable medical solutions, pioneered by Stanford. Bridges design, medicine and engineering.

See also: Biodesign in healthcare practice

Capability discovery · Capability discovery

A set of patterns to help users discover what they can do with an AI agent, especially in conversational interfaces where capabilities are not visible.

See also: Capability discovery in agentic UX

Cognitive bias · Viés cognitivo

A systematic deviation in how the brain processes information. Underlies many judgment errors, in users and in stakeholders alike.

See also: Cognitive biases explained

Cultural sensitivity · Sensibilidade cultural

Attention to the meanings symbols, colours, dates, and references carry across cultures. Catching this before launch prevents misunderstandings and offence.

See also: Cultural sensitivity in product design

Design for AI · Design para IA

Practice of designing products and experiences with AI systems. Covers designing for trust, explainability, error correction and human control.

See also: Guide: Design for AI

Design for Health · Design para Saúde

Design of products, services and systems for healthcare. Accessibility, health literacy, medical ethics, and working with vulnerable populations.

See also: Guide: Design for Health

Design Thinking · Design Thinking

An iterative problem-solving approach in five phases: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. In healthcare, each phase carries its own weight and rhythm.

See also: Design Thinking in healthcare

Diversity · Diversidade

Real variety of people, perspectives, and experiences in a team or user base. Not decorative diversity in a photo: it's who decides, presents, and speaks loudly.

See also: Inclusive design teams

eHealth · eHealth

Umbrella term for anything involving electronic processes in healthcare: records, prescriptions, telemedicine, mHealth. Covers EHR through to tracking apps.

See also: eHealth, Telemedicine, mHealth: glossary

Grice's Maxims · Máximas de Grice

Four cooperative principles of conversation (Grice, 1975): quantity, quality, relation, manner. They work as conversational design heuristics, especially in health.

See also: Grice's Maxims as conversational design heuristics

Heuristic evaluation · Avaliação heurística

Usability evaluation method where 4 to 6 experts inspect an interface against a set of heuristics (typically Nielsen's 10).

See also: Heuristic analysis template

Human-AI Interaction · Interação humano-IA

The field that studies how people and AI systems communicate, collaborate and influence each other over time.

See also: 5 Human-AI Interaction Types

Inclusion · Inclusão

The practice of ensuring products, teams, and processes welcome people in their full variety. Covers communication, working relationships, and design decisions.

See also: Guide: Inclusion and Diversity

Inclusive language · Linguagem inclusiva

Word choices that don't assume gender, age, family status, or culture. More neutral default, less exclusion. Applies to copy, forms, research scripts.

See also: Inclusive language in design

Mental models for AI · Modelos mentais para IA

The three models people apply when interacting with AI: Co-pilot (suggests, I decide), Assistant (I ask, I receive), and Learning Partner (relationship that evolves).

See also: Mental models for AI design

Multi-agent orchestration · Orquestração multi-agente

Strategies for coordinating multiple AI agents. Seven common patterns: sequential, parallel, hierarchical, hand-off, swarm, react, and magentic.

See also: Multi-agent orchestration for designers

Observability · Observabilidade

The user's ability to see what the agent is doing, before, during, and after. Includes plan, real-time state, attribution, pause, and auditable history.

See also: Observability in agentic UX

Patient journey · Patient journey

The sequence of events a patient goes through, from first symptom to self-management. Mapping it reveals friction points, support gaps, and design opportunities.

See also: Patient care journeys: when diagnosis takes 5 years

Persona · Persona

Archetypal representation of a user segment, grounded in research. Aligns teams around who they're designing for.

See also: Product designers and research

Pronouns · Pronomes

How each person wants to be referred to (she, he, they, etc.). Showing pronouns in Slack, meetings, and software normalises the gesture and removes the burden from those who need it.

See also: Inclusive design teams

Probabilistic design · Design probabilístico

A way of designing for systems where the output is not fixed and the same input may produce different responses. Replaces exact mockups with examples, properties, and boundaries.

See also: From deterministic to probabilistic design

Product trio · Product trio

Continuous discovery practice where designer, product manager and engineer make product decisions together, every day.

See also: The famous Product Trio

Prompt engineering · Prompt engineering

The discipline of writing instructions for AI systems. Covers patterns like few-shot, chain of thought, react, and reflection, plus the technique of reverse engineering from desired output.

See also: Prompt engineering as design work

Story mapping · Story mapping

Method to organise user stories narratively, giving a holistic view of the product and the user journey across releases.

See also: How to make a storymap

Usability testing · Teste de usabilidade

Qualitative method in which representative users try to complete tasks while being observed, to surface usability problems.

See also: How to prepare usability tests