Glossary of Terms

For those not familiar with some of the terminology used for discussing the redesign, I've included this list of terms likely to come up in discussions of the web redesign:

Card Sorting:
Card sorting is a simple technique in usability design where a group of subject experts or "users", however inexperienced with design, are guided to generate a category tree. It is a useful approach for web site navigation paths. Card sorting has a characteristically low-tech approach. The concepts are first identified and written onto simple index cards or Post-it notes. The user group then arranges these to represent the groups or structures they are familiar with.

Content Management System:
A content management system (CMS) is a computer application used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in a consistently organized fashion. CMSs are frequently used for storing, controlling, versioning, and publishing. The content managed may include computer files, image media, audio files, video files, electronic documents, and Web content.

Creative Brief/Technical Brief:
A creative brief is a document used by creative professionals and agencies to develop creative deliverables: visual design, copy, advertising, web sites, etc. In this case, a technical brief is included as well to document what technical deliverables are necessary for the redesign.

Cascading Style Sheets:
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a document written in a markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL.

Data Migration:
Data migration is the process of transferring data between storage types, formats, or computer systems. In our case it will be taking teh content from the current website and transferring it to the new. Data migration phases (design, extraction, cleansing, load, verification) for applications of moderate to high complexity are commonly repeated several times before the new system is deployed.

Deployment:
The deployment of a mechanical device, electrical system, computer program, etc., is its assembly or transformation from a packaged form to an operational working state. Deployment implies moving a product from a temporary or development state to a permanent or desired state. In our case it will be the launching of the new website.

Information Architecture:
Information architecture (IA) is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems including, a Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming, and software design. Most definitions have common qualities: a structural design of shared environments, methods of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, and online communities, and ways of bringing the principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

Needs Assessment:
Needs assessment provides a method of assessing the total needs of a community of people: of that community, for that community and by that community. In this case, it is a website.

Open Source:
Open source is a development methodology, which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge). Some consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations. Before open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the Internet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities.

Personas:
Personas are fictitious characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are useful in considering the goals, desires, and limitations of the users in order to help to guide decisions about a product, such as features, interactions, and visual design. Personas are most often used as part of a user-centered design process for designing software and are also considered a part of interaction design (IxD).

URI:
In computing, a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is a compact string of characters used to identify or name a resource on the Internet. The main purpose of this identification is to enable interaction with representations of the resource over a network, typically the World Wide Web, using specific protocols. URIs are defined in schemes defining a specific syntax and associated protocols.

Usability Testing:
Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it on users. This can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice, since it gives direct input on how real users use the system.

Web 2.0:
Web 2.0 is the term to describe a second generation of the Web, where the Web is more dynamic as users generate and share content. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users. Blogs, wikis, and Web services are all seen as components of Web 2.0.

Web Development:
Web development is a broad term for any activity related to developing a web site for the World Wide Web or an intranet. This can include e-commerce business development, web design, web content development, client-side/server-side scripting, and web server configuration.

Web Hosting:
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called a co-location.

XHTML:
The Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, or XHTML, is a markup language that has the same depth of expression as HTML, but also conforms to XML syntax.