Glossary

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Satisficing

A decision-making strategy where users select the first option that appears "good enough" rather than evaluating all possibilities to find the optimal choice. Coined by Herbert Simon, satisficing is common in web navigation, especially among older adults and users with cognitive…

Scenario-based design(also: SBD, Scenario-driven design)

A design methodology that uses narrative descriptions of how people interact with technology in specific contexts to drive the design process. Scenarios ground abstract requirements in concrete human experiences, helping designers anticipate real-world use situations including…

Sense of Agency(also: User Agency, Personal Agency)

The subjective experience of being in control of one's own actions and their effects on the external world. In accessible design, supporting sense of agency means ensuring users feel empowered to make choices, initiate interactions, and influence outcomes rather than being…

Sense of Control(also: Perceived control, Locus of control (task-level))

A psychological construct describing a user's subjective feeling of agency over what a system does, distinct from objective control measures such as available options or task-completion rates. In accessibility research on AI-assisted tools, sense of control has emerged as a…

Situational Limitations(also: Situational Impairments, Contextual Limitations)

Temporary constraints on a user's ability to interact with technology due to their environment, device, or circumstances rather than a permanent disability. Examples include using a mobile phone in bright sunlight (limiting screen visibility), being in a noisy environment…

Situational Trust(also: Situational Trust in Automation)

A context-sensitive form of trust in an automated system that varies moment-to-moment based on perceived system performance, environment, and the user's own capacity to intervene. Unlike dispositional or generalised trust, situational trust is recalibrated as conditions change —…

Spatial Presence(also: Sense of Presence)

Spatial presence is the subjective experience of feeling physically located within a virtual or mediated environment — the sensation of "being there" rather than merely observing content on a screen. It is a key measure of immersive technology effectiveness, assessed through…

Storyboarding(also: Storyboard)

A visual narrative technique, adapted from film, in which a sequence of sketched panels depicts how a user will interact with a product, service, or environment over time. Storyboards make abstract scenarios concrete and shareable, helping teams and co-designers discuss context,…

System Usability Scale(also: SUS)

A widely used 10-item Likert scale questionnaire developed by John Brooke in 1996 that provides a quick, reliable measure of perceived usability. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better usability. The SUS has been validated across thousands of studies,…

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