Mock Elements：UI 设计中不为人知的英雄
Source: Dev.to
介绍
在构建用户界面时，设计师和开发者常常需要在真实数据尚未准备好的情况下展示视觉效果、表单和脚本。模拟元素——占位符和虚构示例——使这成为可能，兼具清晰度和传统性。下面列出了一些最著名的占位符及其来历。
模拟元素在 UI 设计中的作用
模拟元素充当实际内容的替身，帮助设计师和客户专注于视觉结构、可用性和布局，而不被真实数据或身份分散注意力。它们让原型保持相关性、灵活性，并且在共享和测试时安全可靠，同时还能促进早期反馈和迭代。
Lorem Ipsum
History
The “lorem ipsum” text originated from a scrambled section of Cicero’s 1st‑century Latin treatise de finibus bonorum et malorum. Letraset further popularized it in the 1960s for type samples, and desktop publishing in the 1980s cemented its role.
Significance & Usage
Designers use lorem ipsum to fill text fields and paragraphs in UI mockups, allowing everyone to focus strictly on layout and typographic choices instead of content. Its meaningless Latin roots prevent storyline distraction—an effect called “greeking”—and help judge graphical hierarchy.
Alice 与 Bob
History
“Alice and Bob” became canonical in cryptography with the seminal 1978 RSA paper. Previously, researchers used impersonal A and B, but the friendlier names made technical papers more accessible and memorable.
Significance & Usage
In UI scenarios, Alice and Bob typically represent communicating users, especially in chat apps, email forms, and privacy demos. The names are proxies for any generic pair, lending emotional resonance and clarity without revealing real identities.
John Doe
History
“John Doe” traces back to English common law in the 14th century, where it was used in fictional legal actions concerning land ownership. Over time, it became the go‑to name for unknown, average, or anonymous male persons.
Significance & Usage
In web forms, legal demos, and healthcare mock interfaces, “John Doe” identifies hypothetical users without associating with actual people. It’s also vital in survey prototypes, error screens, and contact lists where anonymity is essential.
Acme Corp
History
While some real companies bear the name, “Acme Corporation” gained fame as a fictional firm supplying comedic gadgets to Wile E. Coyote in Looney Tunes. Over decades, it’s become a generic brand for UI and legal mockups.
Significance & Usage
In interface design, Acme Corp is the archetypal placeholder company for demo dashboards, example invoices, and onboarding flows. It’s safely neutral and universally understood as a stand‑in, avoiding legal risk or confusion.
123 Main Street, Anytown, USA
History
By convention, “123 Main Street, Anytown, USA” is the default fake address for software demos, documentation, and forms. Its universal, harmless wording means everyone recognizes it as not real, helping avoid data‑privacy issues.
Significance & Usage
Sample address fields, test registrations, and validation scripts often use this structure to illustrate required formats or fill space during development.
555‑1234
History
The “555” prefix for phone numbers was standardized in the USA in the 1950s for directory assistance and later popularized as a movie/TV placeholder to prevent prank calls. By the 1990s, the North American Numbering Plan designated 555‑x prefixes for fiction, minimizing accidental real‑world connections.
Significance & Usage
Designers use 555‑1234 for form validation, contact demos, and UI prototypes to guarantee sample numbers are safe and never misroute calls or texts.
example@example.com
History
The “example.com” domain is reserved for illustrative and instructional purposes only, following RFC 2606. It ensures that any email address using this domain will never reach a real mailbox.
Significance & Usage
Using example@example.com in mockups, documentation, and test data avoids accidental contact with real users while clearly indicating that the address is a placeholder.