Facett

Facett is a term used in information architecture and product design to denote a modular facet used for categorizing data and shaping user interfaces. The term is not standardized and can refer to different implementations in different projects.

The name derives from facet, with an extra 't' added to imply legibility, modularity, or branding. In practice, Facett may appear as a concept, a component name, or a vendor-provided service.

In data catalogs and websites, a facett represents a filterable attribute that users can combine to refine results. In user interface design, facett components expose controls such as checkboxes, sliders, or dropdowns for attributes like topic, date, author, or language.

Implementation varies by platform. Some projects treat facett definitions as metadata schemas or as part of a data model, while others embed the logic directly in the UI layer. Benefits include improved navigability and faster discovery; drawbacks include taxonomy maintenance, inconsistent facet naming, and potential performance costs on large data sets.

See also: facet, faceted search, taxonomy, and metadata standards.