I stumbled upon UX mentioning "Visual clue" (with "l") . I always thought it was "Visual cue" (without "l").
This question and other definitions on the web distinct clue and cue.
Googling both term combinations yields the same amount of hits.
What is the term conveying the meaning most?
Visual cue is an academic term used in cognitive psychology. User experience experts have adopted it too as UX is tightly coupled with cognitive psychology.
Visual cues are sensory cues received by the eye in the form of light and processed by the visual system during visual perception. Since the visual system is dominant in many species, especially humans, visual cues are a large source of information in how the world is perceived. (Source)
Visual cue is a sensory cue. There are also auditory, haptic, and olfactory cues. They are all part of perception phase in the working memory (Wickens, D. 2002).
There are different types of visual cues, like:
I think the term visual clue is just a misspelling of visual cue.
"Cue" implies a specific action and is thus the stronger option. This is also the version I have heard.
"Clue" invites investigation and spurs curiosity, but just in a language sense does not evoke the concept of specificity by it being quite ambiguous.
A cue would be more specific, with an intended action. It's a visual nudge in the right direction. Like a Call to Action button being orange - "This thing should be clicked."
A clue would be showing importance but not necessarily the direction of supposed action.
It might be splitting hairs in an actual visual setting, but I would recommend using Visual Cue for clearer meaning.
