Start with definitions in minutes to help your organization align on language |

Start with definitions in minutes to help your organization align on language

Ah, language and definitions.

I’ve personally wasted months with teams defining terms i because we couldn’t align as a group on what to call certain features.

I’ve called things “Fred’s” using a Flintstones metaphor until we get alignment. It’s funny and defuses the words people care about. I’ve also worked in other environments where I arrived late, and they defined terms in a way that was inconsistent with their real meaning.

Because of this, I’ve developed a unique habit of being rather flexible with language because that isn’t a hill I’m willing to die on in most cases.

Language matters a lot, more so than most designers realize — that’s why UX writers and content designers became a thing.

It is one of the most important aspects of user experience because words describe the environment users interact with. Aligning on the language for a domain is crucial when building software because it lays the foundation for clear communication, both while defining the feature and when it’s shipped.

In the world of software development, terminology is the common language that bridges gaps between developers, designers, product managers, and users. Additionally, most domains have very defined language concepts—Salesforce as an application was founded in 1999, for example—so whether you like it or not, that foundation is strong and sometimes unchangeable.

ChatGPT as a really fancy tape recorder is a great tool for this as a first draft. It’s great. It has all those words and interprets them pretty well.

Let’s get started.

Start wide

Starting wide begins with the greatest possible context so you can capture everyone’s definitions that everyone could use. By starting wide, you capture how everyone might interpret the language you are using, so everyone starts at the same place.

As you gather user feedback, you can refine and narrow these definitions, ensuring they remain relevant and agreed upon.

Think of it as building a house: you need a strong framework before you start adding the finer details. But at least everyone knows it’s a house and what the labels are, so there are fewer arguments about definitions. We’ll discuss this more later in the article.

Back to the task to get you started. When I craft the prompt, I usually start with a long list and ask for their definitions so we can agree on that too.

Prompt

List 100 common customer relationship management terms and their definitions that would be used in a user interface. The list should be in a table.

Add context

Adding context when establishing definitions with examples is crucial because it bridges the gap between abstract concepts and real-world applications.

Consider the term “dashboard,” a term I have fought with for the last 15 years of my career. It could mean anything from a car’s control panel to a software interface. However, when you provide an example in the domain that you are working in, such as “a dashboard displaying real-time sales metrics and we’ll call it Sales as a label,” everyone immediately gets it.

This context also aids in consistency and training. When new users join, or existing users explore new features, well-defined terms with examples ensure a smoother learning curve. They don’t have to guess or seek additional help because the interface itself becomes a guide.

Let’s add data examples to our table.

Prompt

List 100 common customer relationship management terms, their definitions, and data examples that would be used in a user interface. The list should be in a table.

Refine

But what about other words?

Back to the house example. Many rooms have many synonyms, so it’s important to consider them. A perfect example is the bathroom. This could also be defined as restroom, lavatory, washroom, toilet, powder room, loo, water closet, privy, john, facilities, water closet, comfort station, can, head, commode, outhouse, latrine, potty, chamber, or convenience.

And in software, we have the same arguments like “sign in” and “log in,” which I am dealing with today and have so over the last 20 years.

You should choose language that resonates with a wider audience and demonstrate a deep understanding of your users’ needs. It may seem like a small detail, but investing time in selecting the right words can lead to a more polished, professional, and user-centered interface.

Prompt

List 100 common customer relationship management terms, synonyms, definitions, and data examples that would be used in a user interface. The list should be in a table.