Category
Glossary.
Some acronyms might sound geeky, so we decided to give them meaning.
Jiri Mcc
Place
LDN
Type
Glossary
Date
25/07/01
When you are a designer stepping into the world of transformation, it is overwhelming at first. Acronyms, abbreviations, and far too much jargon represent business, finance and design operations.
While researching Design at Scale, I summarised a list that has now become public. If you feel we have missed something, please do reach out so that we can help more designers like yourself scale the world into a better place.
A.
Accessible design
Accessibility or accessible design helps users of all abilities to interact with a product. To implement accessible design, you must design for people who are colour blind, visually impaired, deaf or hearing impaired and people with cognitive disabilities.
Accordion
In UI design, an accordion is a type of menu that vertically stacks items that lets the user expand and collapse the content. When a user clicks a label, that section expands to show extended content. One or more labels can be open at a time and it helps users navigate large amounts of information quickly.
ACD (Automatic Call Distribution)
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is a crucial technology for modern call centers, automating the routing of incoming calls to the most appropriate agent or department. By streamlining the communication process, ACD systems offer several significant benefits:
Reduced wait times: ACD technology intelligently distributes calls, minimizing customer hold times and improving overall satisfaction.
Increased agent efficiency: By matching calls to agents with the relevant skills and expertise, ACD helps optimize agent productivity and reduce call handling times.
Scalability: ACD solutions can easily adapt to changing call volumes, ensuring that call centers can handle fluctuations in demand effectively.
Increased agent efficiency: By matching calls to agents with the relevant skills and expertise, ACD helps optimize agent productivity and reduce call handling times.
Scalability: ACD solutions can easily adapt to changing call volumes, ensuring that call centers can handle fluctuations in demand effectively.
Advertising
Advertising is the act of communicating with the public to promote a product or service, with the goal of attracting interest, engagement, and sales. Advertising can be used in a variety of ways, including social digital platforms as well as traditional channels Radio and TV.
The offer is usually free to receive and is funded by an advertiser.
Examples: Display advertising (Banners, etc.), Search advertising (Google Adwords), Sponsorship (of a TV show or a certain type of content), and Affiliate advertising (the advertiser pays a third party when a sale is made)
Examples: Display advertising (Banners, etc.), Search advertising (Google Adwords), Sponsorship (of a TV show or a certain type of content), and Affiliate advertising (the advertiser pays a third party when a sale is made)
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is one of the most popular UX and UI design tools. Part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, it’s a vector-based design tool used for creating wireframes, prototypes, animations and UI designs.
Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Users’ tendency to perceive attractive products as more usable. People believe that things that look better will work better — even if they aren’t actually more effective or efficient.
Agile
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the traditional waterfall methodology is increasingly being challenged by the agile approach. While waterfall emphasizes a linear sequence of phases (planning, design, development, testing, deployment), agile methodologies promote iterative development, flexibility, and continuous adaptation.
Adaptability: Agile's iterative approach allows for changes to be incorporated throughout the project, ensuring the final product aligns with evolving requirements.
Faster time to market: By delivering working increments early and often, agile teams can bring products to market more quickly.
Improved customer satisfaction: Agile's focus on continuous feedback and collaboration with stakeholders can lead to products that better meet customer needs.
Risk mitigation: The iterative nature of agile helps identify and address potential risks early in the project.
Adaptability: Agile's iterative approach allows for changes to be incorporated throughout the project, ensuring the final product aligns with evolving requirements.
Faster time to market: By delivering working increments early and often, agile teams can bring products to market more quickly.
Improved customer satisfaction: Agile's focus on continuous feedback and collaboration with stakeholders can lead to products that better meet customer needs.
Risk mitigation: The iterative nature of agile helps identify and address potential risks early in the project.
Alignment Typography
In typography, alignment is the setting of text relative to a column, tab or page. It’s very easy to notice when elements in a design aren’t aligned.
Alpha Phase
Alpha phase is a phase in the innovation process in which ideas are turned into prototypes which can then be tested, and the main focus is on verifying problems and solutions. Compare beta phase.
Ambidexterity
Organizational ambidexterity is the ability of an organization to effectively manage both its existing business and explore new opportunities for growth. This dual focus is essential for businesses seeking to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. There are two primary types of ambidexterity:
Structural ambidexterity: This involves creating separate structures or teams dedicated to innovation and future-focused initiatives. While this approach can facilitate focused innovation, it may also lead to silos and hinder the integration of new ideas into the existing business.
Contextual ambidexterity: This approach requires employees to balance both short-term and long-term perspectives in their daily work. While it can promote greater integration and knowledge sharing, it can also place higher demands on employees and increase the risk of burnout.
Successful organizations often combine elements of both structural and contextual ambidexterity, creating a balanced approach that fosters innovation while maintaining operational efficiency. By embracing ambidexterity, businesses can position themselves for long-term success in a dynamic and competitive market.
Contextual ambidexterity: This approach requires employees to balance both short-term and long-term perspectives in their daily work. While it can promote greater integration and knowledge sharing, it can also place higher demands on employees and increase the risk of burnout.
Successful organizations often combine elements of both structural and contextual ambidexterity, creating a balanced approach that fosters innovation while maintaining operational efficiency. By embracing ambidexterity, businesses can position themselves for long-term success in a dynamic and competitive market.
Analysis
A business process analyst is responsible for optimizing organizational processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. Key responsibilities include:
Process analysis and design: Identifying, evaluating, and redesigning business processes to streamline workflows and eliminate inefficiencies.
Data analysis: Using data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
Change management: Supporting organizational change initiatives to ensure successful process implementation.
Stakeholder engagement: Collaborating with stakeholders to gather requirements, build consensus, and drive process improvements.
Project management: Planning, executing, and monitoring process redesign projects.
To succeed in this role, business process analysts must possess:
Data analysis: Using data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
Change management: Supporting organizational change initiatives to ensure successful process implementation.
Stakeholder engagement: Collaborating with stakeholders to gather requirements, build consensus, and drive process improvements.
Project management: Planning, executing, and monitoring process redesign projects.
To succeed in this role, business process analysts must possess:
Technical skills: Proficiency in process mapping tools (e.g., Visio), data analysis techniques, and project management methodologies.
Analytical skills: The ability to analyze complex problems, identify root causes, and develop effective solutions.
Communication skills: Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels.
Domain knowledge: Understanding of business processes, industry best practices, and regulatory requirements.
Analytical skills: The ability to analyze complex problems, identify root causes, and develop effective solutions.
Communication skills: Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels.
Domain knowledge: Understanding of business processes, industry best practices, and regulatory requirements.
Animation
In UI terms, animation is the act of adding motion to any UI element to improve a product’s interactivity. Animations can be used to mark the different stages in a progress bar or they can simply be used to add an element of fun and movement to a logo.
AOT Accelerating Organizational Transformation
The integration of digital technologies into traditional businesses presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. While the vision and strategy may initially guide the entire operation, the clash between established processes and emerging digital initiatives can often hinder progress.
To overcome these obstacles and accelerate results, organizations must shift their focus from the present to the future. By prioritizing long-term goals and adopting a more agile approach, companies can:
Embrace innovation: Encourage experimentation and risk-taking to explore new digital opportunities.
Embrace innovation: Encourage experimentation and risk-taking to explore new digital opportunities.
Foster a digital mindset: Cultivate a culture that values adaptability, continuous learning, and data-driven decision-making.
Invest in talent: Develop or acquire the necessary skills and expertise to drive digital transformation.
Prioritize customer experience: Leverage digital technologies to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Measure and adapt: Continuously monitor progress and make adjustments to the strategy based on emerging trends and feedback.
API
API stands for Application Programming Interface and it specifies how different online services communicate with each other.
Application Lifecycle Management
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a comprehensive approach to managing the entire lifecycle of a software application, from initial planning to ongoing maintenance. ALM frameworks provide a structured set of processes and tools to streamline development, testing, deployment, and ongoing support.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of machines to exhibit intelligent behaviour, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. The term was coined in the 1950s by John McCarthy.
Examples of AI in action include:
Deep Blue: A chess-playing computer that defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
IBM Watson: A powerful AI system capable of understanding and responding to natural language questions.
Virtual assistants: AI-powered personal assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa.
Machine learning is a subset of AI that focuses on developing algorithms that allow computers to learn from data and improve their performance over time. This enables AI systems to adapt to new information and make more accurate predictions.
IBM Watson: A powerful AI system capable of understanding and responding to natural language questions.
Virtual assistants: AI-powered personal assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa.
Machine learning is a subset of AI that focuses on developing algorithms that allow computers to learn from data and improve their performance over time. This enables AI systems to adapt to new information and make more accurate predictions.
Ascenders
Ascenders are the parts of lower case letters that extend above the x-height of a typeface. In a majority of typefaces, the lowercase letters b, d, f, h, k and l are ascenders. In certain fonts, such as Garamond, the ascenders rise above the cap height.
Automation
Automation is the process of using technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, businesses can free up valuable resources to focus on more strategic and creative endeavours.
Key benefits of automation include:
Increased efficiency: Automation can streamline processes, reduce errors, and improve overall productivity.
Cost savings: By automating tasks, businesses can reduce labor costs and increase operational efficiency.
Improved accuracy: Automated systems can perform tasks with greater precision and consistency than humans.
Faster decision-making: Automation enables real-time data analysis and decision-making, allowing businesses to respond quickly to changing conditions.
Cost savings: By automating tasks, businesses can reduce labor costs and increase operational efficiency.
Improved accuracy: Automated systems can perform tasks with greater precision and consistency than humans.
Faster decision-making: Automation enables real-time data analysis and decision-making, allowing businesses to respond quickly to changing conditions.
B.
Baseline
In typography, the baseline is the invisible line that the text sits. It’s also the place that x-height and other important parts of a font are measured from.
BBD
BDD is a way for software teams to work that closes the gap between business people and technical people by:
Encouraging collaboration across roles to build shared understanding of the problem to be solved
Working in rapid, small iterations to increase feedback and the flow of value.
Producing system documentation that is automatically checked against the system’s behaviour.
We do this by focusing collaborative work around concrete, real-world examples that illustrate how we want the system to behave. We use those examples to guide us from concept through to implementation, in a process of continuous collaboration.
Working in rapid, small iterations to increase feedback and the flow of value.
Producing system documentation that is automatically checked against the system’s behaviour.
We do this by focusing collaborative work around concrete, real-world examples that illustrate how we want the system to behave. We use those examples to guide us from concept through to implementation, in a process of continuous collaboration.
Bento menu
Named after the Japanese lunch box that packs meals into neat sections, a bento menu is a menu with gridded items. It provides an overview of multiple items at once.
Best practice (Digital Maturity Matrix)
Digital maturity is a measure of an organization's ability to leverage technology to achieve its strategic goals. It reflects the extent to which an organization can adapt to technological advancements and integrate digital solutions into its core operations.
Key characteristics of a digitally mature organization include:
Strategic alignment: A clear understanding of how digital technologies can support business objectives and drive growth.
Data-driven decision-making: The ability to use data to inform strategic decisions and improve operational efficiency.
Agile culture: A culture that encourages innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning.
Strong digital infrastructure: A robust and scalable technology foundation that supports digital initiatives.
Talented workforce: A team of skilled individuals with the expertise to develop and implement digital solutions.
Data-driven decision-making: The ability to use data to inform strategic decisions and improve operational efficiency.
Agile culture: A culture that encourages innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning.
Strong digital infrastructure: A robust and scalable technology foundation that supports digital initiatives.
Talented workforce: A team of skilled individuals with the expertise to develop and implement digital solutions.
Beta phase
The beta phase in an innovation process is where a beta product, Minimum Viable Product, is developed and tested on a smaller scale on the market. Changes are then made on an ongoing basis. Compare alpha phase.
Big Data
Big data refers to massive datasets that are too large or complex to be processed using traditional data analysis tools. In today's digital age, businesses are generating vast amounts of data that can be harnessed to gain valuable insights and drive innovation.
By analyzing big data, organizations can:
Improve customer understanding: Gain deeper insights into customer preferences, behaviors, and needs.
Optimize marketing campaigns: Target marketing efforts more effectively and personalize customer experiences.
Enhance product development: Identify new product opportunities and improve existing offerings.
Improve operational efficiency: Optimize supply chains, reduce costs, and streamline processes.
Detect fraud: Identify patterns of fraudulent activity and prevent financial losses.
Optimize marketing campaigns: Target marketing efforts more effectively and personalize customer experiences.
Enhance product development: Identify new product opportunities and improve existing offerings.
Improve operational efficiency: Optimize supply chains, reduce costs, and streamline processes.
Detect fraud: Identify patterns of fraudulent activity and prevent financial losses.
Bleed
The bleed is a printing term that refers to the edge of the sheet that will be trimmed off. In design terms, the bleed is the artwork or background colour that extends in to this area, in case the cut made to the design or sheet isn’t exact. It’s a way of ensuring that none of the design gets accidentally cut off or there’s no unexpected borders.
Body Copy
The main text that people will read on a design. The body copy refers to the paragraphs, sentences or other text that are the main content in any publication, whether print or digital. Put in real life terms, the body copy of a magazine is the articles themselves rather than the titles, subtitles, authors, etc.
Borrowed Touchpoints
In the interconnected landscape of today's digital world, businesses must continually innovate to stay competitive. One key strategy is to leverage borrowed touchpoints, which are digital interactions that occur outside of a company's owned channels, such as social media platforms or third-party websites.
By understanding and utilizing borrowed touchpoints, organizations can:
Expand their digital footprint: Reach new audiences and increase brand visibility.
Enhance customer engagement: Create meaningful interactions with customers where they already spend time.
Drive traffic to owned channels: Use borrowed touchpoints to direct customers to your website or other digital properties.
Gather valuable insights: Track customer behavior and preferences across different platforms.
Enhance customer engagement: Create meaningful interactions with customers where they already spend time.
Drive traffic to owned channels: Use borrowed touchpoints to direct customers to your website or other digital properties.
Gather valuable insights: Track customer behavior and preferences across different platforms.
Brand
To marketing professionals, a brand is a product or a business that has a distinct identity in the perception of consumers. The brand is created through elements of design, packaging, and advertising that, as a whole, distinguish the product from its competitors.
The product contributes to the brand equity of the company that produces it. A successfully executed brand provides enormous value to a company, giving it a competitive edge over others in the same industry.
As such, many companies seek legal protection for their brands by obtaining trademarks.
Brand Identity
The visual version of a brand. The brand identity is made up of everything that relates to the brand – logos, typefaces, colour palettes, slogans, tone of voice, website, packaging and other marketing material. When designers talk about ‘branding’, it usually involves developing all aspects of the brand identity.
Breadcrumb
Continuing with the food theme, a breadcrumb is a navigation system which shows where a user is currently situated within a website. Usually located at the top of a page, breadcrumbs let users see their current location and steps they took to get there. As these are clickable links, users can move back to read or edit any information they filled in.
For example, if you’re browsing the ASOS clothing website, you might see a trail of links which shows where you are (and how you got there) as follows: Home > Men > Sportswear > Shoes
Brightness
The proportion of light versus dark colors that an element has or the density of light colors within an image. Increasing the brightness of an image means that more light is perceived as being reflected by that image.
Breakpoints
A breakpoint is the predetermined ranges in screen sizes that require particular changes in layouts.
Bundling
Product bundling involves combining multiple products or services into a single package, often at a discounted price. This strategy can be a powerful tool for increasing sales, attracting new customers, and enhancing customer loyalty.
Benefits of Product Bundling:
Increased sales: Bundling can encourage customers to purchase additional products or services that they might not have considered individually.
Improved customer satisfaction: Bundling can offer customers greater value and convenience, leading to higher satisfaction levels.
Reduced costs: By bundling products together, businesses can streamline production, marketing, and distribution processes, resulting in cost savings.
Improved customer satisfaction: Bundling can offer customers greater value and convenience, leading to higher satisfaction levels.
Reduced costs: By bundling products together, businesses can streamline production, marketing, and distribution processes, resulting in cost savings.
Business Model
The term business model refers to a company's plan for making a profit. It identifies the products or services the business plans to sell, its identified target market, and any anticipated expenses. Business models are important for both new and established businesses. They help companies attract investment, recruit talent, and motivate management and staff.
Businesses should regularly update their business model or they'll fail to anticipate trends and challenges ahead. Business models also help investors to evaluate companies that interest them and employees to understand the future of a company they may aspire to join.
Button
A button instructs a user through text, images or both to take an action.
BYOD
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) policies allow employees to use their personal devices and cloud storage for work purposes. These approaches can offer several benefits, including:
Increased productivity: Employees may be more productive when using familiar devices and tools.
Cost savings: BYOD and BYOC can reduce IT costs associated with purchasing and managing company-owned devices and storage.
Improved employee satisfaction: Employees may appreciate the flexibility and autonomy afforded by BYOD and BYOC policies.
However, these policies also present significant challenges, particularly in terms of security and support.
Cost savings: BYOD and BYOC can reduce IT costs associated with purchasing and managing company-owned devices and storage.
Improved employee satisfaction: Employees may appreciate the flexibility and autonomy afforded by BYOD and BYOC policies.
However, these policies also present significant challenges, particularly in terms of security and support.
Key Risks:
Data security: BYOD and BYOC can increase the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Device management: Managing a diverse range of devices can be complex and time-consuming.
Support challenges: Providing technical support for a variety of devices and platforms can be difficult.
Device management: Managing a diverse range of devices can be complex and time-consuming.
Support challenges: Providing technical support for a variety of devices and platforms can be difficult.
C.
Card
Cards group related content side-by-side so that users don’t have to scroll through a list to find the information they are looking for. Square or rectangular-shaped, they have the appearance of a business card and they can include buttons, text and images.
Carousel/image carousel
A lot of people will be familiar with image carousels as LinkedIn and Instagram use this format to display multiple images. However, these images are hyperlinked so users can browse through a set of items/images and select one for a particular action. This is another clever way to save space on a screen as it allows multiple items to be displayed in one section.
Capability Maturity Model
Capability Maturity Model(CMM) divides a company's work with processes into five steps:
Initial – ad hoc based work; the knowledge is in the minds of key individuals.
Repetitive – the processes have some sort of documentation and the work is usually done in a similar way.
Defined – the processes are well documented and used in all different parts of the organization.
Managed – the work is measured and monitored.
Optimized – the measurements are used for continuous improvements. (Carnegie Mellon University, 1993)
Cash Flow
Cash flow is a crucial financial metric that reflects a company's liquidity. Positive cash flow indicates a healthy financial position, allowing for growth, debt reduction, and investment. Negative cash flow, however, signals potential financial difficulties.
Design significantly impacts cash flow. Efficient designs reduce production costs, while innovative designs drive sales. By optimizing for both cost-effectiveness and market appeal, designers contribute to a company's financial health.
Circle Culture
Moments has strict verification for participants, making one's virtual social circle more intimate, tightly formed, and more integrated into real-life social circles. Only mutual friends can set up communication in one circle, which indicates high reciprocity and exclusivity among acquaintances. Moments accords with the Chinese-style interpersonal structure, which was described as the ripples generating circle by circle when a stone is thrown into the water, and everyone is in the centre of a series of circles. The ties get weaker as the circles spread further.
Change Blindness
Peoples’ tendency to ignore changes in a scene when they occur in a region that is far away from their focus of attention.
Change Leadership
The procedure for creating impetus and capabilities of individuals so they and the organization move from the current state to a desired future state.
Checkboxes
Checkboxes allow users to “check” or “uncheck” items from a box on a screen. Each item operates individually but a user can usually check more than one item. You would normally see a checkbox on an application or survey form.
Closure
A Gestalt principle that states that people will fill in blanks to perceive a complete object whenever an external stimulus partially matches that object.
Cloud Services
Cloud services are infrastructure on tap. Cloud services exist at different levels ranging from operation and hosting (infrastructure as a service) to operating systems and software, where applications and services are built (platform as a service), and on to the applications and services themselves (software as a service) in the cloud. The fact that something is on the cloud means that it is not located locally, for example on a server or computer at the individual company. The benefits of cloud services are several. For you as a buyer, it is very easy to add and remove services and it often delivers well, and at a low cost.
The disadvantages may be the lack of control, the fact that business critical information is available at an external company, customization is not possible and personal support may be harder to find. Examples of well-used cloud services are the hosting service Amazon Web Services, the storage service Dropbox, Google Apps, which include email and office software, as well as the audio service called SoundCloud.
The disadvantages may be the lack of control, the fact that business critical information is available at an external company, customization is not possible and personal support may be harder to find. Examples of well-used cloud services are the hosting service Amazon Web Services, the storage service Dropbox, Google Apps, which include email and office software, as well as the audio service called SoundCloud.
Clutter
Visual elements that are unnecessary or excessive, making it difficult for the viewer to focus on important aspects of a design.
COD – Chief Digital Officer
Chief digital officer or CDO is a relatively new title aimed at the person responsible for digitizing at a company. Also sometimes called Digital director. The mandate of the role often look very different from business to business.
Competence
Competence is when an individuals knowledge, skills as well as experiences are used in the environment in which the individual is located and it contributes to a value.
Competitiveness
A company's ability to create long-term profitability on open markets. (D. G. McFetridge, 1995)
Co-Creation
Co-creation focuses on creating things together. For example, with a partner, customers or even competitors. The term is related to Open Innovation.
Color Palette
A defined set of colors used in a design to maintain consistency and create harmony.
Common Fate
A Gestalt principle stating that things that move in synch are perceived as belonging to the same group, while being different than other screen elements that stay put or move differently.
Common Region
A Gestalt principle stating that items within a boundary are perceived as a group and assumed to share some common characteristic or functionality.
Connectedness
A Gestalt principle referring to the tendency to perceive elements that are connected by lines or other visual cues as belonging together. This principle is strong enough to overrule small differences between the items.
Consistency
Using similar characteristics and patterns in design elements — in layout, typography, and color palettes — to provide coherence and predictability to users.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a strategic approach that leverages valuable content to attract and engage a target audience. Rather than directly promoting products or services, content marketing aims
to build trust and credibility by providing informative, educational, or entertaining content. Designers play a crucial role in content marketing by creating visually appealing and engaging content that resonates with the target audience. By combining strong design with compelling storytelling, designers can help businesses establish thought leadership, generate leads, and drive conversions.
to build trust and credibility by providing informative, educational, or entertaining content. Designers play a crucial role in content marketing by creating visually appealing and engaging content that resonates with the target audience. By combining strong design with compelling storytelling, designers can help businesses establish thought leadership, generate leads, and drive conversions.
Continuation
A Gestalt principle stating that the eye automatically follows lines and curves, continuing them. Continuation guides users along desired paths in a user interface.
Containers
A container is a UI element designed to contain page elements to a certain width based on the size of a user’s screen. An accordion is an example of a container.
Contrast
The difference in visual properties — including color, brightness, or size — that makes an object distinguishable from its surroundings.
Coordination Phase
The Digital Transformation phase involves a deeper dive into the company's digital strategy. The focus shifts to optimizing digital operations and aligning them with the overall business goals. A dedicated team is often formed to drive this transformation. However, this phase can be challenging due to the tension between traditional and digital operations. Effective leadership and coordination are crucial to navigate this transition and maximize the benefits of digitalization.
Cost
Business expenditure refers to the total financial outlay a company incurs to produce and sell its goods or services. The design function within a business is significantly influenced by expenditure considerations. Designers must balance creative vision with budgetary constraints, ensuring that designs are both aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective.
Cost leadership (strategy)
This strategy, focused on cost leadership, aims to deliver products or services at the lowest possible cost. In highly competitive markets with minimal product differentiation, cost leadership is essential for long-term viability. However, this approach often results in smaller profit margins.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a way to raise capital for a company or a project. It usually happens through services such as Kickstarter or FundedByMe. There are primarily two types of Crowdfunding:
1. Rewards or
2. Equity based.
1. Rewards or
2. Equity based.
The latter means that a company can obtain equity or that loans can be given to a business. The former refers to receiving a reward for financing. For example, testing the product before others do, meeting entrepreneurs or the like.
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is a collaborative approach that leverages the collective wisdom and skills of a large group of people, often from outside the organization. Companies can tap into a vast pool of talent and expertise by outsourcing tasks or projects to a crowd. Designers can benefit from crowdsourcing by:
Crowdsourcing Design Ideas: Seeking inspiration and innovative solutions from a diverse group of creative individuals.
Outsourcing Design Tasks: Delegating specific design tasks to a crowd of designers.
Collecting User Feedback: Gathering feedback and insights from many users to improve design decisions.
Co-creating with the Crowd: Collaborating to develop and refine design concepts.
By effectively utilizing crowdsourcing, designers can enhance their creative process, accelerate project timelines, and deliver high-quality design solutions.
Outsourcing Design Tasks: Delegating specific design tasks to a crowd of designers.
Collecting User Feedback: Gathering feedback and insights from many users to improve design decisions.
Co-creating with the Crowd: Collaborating to develop and refine design concepts.
By effectively utilizing crowdsourcing, designers can enhance their creative process, accelerate project timelines, and deliver high-quality design solutions.
CPO
A Chief Product Officer (CPO) is a high-level executive responsible for guiding a company's product strategy from inception to market. This role involves setting the product vision, driving innovation, overseeing design and development, and ensuring timely and effective product launches. In many tech companies, the CPO's responsibilities extend to distribution, manufacturing, and procurement, making them a critical link between product strategy and operational execution.
The CPO plays a vital role in driving business growth and customer satisfaction by combining strategic thinking with operational expertise. They are responsible for ensuring that products meet market needs, deliver exceptional user experiences, and contribute to the organisation's overall success.
CSM
A customer success manager (CSM) is responsible for ensuring customers are satisfied with a company's products or services and for helping them achieve their goals. CSMs work to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers and to improve customer retention and sales.
Call-to-action/CTA
A call-to-action button – or a CTA – encourages users to take a specific action on a website or application. For example: Sign Up, Book Now, Subscribe. CTA buttons exist as a conversion goal, encouraging users to buy, consume or register for a product or service.
Culture
Organizational culture significantly impacts design practices. The physical environment, such as office design and branding, can influence the creative process. The way employees interact and collaborate also shapes the design culture. Companies with a strong design culture prioritize innovation, creativity, and user-centered design. These values guide designers in their work and encourage them to take risks and experiment with new ideas. Deep-rooted assumptions about design can influence the company's approach to problem-solving, decision-making, and risk-taking. A culture that values design excellence can lead to more innovative and impactful design solutions.
Customer Acquisition Cost
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) represents the total cost incurred to acquire a new customer. This includes expenses related to marketing, sales, and other customer acquisition efforts. For a business to be profitable, the lifetime value (LTV) of a customer must exceed the cost of acquiring them. A healthy CAC-to-LTV ratio ensures sustainable business growth.
Customer Journey
The customer journey is a visual representation of the customer's experience with a brand, from initial awareness to post-purchase interaction. By mapping the customer journey, designers can identify pain points and opportunities to enhance the user experience. Key stages include awareness, consideration, purchase, and post-purchase. Designers can utilize customer journey maps to optimize user experience, improve conversion rates, personalize interactions, and inform design decisions. By focusing on creating seamless and delightful customer experiences, designers can drive customer satisfaction, loyalty, and brand advocacy.
Customer Relationship (strategy)
Customer relationship strategy focuses on building strong, long-lasting relationships with customers. By providing exceptional customer service, personalized experiences, and loyalty programs, businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors and gain a competitive edge. This strategy is particularly effective in markets with high customer loyalty and repeat business.
Design plays a crucial role in implementing a customer relationship strategy. Designers can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by creating intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and experiences. Personalized design can further strengthen customer relationships by tailoring products and services to individual preferences. Additionally, effective communication and feedback mechanisms can foster a sense of connection and trust between the brand and its customers.
Critique
While some people may fear any form of criticism, critiques allow designers, researchers and content strategists to come together and provide constructive criticism to improve a product. The creator of the product will discuss the design with the rest of the team, who will then ask questions to explore the design even further.
The two most popular forms of critique are:
Silent – Using post-it notes on a whiteboard, your colleagues will write feedback as a question. For example, if someone is unhappy with the colour of a button, they could write “Could we try some other colour options?” In this format, everybody gets a chance to have their say.
Regular– In a group setting, the wider team will sit and discuss the design journey of the product. However, these critiques can sometimes go off topic and some people may not get the chance to speak.
CX
Customer Experience (CX) encompasses the entirety of a customer's journey with a business, from initial marketing exposure to post-purchase support. It involves a seamless integration of marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.
A strong CX strategy is essential for business success as it directly influences customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. To optimize CX, companies must consider the impact of all departments, even those not typically seen as customer-facing.
D.
DaaS
Data as a Service (DaaS) is a cloud-based service model that provides access to data and analytics tools on demand. It allows organizations to leverage data insights without the need for significant upfront investment in infrastructure or data management expertise.
DaS™
Design at Scale refers to the practice of designing products and services that can be efficiently produced and delivered to a large number of users. It involves a systematic approach to design that considers factors such as scalability, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness.
Modular Design: Breaking down complex systems into smaller, reusable components.
Consistent Design Language: Establishing a unified visual and interaction design language.
Automation: Utilizing tools and automation to streamline design processes.
Data-Driven Design: Making design decisions based on data and analytics.
Accessibility: Ensuring that designs are accessible to people with disabilities.
By effectively implementing design at scale, organizations can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver high-quality products and services to a wider audience.
Consistent Design Language: Establishing a unified visual and interaction design language.
Automation: Utilizing tools and automation to streamline design processes.
Data-Driven Design: Making design decisions based on data and analytics.
Accessibility: Ensuring that designs are accessible to people with disabilities.
By effectively implementing design at scale, organizations can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver high-quality products and services to a wider audience.
Data
Data contains information about something, often but not always being a collection of facts. Data is not just related information, but information that is usually defined as data that has been interpreted. The data can be collected in many different ways such as through computers, but also through surveys, focus groups, etc.
Data & Analysis (motor)
Data is the raw material, the unprocessed information that we collect. It can be numbers, text, images, or any other form of information.
Data analysis is the process of examining, cleaning, transforming, and modelling data with the goal of discovering useful information, drawing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. It involves various techniques and methods to ensure that the data is accurate, reliable, and suitable for the analytical process.
In essence, data is the input, and data analysis is the process of transforming that input into meaningful insights.
Data (Revenue model)
Data as a Service (DaaS) is a business model where companies monetize the data they collect and analyze. This data can be generated from a variety of sources, including user behavior, sensor data, or internal operations. Companies can create new revenue streams by packaging and selling this data to other businesses.
For example, companies like Schibsted and Yieldbot monetize user data by selling targeted advertising space. On the other hand, firms like Forrester and Jupiter provide valuable business intelligence and insights to their clients, generating revenue through consulting services and data subscriptions.
Data Visualization
The representation of data through visuals, such as charts, plots, infographics, and animations. These visualizations are used to communicate complex data relationships and data-driven insights in a way that is easy to understand.
Descriptive Analysis
Descriptive analysis is a statistical method used to describe and summarize the characteristics of a dataset. It helps us understand the basic features of our data, such as its central tendency (mean, median, mode), dispersion (range, variance, standard deviation), and distribution (normal, skewed, etc.).
Density
The number of visual elements in a given area or space. High-density designs are sometimes referred to as cluttered, busy, or crowded. Low-density designs use whitespace and few components. Low-density designs are sometimes referred to as “minimalist.”
Design Principles
Value statements that guide designers in making the right tradeoffs in UX designs.
Design Systems
A design system is a universal source of truth for the design team — a collection of design assets, guidelines, constraints and best practices to adhere to when embarking on a new design project. Google, IBM and Apple all have their own design system canvasses that people can access and use.
Design Thinking
Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that helps businesses solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions. Design thinking can lead to groundbreaking products and services by focusing on user needs and behaviours. It encourages experimentation and prototyping, allowing businesses to test ideas and learn from failures. By challenging traditional thinking and focusing on a broad goal, design thinking can spark creativity and lead to unexpected breakthroughs.
Design thinking is a powerful tool for creating user-centered solutions. By understanding user needs and behaviours, designers can empathize with their target audience and develop innovative solutions. The "How Might We" question is a key element of design thinking, as it encourages a divergent and creative approach to problem-solving. By iterating on prototypes and gathering user feedback, designers can refine their solutions and ensure they meet the user's needs. Design thinking empowers designers to think critically, challenge assumptions, and create meaningful experiences.
Differentiation (strategy)
Differentiation is one of four basic strategies. The goal here is to achieve competitive advantages by offering something unique and different from competitors and to satisfy customer needs in a much better way. It is a strategy suitable for markets where the customers do not tend to be sensitive to price and where they have specific needs.
Compare Cost leadership, Customer relationship and Network effect.
Compare Cost leadership, Customer relationship and Network effect.
Digital Competitiveness
A company's ability to create long-term profitability on open markets through digital maturity.
Digital Destination
Digital destination is a company's desired position at a given point in time in the future. This position describes two things: what the company's goal is when it comes to digital maturity within each digital motor, and when this should happen. Compare digital position.
Digital Generalist
The digital generalist understands the effects of digitalization which affect the organization and how it should act. The generalist also understands the determining link between technology, humans and business. Compare digital specialist.
Digital Journey
See digital transformation.
Digital Maturity
Digital maturity describes how far an individual, a company, an industry or a society has come in their digital transformation in relation to their surroundings. Digital maturity is relative to its environment and that is because digital development is moving forward all the time. In other words, a company that is far ahead and stops taking the next steps will lose digital maturity, as new and better digital opportunities arise.
Digital Maturity Index (DMI)
A Digital Maturity Index (DMI) is a metric used to assess a company's level of digital transformation. It measures how well a company has integrated digital technologies into its operations and strategy. A higher DMI indicates a more mature digital organization capable of adapting to the evolving digital landscape. By regularly evaluating their DMI, companies can identify areas for improvement and prioritize investments in digital initiatives.
A Digital Maturity Index (DMI) can be a valuable tool for designers to assess the organization's readiness for digital innovation. A higher DMI indicates a culture that values design, embraces emerging technologies, and is open to experimentation. Designers can contribute to improving a company's DMI by advocating for user-centred design, promoting design thinking, and collaborating with other teams to drive digital transformation. By staying informed about the latest design trends and technologies, designers can help organizations maintain a competitive edge in the digital age.
Digital Maturity Matrix
A Digital Maturity Matrix is a tool used to assess an organization's digital maturity across various dimensions, such as technology, processes, and people. It helps organizations identify their strengths and weaknesses, prioritize areas for improvement, and develop a roadmap for digital transformation. By visualizing the organization's maturity level in different areas, decision-makers can make informed choices about investments in technology, training, and organizational change.
A Digital Maturity Matrix can be used to assess an organization's design maturity. This involves evaluating factors such as the organization's design culture, the use of design tools and methodologies, and the integration of design into the overall business strategy. By understanding the organization's design maturity level, designers can identify opportunities to improve design processes, promote a design-led culture, and elevate the overall quality of user experiences.
Digital Mission
A mission which is used to clearly point out how a company should reach its digital vision. As technology becomes a natural part of the business - the digital maturity is high - a specific digital mission plays out its role and is replaced by an overall mission for the entire business.
Digital Potential
The difference in digital maturity that an individual holds at home and at work is the employee's digital potential. If the company's environment provides good conditions for the employees to take advantage of their knowledge and become skilled in their work role, the difference is very small. Organizations that have come a long way in terms of digitalization can consist of employees who have higher digital maturity at work than at home.
Digital Position
A digital proposition is a value proposition that outlines the specific benefits a company offers to its customers through digital channels. It defines the unique value that a digital product or service provides, addressing customer needs and pain points. A strong digital proposition helps to differentiate a company from its competitors and attract and retain customers in the digital age.
A digital proposition from a design perspective involves crafting a compelling user experience that delivers on the brand promise. It encompasses the overall design of the digital product or service, including the user interface, user experience, and interaction design. Designers play a crucial role in shaping the digital proposition by creating intuitive, visually appealing, and functional experiences that resonate with the target audience. By focusing on user needs and behaviors, designers can help organizations deliver exceptional digital experiences that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Digital Specialist
Digital Specialist is a broad term encompassing individuals with expertise in various aspects of digital technologies. Here's a breakdown from business, design, and engineering perspectives:
Business Perspective: A digital specialist is a professional who understands the strategic implications of digital technologies. They are skilled in digital marketing, e-commerce, and data analytics. They work closely with business leaders to develop and implement digital strategies that drive growth and improve efficiency.
Design Perspective: A digital specialist in design is a creative professional who specializes in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. They possess a deep understanding of user needs and behaviors and are skilled in creating intuitive and visually appealing digital products and services.
Engineering Perspective: A digital specialist in engineering is a technical professional who is proficient in programming, software development, and data science. They are responsible for building and maintaining digital systems, ensuring their performance, security, and scalability.
Digital Strategy
A digital strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how an organization will leverage digital technologies to achieve its business objectives. It involves setting clear goals, identifying target audiences, and developing a roadmap for digital transformation. A strong digital strategy helps businesses to increase revenue, improve customer experiences, and gain a competitive advantage in the digital age.
A digital strategy from a design perspective focuses on the user experience and how digital technologies can be used to create value for customers. Designers play a crucial role in shaping the digital strategy by defining the user needs, creating user journeys, and designing intuitive and visually appealing user interfaces. By aligning design with business objectives, designers can help organizations deliver innovative and user-centric digital experiences.
Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the adaptations a company makes to be competitive in a digitalized world. Other terms that can be used to describe this are digital journey or digitalizing a company. Digital transformation can also take place on an individual, industrial or societal level.
Digital Transformation Strategy
A digital transformation strategy is not the same as a digital strategy. The strategy for digital transformation focuses much more on how and what the company should do in each phase to maximize its competitiveness and bring about change within the organization. This strategy, in other words, is what our methodology and book are about. Compare to digital strategy.
Digital Value Added Service
Digital Value-Added Services (DVA) are supplementary services delivered digitally to enhance core offerings, improve customer experience, and generate additional revenue. Examples include mobile apps, online banking, personalized recommendations, and telemedicine. By leveraging digital technologies, businesses can create innovative DVA that cater to evolving customer needs, drive growth, and gain a competitive edge.
Design plays a crucial role in creating effective DVA. By designing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, designers can enhance the user experience and drive adoption. Additionally, designers can contribute to the development of personalized experiences, leveraging data and analytics to tailor services to individual needs. By focusing on user-centered design principles, designers can help businesses create DVA that are both functional and delightful.
Digital vision
A vision used to clearly point out the long-term goal of a company's digitalization. As technology is becoming a natural part of the business - the digital maturity is high - a specific digital vision plays has fulfilled its role and is replaced by an overall vision for the entire company.
Digitalization
Digitization is the process of converting analog information into a digital format, making it easier to store, process, and transmit. This transformation has profound implications for businesses, enabling them to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and create new revenue streams. By leveraging digital technologies, businesses can reach new markets, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.
Digitization has revolutionized the field of design. As information becomes digital, designers can create and iterate on designs more efficiently. Digital tools have expanded the possibilities for visual communication, enabling designers to create stunning and engaging experiences. Additionally, the rise of digital platforms has opened up new opportunities for designers to reach global audiences.
Digitization is driven by advancements in technology. Faster processors, increased storage capacity, and improved connectivity have made it possible to digitize vast amounts of information. These technological advancements have enabled the development of innovative products and services, such as smartphones, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence. As technology continues to evolve, the potential for digitization to transform industries and society is immense.
Direct Touchpoints
Direct touchpoints are the moments of direct interaction between a customer and a brand. These interactions can occur at various stages of the customer journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase support.
Borrowed Touchpoints are interactions that occur outside of a brand's direct control but still influence the customer journey and brand perception. These touchpoints can be positive or negative and can significantly impact a brand's reputation.
Indirect touchpoints are interactions between a customer and a brand that occur without direct communication from the company. These touchpoints are often influenced by external sources such as online reviews, social media mentions, or word-of-mouth.
Discovery Phase
The Discovery Phase is the initial stage of a project where key stakeholders come together to define the project's goals, objectives, scope, and requirements. It's a crucial phase that sets the foundation for the entire project.
Display Advertising
Display advertising is a digital advertising strategy that uses visuals, text, and sometimes video to capture users' attention and drive them to a specific website or landing page. It involves placing ads on websites and apps to reach a target audience. By strategically placing ads on relevant websites, businesses can increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales.
Display advertising, from a design perspective, involves creating visually appealing and engaging ads that capture the audience's attention. Designers must consider factors like colour, typography, imagery, and layout to create ads that stand out from the competition. Additionally, designers play a crucial role in crafting compelling calls to action that encourage users to click on the ad and take the desired action. By understanding user psychology and leveraging effective design principles, designers can create display ads that are both visually striking and persuasive.
Disruptive Innovation
Disruptive innovation is a phenomenon and a term which was coined by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen in connection with his book "The Innovator’s dilemma".
Disruptive innovation is a new technology and new business models that break down existing markets and value networks, while creating new ones. The meaning of disruptive innovation has been changing since the book was published in 1997 and many people have a wider perspective on disruptive innovation than Christensen. We use it to refer to all innovation that drastically changes a market or creates a new one through new business models and technology. Christensen means that lower prices are also needed, combined with an offer of lower quality according to the customers of current competitors. We consider a company like Uber to be a disruptive innovator, but according to Chirstensen's definition this is not the case, as the current market considers services offered by Uber to be of higher quality compared to the competitors. An example of disruptive innovation (also according to Christensen) was the Ford Model T. It was the first car to be produced by assembly line, which drastically lowered the price to the consumer, making it possible for more people to purchase a car. This in turn meant a big change in transportation habits and alternative transportation forms such as horse and carriage are no longer popular. Compare incremental and structural innovation.
Disruptive innovation is a new technology and new business models that break down existing markets and value networks, while creating new ones. The meaning of disruptive innovation has been changing since the book was published in 1997 and many people have a wider perspective on disruptive innovation than Christensen. We use it to refer to all innovation that drastically changes a market or creates a new one through new business models and technology. Christensen means that lower prices are also needed, combined with an offer of lower quality according to the customers of current competitors. We consider a company like Uber to be a disruptive innovator, but according to Chirstensen's definition this is not the case, as the current market considers services offered by Uber to be of higher quality compared to the competitors. An example of disruptive innovation (also according to Christensen) was the Ford Model T. It was the first car to be produced by assembly line, which drastically lowered the price to the consumer, making it possible for more people to purchase a car. This in turn meant a big change in transportation habits and alternative transportation forms such as horse and carriage are no longer popular. Compare incremental and structural innovation.
Distributed Organizations
Distributed organizations are those where team members work remotely, often across different geographical locations. They rely heavily on technology to communicate and collaborate effectively. By embracing remote work, organizations can access a global talent pool, reduce overhead costs, and improve employee satisfaction. However, challenges such as maintaining team cohesion and effective communication must be addressed to ensure success.
In distributed design teams, designers collaborate remotely to create innovative solutions. Effective communication, collaboration tools, and a shared design system are essential for maintaining consistency and quality. Designers must be skilled in remote collaboration techniques and able to adapt to different time zones and work styles. By leveraging digital tools and fostering a strong design culture, distributed design teams can create exceptional user experiences.
Distribution Platforms
By distribution platforms, we mean the media channels where a company can choose to appear. The internet is a large distribution platform which consists of many smaller ones. Partly, in the form of different devices that customers use, of which computers, cell phones, gaming consoles, tablets and TV are the most common ones and in the form of different services available on these devices such as Apple's Appstore or Google Play for mobile devices or Flickr, Facebook and Youtube for both computers and cell phones. For you as a business it is about:
- Customizing your products, services and your content to different devices
- Choosing distribution through the different services offered on different devices.
- Customizing your products, services and your content to different devices
- Choosing distribution through the different services offered on different devices.
DoD
The Definition of Done (DoD) is a set of criteria that must be met before a task or product increment is considered complete. It ensures consistency, quality, and adherence to standards. By defining a clear DoD, teams can improve efficiency, reduce rework, and enhance overall project delivery.
In the context of design, the DoD ensures that design deliverables meet specific quality standards and are ready for implementation. This might include criteria such as design reviews, usability testing, and adherence to design guidelines. A well-defined DoD helps designers maintain consistency, improve efficiency, and deliver high-quality design solutions.
DoR
The Definition of Ready (DoR) is a set of criteria that must be met before a task or user story is ready for development. It ensures that the work item is well-defined, prioritized, and ready for the development team to pick up. A clear DoR helps streamline the development process, reduce rework, and improve overall project efficiency.
In the context of design, the DoR ensures that design work is well-prepared and ready for development. This includes clear design requirements, detailed specifications, and approved design reviews. Additionally, usability testing can be conducted to identify and address any usability issues before handing off the design to development. A well-defined DoR helps designers deliver high-quality design work that meets the needs of the business and the end-user.
Dropdown/dropdown lists
Dropdown lists are similar to radio buttons, which we cover in number 73, but they save a lot of space on screen. The dropdown action happens when a user selects an item from a list and the menu drops down to reveal more information. These lists might require an instruction, like “click here”, to help users navigate the space.
Dropdown buttons
The dropdown button is the clickable button used in a dropdown list to reveal, yes, a list of items.
DTC
Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is a business model where brands sell their products directly to consumers, bypassing traditional retail channels. This approach often involves leveraging digital marketing channels such as e-commerce websites, social media, and email marketing to connect with customers.
By cutting out intermediaries, DTC brands can offer competitive prices, personalized experiences, and greater control over their brand image. Companies like Warby Parker and 3 Squirrels have successfully implemented DTC models, demonstrating the potential for building strong customer relationships and driving sales.
Double Dialmond
The Double Diamond is a visual representation of the design process, emphasizing both divergent and convergent thinking. It consists of four phases:
Discover: This phase involves researching and understanding the problem or opportunity. Designers conduct user research, interviews, and observations to gain insights into the needs and behaviors of the target audience.
Define: The insights gathered during the discovery phase are synthesized to define the core problem or challenge to be addressed. This involves framing the problem in a clear and actionable way.
Develop: In this phase, designers generate multiple ideas and solutions to the problem. This involves brainstorming, sketching, and prototyping. The focus is on quantity over quality at this stage.
Deliver: The most promising solutions are selected and refined. Prototypes are tested with users to gather feedback and make necessary improvements. The final solution is then implemented and launched.
By following the Double Diamond process, designers can create innovative and user-centered solutions.
Dual Track Agile
Dual-Track Agile is a methodology that enables organizations to balance innovation and delivery. It involves two parallel tracks:
Discovery Track: Focused on innovation and exploration. Design plays a crucial role in this track, as designers collaborate with product managers and stakeholders to ideate, prototype, and validate new product concepts. By conducting user research, creating user personas, and designing user experiences, designers help ensure that the products being developed meet the needs of the target audience.
Delivery Track: Focused on delivering working software. Designers work closely with developers to ensure that the user interface and user experience are implemented effectively. They may also be involved in testing and quality assurance to ensure that the final product meets the desired quality standards.
By running these tracks concurrently, organizations can accelerate product development, reduce risk, and deliver innovative solutions that delight customers.
Due Diligence
An investigation or audit of a potential investment or product to confirm all facts, such as reviewing financial records.
Dual Operating System
A dual operating system is what John P Kotter would refer to as a network of volunteers from the existing business. In addition to their existing roles, they have the task of being responsible for different parts of the company's digitalization. This network is led by a control group which, working closely with management, gives a mandate to the network in the existing hierarchical organization.
E.
Earned Organization
Earned organizations are entities that leverage the contributions of others without direct monetary compensation. This model allows businesses to tap into a vast pool of talent and innovation. For instance, app stores like Apple's App Store and Google Play rely on third-party developers to create and distribute apps. In return, these platforms take a cut of the revenue generated from app sales. Similarly, open-source platforms like WordPress, Drupal, and Umbraco benefit from a global community of developers who contribute to their codebases. This collaborative approach enables these organizations to scale rapidly and deliver high-quality products and services.
Earned organizations offer unique opportunities for designers to collaborate with diverse communities and create innovative solutions. By leveraging open-source platforms and crowdsourcing, designers can access a wealth of resources, inspiration, and feedback. Additionally, earned organizations often prioritize user-centered design and prioritize the needs of their communities. By participating in these organizations, designers can contribute to the development of cutting-edge technologies and shape the future of digital products and services.
Earned Touchpoints
Earned touchpoints are part of indirect touchpoints and contains for example, PR and distribution of content done by someone who neither works with nor is responsible for the company's marketing communication and the distribution is beyond the company's control. One example is that the company posts a message on their Facebook page, which is then shared by the people following that page.
Easing
Easing – or ease-in and ease-out – is the slow and gradual movement of an animated UI element. Specifically, easing refers to the movement of the animation and how it gradually begins to move, rather than jolting to start or abruptly coming to an end.
EBITDA
It stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, a measure of a company's overall financial performance and is used as an alternative to net income in some circumstances.
Ecosystem
When traditional value chains change because certain steps are eliminated and replaced with digital solutions, a company must identify its role in the new digital ecosystems.
To ensure that offers and revenue models work, many things need to coincide and work together. Many revenue models require well-developed ecosystems where production companies (the businesses with the offers), subcontractors, competitors, and distributors have to work together to deliver enough experienced value to customers. Value networks and value chains are both related to ecosystems.
Apple has created digital ecosystems for several different types of content: Itunes for music, App Store for applications, iBooks for books, and Newsstand for magazines.
Digitalization has made it possible for some major players to build functioning ecosystems to a large extent independently. An example of this is Amazon with its Kindle tablet, which managed to catch real speed in the ebook industry in the United States thanks to good hardware and software and a very attractive range of ebooks at good prices.
To ensure that offers and revenue models work, many things need to coincide and work together. Many revenue models require well-developed ecosystems where production companies (the businesses with the offers), subcontractors, competitors, and distributors have to work together to deliver enough experienced value to customers. Value networks and value chains are both related to ecosystems.
Apple has created digital ecosystems for several different types of content: Itunes for music, App Store for applications, iBooks for books, and Newsstand for magazines.
Digitalization has made it possible for some major players to build functioning ecosystems to a large extent independently. An example of this is Amazon with its Kindle tablet, which managed to catch real speed in the ebook industry in the United States thanks to good hardware and software and a very attractive range of ebooks at good prices.
Eight-Step Process
The eight-step process is John P. Kotter's process for implementing change:
1/ Create a sense of urgency
1/ Create a sense of urgency
2/ Build a guiding coalition
3/ Form a strategic vision
4/ Communicate the vision
5/ Enable action
6/ Generate short-term wins
7/ Sustain acceleration and expand the scope
8/ Institute change as an integral part of the culture
This was presented in the book Leading Change (1996) and was updated in Accelerate (2014).
Estimate
An estimate is an approximate calculation or judgment of the value, size, quantity, extent, or cost of something. It's a prediction based on available information and assumptions.
Evaluation
Evaluation is a critical process in business, used to assess the performance of strategies, projects, and products. It involves gathering data, analyzing results, and drawing conclusions to inform future decisions. By regularly evaluating business performance, organizations can identify areas for improvement, optimize resources, and achieve their goals.
Design evaluation is the process of assessing the effectiveness and usability of a design. It involves gathering feedback from users, testing prototypes, and analyzing user behavior. Designers use evaluation techniques to identify areas for improvement, refine designs, and ensure that products and services meet user needs. By conducting thorough evaluations, designers can create high-quality, user-centered experiences.
Event-Based Communication
Event-based communication is a paradigm in which systems or components interact by exchanging events. An event is a significant occurrence or change in state within a system. When an event occurs, it's broadcast to interested parties, who can then react as needed.
This approach promotes loose coupling between components, as they don't need to communicate directly. Instead, they subscribe to events of interest and respond accordingly. This makes systems more scalable, resilient, and adaptable to change.
Event-based communication is widely used in modern software architectures, particularly in microservices architectures and distributed systems. It enables real-time, asynchronous communication, allowing systems to react quickly to changes and events.
Experience Map
An experience map is a visual representation of a customer's journey that helps businesses understand customer needs, identify pain points, and optimize the customer experience. By mapping out the entire customer journey, businesses can identify opportunities to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue.
Designers use experience maps to create empathetic and user-centered designs. By understanding the customer's emotional journey, designers can create intuitive and visually appealing interfaces that delight users. Experience maps help designers identify opportunities for innovation and ensure that design decisions are aligned with the overall customer experience.
Exponential Organisation
An Exponential Organization (ExO) is a company that leverages accelerating technologies to achieve disproportionate growth. They often have a clear and inspiring mission, and they utilize innovative strategies such as crowdsourcing, AI, and big data to scale rapidly. ExOs are characterized by their ability to adapt to change, embrace disruption, and create significant impact.
Design plays a crucial role in Exponential Organizations. Designers are responsible for creating intuitive and user-centric experiences that drive adoption and engagement. In an ExO, design is often integrated into the core of the business strategy, and designers collaborate closely with engineers, data scientists, and other stakeholders to develop innovative solutions. By leveraging design thinking and human-centered design principles, designers can help ExOs to achieve their ambitious goals.
External Consistency
Established design conventions in an industry or on the web at large, beyond one application or family of applications.
Contribute
Your
Story
Matters.
Contribute.
Behind every successful Product Design is one story of success that scales businesses, propositions and people within.
F.
Fast Follower
Fast follower, or second mover as it is also called, means not being the first one to enter a market, segment, or technology, etc. The benefit of this is that the one that comes after can learn from the earlier company's actions and mistakes. This way, they can quickly and with fewer resources create an offer which is better suited to a customer group's needs. Another benefit is that a 2nd mover can wait for the right time before they go in with greater force. Fast follower is a common strategy for many larger businesses while smaller start-ups are usually in a first mover position. See First mover.
Feed
Feeds are everywhere and some of us are growing quite tired of them too… Feeds usually display user activity in chronological or popular order but some are determined by an algorithm. Think of your Twitter or Instagram feed that has ever-changing content, ranging from text to images to videos to external links to sponsored posts.
Figma
Figma is a browser-based interface design tool that empowers fast design and prototyping and a smooth, collaborative workflow. It is one of the most popular design tools and you would struggle to find an UI or UX designer that doesn’t use it.
Figure/Ground
A Gestalt principle stating that people divide a scene into foreground and background and focus their perception on elements in the foreground.
First Mover
First mover benefits can be achieved, for example, by rapidly adopting new technology that competitors do not have and constantly developing it to stay ahead. There are also disadvantages of being in the front and the most significant one is that it is often costly to be the one who builds a market that is not yet mature. See Fast follower.
Fitts’s Law
Describes how long it takes a user to move a pointer (such as the mouse cursor or a finger) to a target in a graphical user interface (GUI) or other design, as a function of size and distance.
Flat Design
A design style characterized by minimalist use of visual elements such as gradients, shadows, and textures to create a clean and simple interface.
Flat Rate
Firms charge a published predictable fixed price rather than by the hour or other variable pricing. Examples: FedEx and USPS.
Flow
Flow is a mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. It's often described as being "in the zone."
Business Perspective: Flow can be leveraged to improve employee productivity and job satisfaction. By creating work environments that encourage flow, businesses can foster a culture of innovation and creativity. Additionally, understanding flow can help businesses design products and services that are more engaging and addictive.
Design Perspective: Flow can be applied to user experience design to create products and interfaces that are intuitive and enjoyable to use. By understanding the principles of flow, designers can create seamless experiences that keep users engaged and motivated.
Fluid UI
Fluid UI is a prototyping and wireframing software tool used to design mobile touch interfaces. It comes with extensive component libraries, easy animations and real-time collaboration options.
Font
Font is the name given to the particular size, weight and style of a typeface or text. We cover typeface in more detail below in number 89 but it is easily confused with font. Here is an easy way to understand the difference between the two: Helvetica is a typeface, whereas Helvetica Bold or Helvetica Italia are fonts.
Form
Forms are a regular feature in our lives but thanks to autofilling features, the labour of forms has been made a lot easier. Forms, as in real life, are filled out by users who wish to submit information. A common example is when you order something online and fill in your address in the shipping form.
Franchise
A franchise is a business model where a business owner (franchisor) licenses their business name, brand, operations, and processes to another business owner (franchisee). The franchisee pays an initial fee and ongoing royalties to the franchisor in exchange for the right to use the franchisor's brand and business model.
The goal of franchising is to expand a business rapidly and efficiently while maintaining brand consistency and quality control.
Freemium (Revenue model)
Freemium is a combination of free and (pre)mium, which in this case means payment service and it is just like it sounds. Part of the offer, which is usually less advanced and/or contains advertising, is free and it is possible to pay for even more features or to avoid advertisements. The purpose of this model is to get potential customers to try a service and then convert these people into paying customers. The model is very common for online businesses and it is used by companies such as King, Skype, Spotify, Microsoft SQL server, SurveyMonkey and Mailchimp. Freemium is often combined with other types of revenue models such as advertisement, subscriptions or licensing.
Freemium (Reffered as Play-before-you-Pay)
Key features are made available for free, with premium features made available after an upgrade. Examples: LinkedIn and Slack.
Full-stack designer
A full-stack designer is a designer who has the skills and know-how to take on all the “stacks” (or layers) of the product design and development process. While most designers will specialise in just one area, such as UX design or UI design, full-stack designers can take on UX design, UI design, interaction design and frontend development.
Funnel
The funnel method is a visual representation of a process, often used in marketing and sales. It helps businesses understand and optimize customer journeys, from initial awareness to purchase. By analyzing the funnel, businesses can identify bottlenecks, improve conversion rates, and make data-driven decisions.
Designers use the funnel method to guide users through a product or service. By understanding the user's journey, designers can create intuitive and efficient user experiences. The funnel helps designers identify opportunities for improvement, such as streamlining the user flow or reducing cognitive load. By applying the funnel method, designers can create products and services that are easy to use and meet user needs.
Design at Scale™ – specializes in product design development, helping individuals to shape the future organisation through design.
G.
General Digital Maturity
General Digital Maturity (GDM) is a measure of an organization's ability to leverage digital technologies to achieve its strategic goals. It encompasses various dimensions, including technological infrastructure, data management, cybersecurity, and digital culture. A high level of GDM enables organizations to innovate, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer experiences.
General Digital Maturity (GDM) influences the design capabilities of an organization. A higher level of GDM enables designers to access advanced tools and technologies, collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, and create innovative digital experiences. A digitally mature organization fosters a culture of innovation, experimentation, and user-centered design. Designers in such organizations have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects and contribute to the development of groundbreaking products and services.
Gestalt Principles
The Gestalt principles are a set of psychology laws that describe how our minds organise and interpret visual data. The Gestalt principles can be used to inform design decisions and shape a user’s interaction with a product.
For example, the law of proximity states that elements which are positioned close together appear to be more related than elements which are spaced further apart. If you were designing a website based on the law of proximity, you’d group related elements closer together.
Proximity: Elements that are close to each other are perceived as more closely related than those placed further apart
Similarity: Similar elements are perceived to be more related than elements that dissimilar elements. Shape, scale, orientation and colour all contribute to making elements seem similar.
Continuity: When elements are placed in a line or soft curve, they are perceived to be more related than those that are arranged randomly. This same concept applies when content flows in a certain direction.
Connectedness: When we see connections in disjointed or incomplete objects. A great example of this is recognising an image in a connect the dots picture before actually connecting the dots.
Closure: When we look at complex visual elements, we naturally look for a single or recognisable pattern. In other words, we fill in the gaps that we do not see. We do not need to see every element in a logo for us to recognise which company or brand it belongs to. Examples of this include the logos for Starbucks, Adobe or NBC.
Gig Economy
A gig economy is a labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work. In this economy, individuals work on flexible, project-based engagements rather than traditional full-time jobs. Gig workers often use digital platforms to connect with clients and secure work. This model offers flexibility and autonomy to workers but can also lead to job insecurity and a lack of traditional benefits like healthcare and retirement plans.
Examples of gig economy jobs include: ride-sharing drivers, food delivery drivers, freelance writers and editors, web developers and designers, and consultants. As technology continues to advance and the traditional job market evolves, the gig economy is expected to grow in importance.
Golden Ratio
A mathematical ratio used in design to create organic, balanced, and aesthetically pleasing compositions, thought to be favored by the human eye. This ratio is found in design, nature, photography, and architecture. In UX, use the golden ratio to harmoniously adjust font sizes, highlight focus areas of images, and create balanced layouts.
Grids
In UI design, a grid is a layout constraint that determines where UI elements will sit on a screen or page. Fundamental to effective design systems, they bring order to a layout using columns and rows and they help to maintain consistency and remove any room for error. It makes the decision-making process around sizing and space much faster and easier.
These are the standard numbers for the different grid types:
Desktop: 12 columns
Tablet: 8 columns
Mobile: 4 columns
Wearables: 2 columns
Tablet: 8 columns
Mobile: 4 columns
Wearables: 2 columns
Guerilla Research
Guerrilla research is a rapid and cost-effective approach to gathering user insights. It involves conducting research in public spaces, often without a formal recruitment process.
Business Perspective: Guerrilla research allows businesses to quickly gather feedback from potential customers, validate product ideas, and identify market opportunities. By conducting short interviews, observations, or surveys, businesses can make informed decisions and optimize their products and services.
Design Perspective: Designers use guerrilla research to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points. By observing users in their natural environment, designers can gain valuable insights into how people interact with products and services. This information can be used to inform design decisions and create more user-centric experiences.
Gutters
Gutters are the vertical strips between columns in grids that are used to prevent elements from bumping into each other.
H.
HaaS
Hardware as a Service (HaaS) is a cloud computing model where hardware infrastructure, such as servers, storage, and networking equipment, is provided as a service. Rather than purchasing and maintaining hardware, businesses can rent it on a subscription basis. This allows businesses to scale their infrastructure up or down as needed, reducing upfront costs and simplifying IT management.
Hamburger menu
With three, equi-length, horizontal lines stacked on top of each other, the hamburger menu looks like – but doesn’t taste anything like – hamburger. This very commonly used icon usually sits at the top corner of an app. When clicked, it opens up like a drawer, revealing a list of multiple navigation links.
Heuristic Evaluation
Heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method where experts evaluate a user interface against a set of usability principles (heuristics) to identify usability problems.
Business Perspective: Heuristic evaluation helps businesses improve the usability of their products and services. By identifying and addressing usability issues early in the design process, businesses can reduce development costs, improve customer satisfaction, and increase sales.
Design Perspective: Designers use heuristic evaluation to assess the quality of their designs and identify areas for improvement. By applying established usability principles, designers can create intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly interfaces. Heuristic evaluation helps designers make informed decisions about design choices and ensures that their designs meet the needs of their users.
Hierarchy
Hierarchy is a UI design principle used to present information with different levels of emphasis according to its importance. In doing so, it helps guide users through a web page or application.
HLRs
High-Level Requirements (HLRs) are a set of broad, overarching requirements that define the overall scope and objectives of a project. They provide a high-level view of what the system or product should do, without delving into the specific details of implementation.
Business Perspective: HLRs help businesses align their teams and stakeholders on the strategic goals of a project. They provide a clear direction and ensure that the project is focused on delivering value. By defining the core functionalities and desired outcomes, HLRs help businesses make informed decisions about resource allocation, budgeting, and prioritization.
Design Perspective: HLRs provide designers with a strategic framework for their work. They help designers understand the overall vision for the product and identify the key user needs that need to be addressed. By focusing on the big picture, designers can create innovative and user-centered solutions that meet the business objectives. Additionally, HLRs can help designers prioritize their work and allocate resources effectively.
I.
IA – Information Architecture
Information Architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments. It focuses on how information is organized, labelled, and navigated to ensure it is easy to find and understand.
Business Perspective: A well-structured information architecture can significantly impact a business's bottom line. It can improve user experience, increase website traffic, and boost sales. By organizing information in a logical and intuitive way, businesses can reduce user frustration, increase website engagement, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
Design Perspective: Information architecture is a crucial aspect of user experience (UX) design. Designers use IA principles to create clear and effective information hierarchies, navigation systems, and search functions. By organizing information in a logical and intuitive way, designers can help users find what they need quickly and easily. Additionally, a well-structured information architecture can enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of a website or application.
IaaS
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing model that provides on-demand access to computing resources like servers, storage, and networking. Businesses can rent these resources on a pay-as-you-go basis, reducing upfront costs and simplifying IT management.
Business Perspective: IaaS offers several benefits for businesses, including reduced IT infrastructure costs, increased scalability, and improved agility. By leveraging IaaS, businesses can focus on their core competencies and accelerate innovation.
Implementation
Implementation is the process of putting a plan or strategy into action. It involves taking the concepts, designs, and decisions made during the planning phase and executing them.
Implementation involves translating strategic plans into operational activities. This includes allocating resources, developing timelines, and assigning tasks to team members. Successful implementation requires careful planning, effective communication, and strong leadership.
Implementation refers to the process of bringing a design to life. This involves translating design concepts into functional products or services. Designers work closely with developers and engineers to ensure that the final product meets the design specifications and user needs.
Incentives
Incentives are rewards or motivators that encourage specific behaviours or actions. They can be tangible (like money or products) or intangible (like recognition or praise). Incentives are used to motivate employees, customers, or other stakeholders to achieve desired outcomes.
Increment
In business, an increment refers to a small, measurable step towards a larger goal. It's a building block that, when combined with other increments, forms a complete product or solution.
Incremental Development is a project management approach where work is broken down into smaller, incremental steps. This allows for more flexibility, faster delivery, and a reduced risk of project failure. Each increment represents a functional piece of the final product, and it can be delivered to customers or stakeholders independently.
This approach is particularly beneficial for large and complex projects, as it allows for continuous feedback and adaptation. By delivering value in smaller increments, businesses can respond to changing market conditions and customer needs more effectively.
Incremental Innovation
This refers to small incremental improvements within existing operations and offers. Kaizen or ISO 9001 are related concepts and incremental innovation is used primarily as a competitive strategy in the short-term or on markets with no major change. One example is when a car manufacturer comes out with a new model with smaller changes compared to the previous one, such as an engine requiring less fuel, five doors instead of the previous three or rear-screen TVs. Compare with structural and disruptive innovation.
Indirect touchpoints – Indirect touchpoints refer to where companies communicate through a different party with their target group. They are divided into:
Indirect touchpoints – Indirect touchpoints refer to where companies communicate through a different party with their target group. They are divided into:
1/ Touchpoints via collaboration
2/ Earned touchpoints
3/ Purchased touchpoints
5/ Compare direct touchpoints.
Informational components
In UI design, informational components are elements that tell users what’s going on. While we go into more details of these elements elsewhere in the glossary, tooltips, icons, progress bar, notifications, message boxes and modal windows are all examples of informational components.
Infrastructure (motor)
Infrastructure provides the foundation for product design and development. It encompasses hardware, software, and networks that enable efficient and effective operations. By investing in robust infrastructure, businesses can streamline workflows, improve collaboration, and accelerate time-to-market.
Infrastructure plays a crucial role in the design process, providing the tools and resources needed to create innovative and user-centric designs. Designers rely on a variety of software tools, such as CAD/CAM, prototyping tools, and design collaboration platforms, to bring their ideas to life. A strong infrastructure enables designers to work efficiently, collaborate seamlessly with other teams, and deliver high-quality designs.
Innovation
An innovation is a new solution that is used in practice and which improves revenue, cost or creates other values in a company, that is, increases competitiveness.
1/ Incremental innovation
2/ Structural innovation
3/ Disruptive innovation
Input control
Input controls are the interactive elements used on any interface. These include checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, list boxes, buttons, toggles, text fields and date fields.
Input field
Fairly self-explanatory, input fields are a place where users can enter content into a system. Forms are the most common example but a search bar is an example of an input field that we use on an hourly basis.
Integration
Business Perspective: Integration refers to the process of combining different elements or systems into a unified whole. In business, integration can involve merging different departments, systems, or processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness. For example, integrating customer relationship management (CRM) with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can streamline operations and provide valuable insights.
Design Perspective: In design, integration refers to the seamless blending of different design elements and components. Designers often integrate various design principles, such as color theory, typography, and layout, to create visually appealing and functional designs. Additionally, designers may integrate different digital tools and technologies to streamline the design process and improve collaboration.
Interaction
Interaction refers to the way in which two or more things affect each other. It involves mutual or reciprocal action or influence.
Design Perspective: Interaction design focuses on how users interact with products and services. It involves designing intuitive and engaging user interfaces that facilitate seamless and enjoyable experiences.
Business Perspective: Interaction design is crucial for businesses as it directly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. By creating positive interactions, businesses can build strong relationships with their customers and drive sales.
Business Perspective: Interaction design is crucial for businesses as it directly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. By creating positive interactions, businesses can build strong relationships with their customers and drive sales.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity to collect and exchange data. These devices can range from everyday objects like smart thermostats and wearable fitness trackers to industrial machinery and vehicles. IoT enables devices to communicate with each other and with the internet, leading to automation, efficiency, and new possibilities.
Iteratoin
Iteration is a cyclical process of design, test, and refine. It involves creating a version of a product or service, testing it with users, gathering feedback, and then making improvements based on the insights gained. This iterative process continues until the desired outcome is achieved.
Business Perspective: Iteration is a valuable approach for businesses to continuously improve their products and services. By iterating on their offerings, businesses can adapt to changing market conditions, meet evolving customer needs, and stay ahead of the competition.
Design Perspective: Designers rely heavily on iteration to refine their designs and create exceptional user experiences. By testing prototypes and gathering user feedback, designers can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions. Iteration allows designers to create more intuitive, efficient, and satisfying products and services.
J.
Joint
A stroke that connects with a stem.
Journey
A user journey is a visual representation of a user's interaction with a product or service. It maps out the steps a user takes to achieve a specific goal, from initial awareness to post-purchase support. By understanding the user journey, businesses and designers can identify pain points, optimize the user experience, and create more effective products and services.
JSON
JSON, short for JavaScript Object Notation, is a human-readable, lightweight format for recording, storing, and exchanging data. It’s a subset of JavaScript containing fewer objects and properties, providing a quick and effective way to present code as text that both humans and machines understand.
Web developers typically use JSON for transferring data between different systems, such as the internet, mobile applications, and web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
Its simplicity and versatility offer a standardized method of data representation.
Its simplicity and versatility offer a standardized method of data representation.
JS
JavaScript (JS) is a programming language web developers use to create dynamic interactions and effects for webpages and applications.
Developers typically use JavaScript alongside HTML and CSS, markup languages that structure and style web content, respectively. Markups define and present text, but lack the dynamism to create interactive content. JavaScript, on the other hand, facilitates element-building to improve user experiences by allowing you to create animated graphics, dynamic background colors, and dropdown menus.
Justified
Instances when text is aligned to the left and right margin within a text frame, with no rag on either side.
Contribute
Your
Story
Matters.
Contribute.
Behind every successful Product Design is one story of success that scales businesses, propositions and people within.
K.
Kanban
Kanban is a visual method for managing work, particularly in software development. It's a lean methodology that helps teams visualize their workflow, limit work in progress, and improve efficiency. Kanban boards typically use cards to represent tasks, and these cards are moved across different columns (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) to track progress.
KPI
It stands for Key Performance Indicator, a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectivesIt stands for Key Performance Indicator, a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives
L.
Launching Phase
The Launching Phase is the final stage of a product or service development lifecycle, where it is introduced to the market. It involves a series of activities aimed at generating awareness, driving sales, and ensuring customer satisfaction. A successful launch can significantly impact a business's revenue and market position.
The Launching Phase is a crucial moment for designers to see their work come to life. It involves ensuring that the product or service is ready for launch, both functionally and aesthetically. Designers may be involved in creating marketing materials, user guides, and other supporting materials. Additionally, designers may provide post-launch support, such as addressing user feedback and implementing design improvements.
Lean Production
Lean production, also called lean manufacturing, is an approach that eliminates everything that does not create value for a customer. It was developed by Toyota after the Second World War. In that corporation, it is called Toyota Production System (TPS). Lean is based on 14 basic principles:
1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals.
2. Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
3. Use ‘pull’ systems to avoid overproduction.
4. Level out the workload (work like the tortoise, not the hare).
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.
7. Use visual controls so no problems are hidden.
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and process.
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.
10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.
11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.
12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation.
13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly.
14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.
2. Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface.
3. Use ‘pull’ systems to avoid overproduction.
4. Level out the workload (work like the tortoise, not the hare).
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment.
7. Use visual controls so no problems are hidden.
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and process.
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others.
10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy.
11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.
12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation.
13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly.
14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement.
Working with continuous improvements, Kaizen in Japanese, is the basic view of Lean production, where no process is considered to be complete.
Lean Startup
The Lean Startup is a methodology for developing businesses and products that emphasize building, measuring, and learning. It focuses on creating a minimum viable product (MVP) and iteratively improving it based on customer feedback.
Business Perspective: The Lean Startup approach helps businesses reduce risk, accelerate product development, and increase the likelihood of success. By focusing on customer needs and validating product ideas early on, businesses can avoid costly mistakes and allocate resources more effectively.
Design Perspective: Designers play a crucial role in the Lean Startup process. Designers can gather valuable insights and iterate on designs by creating rapid prototypes and conducting user testing. The Lean Startup methodology encourages a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement, allowing designers to create innovative and user-centred products.
Lean vs Agile
Lean and Agile are popular methodologies in project management and software development. While they share some similarities, they have distinct focuses.
Business Perspective: Lean focuses on eliminating waste and maximizing efficiency. It emphasizes continuous improvement, value stream mapping, and just-in-time delivery. Lean is often used to streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve overall business performance. Agile prioritizes flexibility and adaptability. It emphasizes iterative development, customer collaboration, and rapid value delivery. Agile methods like Scrum and Kanban help teams respond to changing requirements and deliver high-quality products.
Design Perspective: In design, Lean principles can be applied to streamline the process, reduce waste, and improve efficiency. By eliminating unnecessary steps and focusing on a design's core value, designers can create products and services more quickly and effectively. Agile methods encourage designers to collaborate closely with developers and other stakeholders. By working in short iterations, designers can gather feedback early and often, leading to better design decisions. Agile also emphasizes user-centered design and continuous improvement.
LeSS
Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) is a framework for scaling Agile practices to large, complex organizations. It's designed to help teams collaborate effectively and deliver value at scale.
Business Perspective: LeSS provides a structured approach to managing large-scale projects, ensuring that teams are aligned and working towards common goals. By breaking down large projects into smaller, more manageable components, LeSS can help businesses improve efficiency, reduce risk, and accelerate time-to-market.
Design Perspective: LeSS can help design teams collaborate effectively on complex projects. By organizing teams into feature teams and aligning them with business objectives, LeSS can ensure that design efforts are focused on delivering value to users. Additionally, LeSS promotes continuous improvement and iterative design, allowing designers to refine their work based on user feedback.
Licensing (revenue model)
A revenue model is a strategy a business uses to generate revenue. It outlines how a company will earn money from its products or services. Common revenue models include product sales, service fees, subscription fees, advertising, licensing, and freemium. By understanding different revenue models, businesses can develop sustainable and profitable business strategies.
Designers can contribute to a company's revenue model by creating products and services that are desirable, usable, and valuable. By focusing on user experience, designers can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased revenue. Additionally, designers can help identify new revenue opportunities, such as through the development of digital products or services.
Lifetime Value
Lifetime value (LTV) or Customer lifetime value (CLV), is a forecast of net income for the entire future business relationship with a customer. In order for an activity to be profitable, the lifetime value must be higher than the acquisition cost.
M.
MaaS
Models-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a cloud-based service that provides access to pre-trained machine learning models. These models can be used to perform various tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
MaaS providers offer a range of models, from general-purpose models to industry-specific models. By using MaaS, businesses can leverage the power of AI without the need for extensive data science expertise or infrastructure. This can help businesses to accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and improve decision-making.
Manifesto
A company manifesto is a declaration of a company's core values, mission, and vision. It outlines the company's purpose, its guiding principles, and the impact it aims to make. A well-crafted manifesto can inspire employees, attract customers, and guide decision-making. It serves as a roadmap for the company's future, outlining its goals and how it intends to achieve them.
Map
A business map is a visual representation of a business's processes, structures, or strategies. It helps to visualize complex information and identify areas for improvement. By mapping out processes, organizations can streamline workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and improve overall performance.
Business maps can be a valuable tool for designers, especially when designing complex systems or services. By visualizing the user journey and identifying pain points, designers can create more intuitive and user-friendly experiences. Additionally, business maps can help designers understand the broader context of their work and ensure that their designs align with the overall business objectives.
Market Share
Market Share is the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product. It's often expressed as a percentage of the total market size. A higher market share indicates a stronger market position and greater influence within the industry. Companies strive to increase their market share to gain a competitive advantage and boost profitability.
Matrix
An evaluation matrix is a tool used to compare and contrast different options or ideas based on a set of defined criteria. It's a structured approach to decision-making that helps to objectively assess alternatives and identify the best choice.
Business Perspective: Businesses use evaluation matrices to compare different vendors, products, or strategies. By assigning scores to each option based on specific criteria, businesses can make informed decisions that align with their strategic goals.
Design Perspective: Designers use evaluation matrices to compare different design concepts or solutions. By evaluating designs against criteria such as usability, aesthetics, and feasibility, designers can select the most promising options and make data-driven decisions.
Metric
A metric is a standard of measurement used to evaluate, compare, and track performance or progress within a specific context. Metrics are quantitative in nature and provide objective data that can be analysed to inform decision-making.
MSP
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) provide IT services to other organisations, such as network management, security, and cloud services. By outsourcing these services to an MSP, businesses can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and focus on their core competencies.
MSPs can support design teams by providing the necessary infrastructure and tools to create and deliver digital products and services. This includes managing design software, cloud-based collaboration tools, and ensuring data security. By outsourcing IT infrastructure and support to an MSP, design teams can focus on designing innovative and user-centred solutions.
Machine Learning
Machine Learning (ML) is a field of artificial intelligence that empowers computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without explicit programming. By analyzing vast datasets, ML algorithms can identify patterns, trends, and insights that would be difficult or impossible for humans to discern.
Business Perspective: Machine learning has revolutionized industries by enabling businesses to automate processes, make data-driven decisions, and gain a competitive edge. It can be applied to various business functions, such as marketing, finance, and operations, to optimize performance and drive growth.
Design Perspective: Machine learning has significant implications for design. Designers can leverage ML to create more personalized and intuitive user experiences. By analyzing user behaviour and preferences, designers can tailor products and services to individual needs. Additionally, ML can be used to automate design tasks, improve design decision-making, and generate creative ideas.
Marketing Automation
An increasingly common way of automating communication is through marketing automation tools.
The companies that use them have the ability to:
The companies that use them have the ability to:
Lead capturing: Identify and collect information about potential customers in their digital channels
Lead scoring: Score a visitor's activities in order to find out where this person is at in the buying process. Examples of activities could be downloading a brochure, signing up for a newsletter or following a company on Twitter.
Lead nurturing: Nurture and develop relationships, for example, through content marketing tailored to where the customer is in the buying process.
Minimalism
A low-density aesthetic style in which a design provides the bare minimum components needed to fulfill some purpose.
Mission
If the vision points toward where the company is going, the mission will answer the question of what the purpose of the company is, its reason for existing and what the company is doing to reach the vision. The vision is about the future and the mission describes the present as well as the future. As with the vision, a well-formulated mission gives clarity, facilitating the daily work by providing guidance on what a company should and should not do. The latter is often as important as the previous one as it creates boundaries that increase focus.
Mobilization phase
The first phase of the Digital Maturity Matrix is aimed at companies with low maturity compared to their surrounding world. In order to answer why it is important and to come up with a vision of where the company is going by using the investment are important elements in this phase. It is often necessary to get to the bottom with why the company exists. Answering why and where will lead to commitment and effort to move forward. In this phase, the venture is often limited to one or more people who will be in charge of it. Compare Coordination phase and Acceleration phase.
Mode (Light/Dark)
The combination of light text on a dark background; also known as negative contrast polarity.
Modular infrastructure
Modular infrastructure means that individual components can be replaced with minimal impact on other infrastructure. This creates ongoing flexibility and costs can be kept down.
Monochrome
A color palette composed only of different shades of a single color, with no other colors present. Monochrome palettes can be centered around any color, as long as every color in that palette is a lighter or darker shade of that one color.
Moodboard
Moodboards are essentially a collage of images, text and samples of objects in a design composition. They’re a visual presentation used in the brainstorming stage of a product.
MVP – Minimum Viable Product
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the minimum representation of a product that allows it to be tested against customers in order to get feedback to improve the product. The term was coined by Frank Robinson.
N.
Navigational components
Navigational components are elements that allow the user to interact with and use your product. Breadcrumb, slider, search field, pagination, slider, tags and icons are all examples of navigational components. They let the user know where they are and help them to get to their next desired location.
Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score is a way of measuring customer satisfaction by looking at the proportion of ambassadors and critics.
Network Effect (strategy)
The network effect (also called winner takes it all) is one of four basic strategies. The net effect is a phenomenon that occurs when the value of the offer increases for each additional buyer or user. Examples of companies include Ebay and Blocket, both of which are dominant players in their niches, and Facebook, which nowadays is clearly the dominant social network. The companies that succeed in achieving network effect and getting more users than competitors often have a position which is difficult to affect. Compare Cost leadership, Differentiation and Customer relationship.
Notifications
Notifications are messages that the computer, phone or watch send out to show that something has happened or will happen. The calendar reminds you that an appointment is coming up, the message service lets you know that you received a reply to an email and the news service tells you that an important event has occurred.
The importance of notifications keeps increasing as users get access to more and more mobile devices such as smart watches. By linking customer data, geographic position and user situation, there are great opportunities to provide relevant tips in real time. However, as it is a matter of providing information in accordance with the old communication model, it is difficult to figure out a way that this can be done, and giving the user control over what he/she is being notified of is a necessity.
The importance of notifications keeps increasing as users get access to more and more mobile devices such as smart watches. By linking customer data, geographic position and user situation, there are great opportunities to provide relevant tips in real time. However, as it is a matter of providing information in accordance with the old communication model, it is difficult to figure out a way that this can be done, and giving the user control over what he/she is being notified of is a necessity.
O.
OKRs
Objectives and key results (OKRs) is a management system invented by Intel and popularized by Google in the late 90's. In short, management is guided by visions and contexts, as well as through few, clear and ambitious goals that are linked to a number of key results.
The objectives and key results are broken down by each department and further down to the individual level. The purpose of the model is that everyone should work toward the same goal and that different departments and individuals can more easily coordinate their work. This is facilitated by the fact that all goals and key results are transparent, down to the individual level - for everyone to share them. This often happens through web-based control panels. Objectives and key results are regularly monitored, usually on a quarterly basis. Many start-ups in Silicon Valley use the system, and an increasing number of traditional companies also use this system.
The objectives and key results are broken down by each department and further down to the individual level. The purpose of the model is that everyone should work toward the same goal and that different departments and individuals can more easily coordinate their work. This is facilitated by the fact that all goals and key results are transparent, down to the individual level - for everyone to share them. This often happens through web-based control panels. Objectives and key results are regularly monitored, usually on a quarterly basis. Many start-ups in Silicon Valley use the system, and an increasing number of traditional companies also use this system.
Omni-channel
Omni-channel is a concept that involves following visitors or customers all the way. Multi-channel is based on reaching the target groups through several touchpoints and optimizing each one of these separately, while omni-channel takes an additional step by focusing on optimizing the customer's overall experience of all contact points as one. It means completely basing it on the customer's perspective and creating an experience that works seamlessly and intuitively through all touchpoints used by the customer. This experience is individual. When a potential customer visits the company's website, the content will be customized after this unique individual's behavior, the time of day and the geographic location. The customer journey becomes an important tool for us to understand how the customer moves around and what each contact area should contribute with.
Open API
API stands for Application Programming Interface and specifies how different web services communicate with each other; the result may be a mash up of different services. Increasingly, companies also open their web services through APIs and provide access to data and content for other external developers to build services on top of. Sometimes it's linked to a common revenue model, sometimes it's more of a service. In this way, the services can be developed with solutions that a single company would never have the resources to generate themselves and which are often equipped to fit very specific needs. Examples of open APIs that are widely used by third-party developers are the apps that can be built for the likes of Facebook, Spotify, the Appstore, and Google Play.
Open innovation
A term coined in 2003 by Henry Chesbrough, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Chesbrough pointed to the importance of companies using external as well as internal ideas. A related term is co-creation. A large number of people outside a particular operation contribute to solving a task.
Open Source
A general trend when it comes to choice of technology is that more and more people choose to build on open source, as costs can be kept down and it's easy to get programmers who can work in basic open source environments. Open source aims to open the source code of the programs that are developed so that others can use it and further develop and customize solutions on top of existing code without paying licensing fees. The payment is often made by using what was developed and sharing it back into the open system and thus the open source environments become more developed. The opposite of open source is proprietary software owned by a company, where users' rights are limited, often through copyright and patents. Examples of open source projects are the Wordpress publishing tool, the MySQL database and the office software OpenOffice.
Organization (motor)
The corporate culture, skills, and organizational structure that exist in order to create and deliver the value proposition. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Own Touchpoints
Touchpoints that the company controls and can directly reach out through without paying or relying on someone else to spread their message. Some examples of this could be your own developed websites, blogs, apps, sales people and customer service. It may also be that the touch points are integrated in the offer itself. For example, in a computer where the user finds out about new services that the manufacturer launches.
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P.
PaaS
Platform-as-a-Service. Providers give developers services to accelerate software deployment with reduced cost and complexity. Examples: AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Heroku.
Pain point
A pain point could be disadvantages that customers experience with currently offered solutions or a need that is not being met satisfactorily today. Understanding these pain points and finding solutions to them is a common approach to product and service innovation.
Pattern Design
UX and UI design patterns are repeatable, reusable design components used to solve usability issues that users commonly experience. For example, the breadcrumb navigation element (number 9 in our UI glossary) is a design pattern used to show the user their pathway from the homepage to the page that they’re currently viewing.
Pay-Per-Use
The use of a product is metered. Customers are charged for total usage in a specific period. Examples: AWS and Magazino.
Pay what you want (revenue model)
The "pay what you want" model is just what it sounds like. Wikipedia, the digital marketplace called Humblebundle.com and the Ubuntu operating system are all funded through voluntary payment. Radiohead, the rock band, also released their album ”In Rainbows” with optional payment. This revenue model can be combined with a different type of revenue model to back it up, such as licensing, subscription or transaction management.
Persona
A persona is a fictional character created to represent a specific user group. It is based on real-world user research and data, and it helps designers and product managers understand the needs, goals, and behaviours of their target audience.
By creating detailed personas, teams can make informed decisions about product features, user interface design, and marketing strategies. Personas help to ensure that products and services are designed with the user in mind.
PM
A Product Manager is responsible for the strategic product management of a software application or product. They oversee the entire product lifecycle, from ideation to launch and beyond. By understanding market needs, defining product vision, and working closely with cross-functional teams, product managers play a crucial role in driving business growth and customer satisfaction.
Product Managers work closely with designers to ensure that products meet the needs of users. They provide designers with clear product requirements, prioritize features, and provide feedback on design concepts. By collaborating with product managers, designers can create products that are not only visually appealing but also functional and user-friendly.
PNL
It stands for Profit and Loss. It is a financial statement that summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period, usually a fiscal quarter or year. These records provide information about a company's ability to generate profit by increasing revenue, reducing costs, or both.
Prescriptive Analysis
Prescriptive analysis is a further development of predictive analysis. This method provides far-reaching forecasts and also suggests what actions should be taken to optimize the outcome. The focus is: What is the best thing that can happen? Compare descriptive analysis and predictive analysis.
Predictive Analysis
A method of analysis that uses historical data to provide predictions about the future: for example, the likelihood is that X will occur if Y has occurred. Focus on: What is going to happen and why? Compare descriptive analysis and prescriptive analysis.
Primary Data
Data that you collect yourself. Compare Secondary data.
Prince2
PRINCE2 is a structured project management methodology that provides a clear framework for planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing projects. By following the PRINCE2 principles, businesses can improve project success rates, reduce costs, and deliver projects on time and within budget. PRINCE2 is particularly useful for large-scale, complex projects where clear governance and risk management are essential.
While PRINCE2 is primarily a project management methodology, it can be applied to design projects as well. By breaking down large design projects into smaller, manageable phases, designers can improve their efficiency and productivity. PRINCE2 can also help designers to manage risks, prioritize tasks, and deliver high-quality design solutions. However, it's important to adapt PRINCE2 to the specific needs of design projects, as design processes can be more iterative and creative than traditional project management approaches.
Process Mapping
The first step in process mapping is to identify which processes are business critical, that create value for the target groups. These are divided into main processes, management processes and support processes.
In the second step, the mapping will focus on the key ratios that will be used to measure how the development is determined.
Next, the process is planned in a comprehensive manner in order to be further fleshed out. The mapping should end up in a place where existing processes are described and a desired situation where the changes are apparent.
In the second step, the mapping will focus on the key ratios that will be used to measure how the development is determined.
Next, the process is planned in a comprehensive manner in order to be further fleshed out. The mapping should end up in a place where existing processes are described and a desired situation where the changes are apparent.
Process
A process is a chain of activities that in a recurring flow creates value for a customer. (Olof Rentzhog, 1998)
Processes (motor)
The recurring series of actions that exist to support the organization to create and deliver the value proposition. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Profit
The financial gain realised when the revenue from business activities exceeds the costs and expenses associated with operating the business.
Profit (Gross)
Revenue minus the cost of goods sold (COGS). It shows how efficiently a company uses its resources to produce goods or services.
Profit (Net)
The actual profit after all expenses, including operating expenses, taxes, and interest, have been deducted from total revenue. Also known as the bottom line.
Professional Services
A group of consultants or skilled experts that deliver advice, counsel, or solutions for clients. Examples: McKinsey, Cooley and Accenture.
Prototype
A prototype is a simulation or model of what the final product will (or could) look like. UX designers create prototypes to gather feedback and improve their designs before pushing them through to development.
Proximity
A Gestalt principle stating that design elements near each other are perceived as related, while elements spaced apart are perceived as belonging to separate groups.
Purchased Organization
The purchased organization consists of the consultants a company uses.
Purchased Touchpoints
Part of indirect touchpoints and refers to when a company pays to be visible to the target audience, for example, through display or search advertising.
Q.
Qualtitative Research
Qualitative Research is a method for understanding human behavior and experiences. It involves collecting and analyzing qualitative data, such as interviews, observations, and focus groups.
Business Perspective: Qualitative research helps businesses gain deep insights into customer needs, preferences, and motivations. It can be used to identify emerging trends, uncover unmet needs, and develop innovative products and services. By understanding the "why" behind customer behaviour, businesses can make more informed decisions and improve their marketing strategies.
Design Perspective: Qualitative research is an essential tool for designers. It helps them to empathize with users, understand their pain points, and identify opportunities for design innovation. Designers can gather valuable insights that inform the design process by conducting user interviews, observations, and usability tests. Qualitative research can also be used to evaluate design solutions' effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis often means a relatively small amount of unstructured data and the purpose is usually to find out why something happens. A focus group is an example of a qualitative research method in which participants are asked to explain what they think, feel and how they act in different situations and why. Qualitative studies may be helpful in early stages of analysis, for example, to pinpoint the correct definition of a problem for a quantitative analysis.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is a research method that uses statistical techniques to collect and analyze numerical data. It aims to quantify variables and generalize results to a larger population.
Business Perspective: Quantitative research is widely used in business to measure and analyze market trends, customer behavior, and financial performance. By collecting and analyzing numerical data, businesses can make informed decisions, identify opportunities, and mitigate risks.
Design Perspective: In design, quantitative research is used to gather data on user behavior, preferences, and satisfaction. By analyzing user metrics, such as click-through rates, time on site, and conversion rates, designers can identify areas for improvement and optimize user experiences.
Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative analysis often means larger amounts of well structured data. Quantitative analysis is done for surveys, etc. Compare qualitative analysis.
Quick Wins
Quick wins are actions that do not require much effort and have an immediate effect. In a digital transformation, fast profits are necessary to strengthen the conviction of those who are already positive and help make them reluctant to change their minds. Quick wins should yield the desired effect: be visible, have a clear advantage, be clearly linked to the transformation and start soon after launching.
R.
Raster Image
An image whose size is static and is composed of pixels (as opposed to vectors). When a raster image is zoomed in on or stretched, the pixels are more defined or visible. Raster images are also known as bitmap images, including JPG, PNG, or GIF files.
Razorblade
The core product (the razor) is priced for uptake, while more money is made on the consumable (the blade). Examples: Nespresso and Gilette.
Recommended Practice (Digital Maturity Matrix)
Recommended practice (before Best practice) is a central part of the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology. One of the main aims of the methodology is that it helps companies find out when to do what and how it will happen. This means that the digital motors should be developed in a certain order so that the transformation can be done as smoothly and quickly as possible.
There is of course not only one way to develop the digital maturity of the nine digital motors that work regardless of situation. On the other hand, there is a basic scheme that is a good reference for most businesses. We call it the general recommended practice. This means, for example, that it is an advantage if the motor Values, Vision & Mission is a bit ahead driving the transformation, especially in the early stages (Mobilization phase). In the second phase (Coordination phase), Values, Vision & Mission should still be ahead at the same time as focus should also now increase on how the company works, and for example, motors like Organization and Data & Analysis should be given priority. In the third phase (Acceleration phase), the maturity between the different motors should be evened out.
A general recommended practice practice is adapted in different steps (see 123-127 in the book) to a custom best practice.
When doing the digital maturity test, the result is set in relation to the general recommended practice practice described above. This allows the company to understand whether different motors are located before, after or in phase.
Relationships (motor)
How the company interacts with its target groups, which relationships are developed, and how these integrate with the value proposition. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Requirements
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Responsive design
Responsive design ensures that your designs display accurately on different screen sizes. A website that’s been designed responsively will look great whether it’s viewed on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.
Revenue Model
Many tend to confuse revenue model with business model. Revenue streams equal the revenue model and these are part of the business model and describe how the company creates revenue.
Companies use different types of revenue models and several can be used at the same time. These revenue models are not mutually exclusive, but are partly integrated and many can be used together. Examples of revenue models are: Advertising, trade and freemium.
Companies use different types of revenue models and several can be used at the same time. These revenue models are not mutually exclusive, but are partly integrated and many can be used together. Examples of revenue models are: Advertising, trade and freemium.
Revenue
The total amount of money generated from the sale of goods or services related to the company's primary operations.
ROIs
It stands for Return on Investment, a measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of several investments. Calculated as the benefit (return) of an investment divided by the cost of the investment.
S.
S@S (Scrum at Scale)
Scrum, as originally outlined in the Scrum Guide, is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products by a single team. Since its inception, its usage has extended to the creation of products, processes, services, and systems that require the efforts of multiple teams. Scrum@Scale was created to efficiently coordinate this new ecosystem of teams. It achieves this goal through setting up a “minimum viable bureaucracy” via a “scale-free” architecture.
SaaS
It stands for Software-as-a-Service. Cloud-hosted software purchased as recurring revenue. Examples: Salesforce and Dropbox
Saturation
How intensely colors appear in any given element. Highly saturated elements use bright, bold colors, while less saturated elements use neutral tones or muted colors.
Seamlessness
A seamless user experience is an experience where a user can start in one contact area and easily continue to another. A successful omni-channel platform describes this state.
Search advertising
Ever since the rise of Google, search has been the primary way we find what we are looking for online. Before searching through portals like Yahoo, Spray and Passage, people searched where we would find the most interesting things in the huge range of what the web has to offer. In recent years, search engines have received competition from social media and an increasing proportion of the sites we choose to visit come as tips from friends in our social networks.
One of the things that makes search marketing an attractive part of a company's market mix is that it is considered close to the purchase and thus far ahead in a customer's decision-making process. Search marketing, known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), is typically divided into two categories:
One of the things that makes search marketing an attractive part of a company's market mix is that it is considered close to the purchase and thus far ahead in a customer's decision-making process. Search marketing, known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), is typically divided into two categories:
1. Organic search (search engine optimization, SEO) is the main search result list displayed when someone searches.
2. Paid Search, which are the ads located above or next to the search result, called Adwords with Google. This leads to two main ways to get more and better quality material in our searches:
One is to improve their ranking in organic search results, i.e. to get higher in search results on the keywords and search phrases that your customers search for when looking for services / products like yours. The work of doing so is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The way you achieve success with SEO is constantly changing, and depends on the search algorithm that Google is constantly updating. Basics in SEO, however, include that:
1. Your site is technically designed to help search engines find your content
2. Have an eye on which are the most important keywords and search phrases for your company
3. Create amazing content that people want to read and then link to.
Paid search (part of purchased channels as above) has the largest share of internet advertising in the world where Google Adwords is the absolutely dominant part of this market. Since campaigns can be easily purchased and booked by the advertiser itself (so-called self service) and the advertising can be done with a small budget, it is a widely used advertising form that is also common among smaller companies. Several of the bases for paid search are similar to those for organic. It is important to constantly work to find and adapt to the most important keywords and search phrases. Here too, the landing page content (the page to which the ad links) is important and that together with how many clicks your ad and relevance in the ad text represent what Google calls a Quality Score. But there is another component that determines how high your search results are and that's how much you pay. What ultimately is required of your Quality Score and your ability to pay is determined by the competition found on the specific search phrase a user enters. So the lower the competition, the easier it is to get high among search results and vice versa.
Secondary Data
Data that already exists is called secondary data. Compare to primary data.
Sense of Urgency
Sense of urgency is a feeling that what's happening is important, and that time is of the essence. In order for a change to take place, the company's employees must feel that it is necessary. Succeeding with this requires time and it is important to get as many people on board as possible from the start. It is particularly difficult to achieve a sense of urgency with organizations who are satisfied with where they already are. To have the greatest chance of success, leaders need to speak to people's feelings rather than their reasoning.
Scale
A design principle that uses relative size to signal importance and rank in a composition.
Scrum
Scrum is not an acronym, but rather a term inspired by the rugby play of the same name. In rugby, a scrum is a play where the forwards of each team come together to push against each other and try to gain possession of the ball. The idea of the team working together in a scrum is a metaphor for the team-based approach of Scrum.
Service Blueprint
A service blueprint is a diagram that shows the steps involved in delivering a service from the perspective of both the customer and the company. It's a tool that helps teams understand how a customer experiences a business's service process.
Service Design
Service design is the work of developing a service with the help of design. It can be about people, communication, technology or anything that makes the service better based on what the user's perspective is.
Sharing Economy
The sharing economy is based on the existence of a surplus of unused resources, and when the surplus is made visible, a market is created where the transaction with the help of a service often takes place directly between consumers, and where companies in possession of large fixed assets become vulnerable and slow. Fast and insightful companies see the opportunities that arise through the sharing economy. It is usually expressed as intelligent services that allow for optimization of resources. For example, someone sells a couch they no longer like on Craigslist, an apartment which is usually empty during the holidays is rented out through AirBnB or car pooling replaces the need for buying a car.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
The ratio of relevant to irrelevant information in an interface or communication channel.
Similarity
A Gestalt principle stating that user-interface elements that share one or more traits (such as shape, color, size, etc.) will be seen by users as being similar and belonging together.
Skeuomorphism
A design practice incorporating real-world elements into digital interfaces to create a sense of familiarity with these interfaces.
Smart Failures
When one door closes, another one opens. As far as your digital efforts are concerned, this is very true. Whether it's about working with fewer iterative steps or taking bigger steps, smart failures are a hot and oh so important topic for fast-moving companies. For example, Google distinguishes between good and bad failures. Good failures mean understanding and failure to include future projects as well as speed, that is, failing quickly to reduce costs in terms of investment and branding.
Social by Design
One way to both reach the target groups and strengthen the user experience is social by design, meaning that the design of the product itself facilitates interaction between people. Social by design encourages and simplifies communication between people, thereby improving user experience and increasing the spread of the product. An example is Spotify's integration with Facebook, where you can easily share a playlist or song or see what friends are listening to in their stream.
Social Media
Social media are web-based services and sites that enable people to communicate, interact and create and share content. There are many different types of social media, such as social networking services, blogs and forums.
Social Networking Sites
Also called communities, these include the likes of Facebook, Linkedin, WeChat and Weibo, where different users communicate with each other and create and share content. In social networks, people connect, for example, by making friends or following someone.
Stage and Gate
The Stage Gate process, also known as the phase gate process, is a project management methodology that helps improve project outcomes and reduce risk. It's a linear process that breaks a project into stages, with review and decision-making checkpoints, or "gates", between each stage.
Strategy
Strategy is all about the choices a company makes to reach its objectives and its vision. There are four basic strategies:
1. Cost leadership
2. Differentiation
3. Customer relationship
4. Network effect
Strategy Work (motor)
How the work with strategy is conducted and how the results of the work are documented, deployed, and monitored in the organization. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Structured Data
In short, structured data fits well into columns and rows, making it easy to quantify and then analyze. Compare unstructured data.
Structural Innovation
Improvements, as an example, in technology or processes, which have a major impact on a partial or entire value network, are called structural innovations. This type of innovation is being developed in the longer term than incremental innovation. One example is ethanol cars, which were developed in order to have less environmental impact. This affected the market by the fact that many chose to buy these cars (thanks in part to the environmental car premium that existed) but no total change in the market occurred. Compare incremental and disruptive innovation.
SPY – Supply
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Squint Test
A technique used to evaluate visual designs by narrowing the eyes to reduce detail and focus on overall composition and visual hierarchy.
Subscription
A product, service, membership or experience is offered to a customer for periodic use. Examples: Netflix, Birchbox and Mollybox.
Subscription (Revenue Model)
The product/service is rented for a recurrent cost. Examples: content services (Spotify and Netflix), software (Salesforce and Dropbox Premium) and support as well as support and maintenance (Red hat).
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T.
Task
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Technical Debt
Technical debt is a metaphorical term to describe the "debt" that occurs, as an example, in programming code if the programming has not been done correctly. This sometimes happens to facilitate launching faster. An example of this debt can be so-called hard coding, which creates non-flexible systems. Other examples are lack of documentation or tests. Debts that arise need to be "paid off" by subsequent actions. If the technical debt becomes too large, the programming will end up in a state where all time goes to fixing the problems created by the shortcuts. Which is to say: All resources go to paying interest on the technical debt rather than amortization. Similar to how most people's private finances look, it's likely unreasonable to be completely debt-free and neither is that a goal that needs to be achieved. Rather, it's about keeping the debt under control and getting the right balance of interest and amortization.
TD
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Tipping point
Tipping point is the idea that at a certain level, a product, message or the like gets its own life and spreads without the help of marketing. Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the book by the same name, defines it as "the moment when critical mass is reached, the threshold, the boiling point". Products such as Blocket, Ebay or Facebook are dependent on finding the critical mass to make them relevant. A Blocket or Ebay with too few sellers and products has a hard time reaching buyers and vice versa. A Facebook without your friends is also a pretty dull service. When something reaches critical mass, it can also lead to a de facto standard and competition is thus eliminated. (See network effect). At the heart of the idea too, there are very small changes that make the threshold reachable. If you only succeed in rolling the snowball enough turns, it will speed up your power to the end and it may be the last centimeter that makes the difference. The S curve that we have as a key element in our methodology can also demonstrate where the threshold exists. It is at the point when growth is growing sharply.
Transition
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The Agile Manifesto
The agile approach was formed in 2001 by 17 programmers through The Agile Manifesto, which set out how software development should be done. In the manifesto they state that they value:
“Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is while there is value in the items on
the right we value the items on the left more.
the right we value the items on the left more.
Their philosophy was also summarized as 12 principles:
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
The principles in this manifesto are very much alive in today's agile working methods, of which Scrum, KanBan and Extreme programming are some of the most well-known methods.
Touchpoints (Motor)
Where target groups come in contact with the company, and how the value proposition and touchpoints are integrated. One of nine digital motors in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology. Touchpoints are divided into direct and indirect touchpoints. In direct touchpoints, the company has direct communication with the target group and these consist of their own and borrowed touchpoints. The indirect touchpoints are meeting places where companies communicate with the target audience through another party. These are divided into touchpoints via collaboration as well as earned and purchased touchpoints.
Touchpoints Via Collaboration
Part of indirect touchpoints and refers to distribution of services through a partner's touchpoint. An example of this is Spotify, which collaborates with phone operators to distribute their music service to the operator's customers.
Trade (Revenue Model)
The product/service is sold and the rights are transferred to the buyer. Examples: E-commerce physical product (Amazon, Zappos etc.), e-commerce digital product (downloading Itunes, purchasing software at microsoft.com), auction (eBay) and marketplace (craigslist).
Transaction Handling (Revenue Model)
Helps with transactions and charges for this service. Examples: Payment providers for e-commerce such as Paypal and Alipay, money transfer (Banks) and market platforms (Facebook, the AppStore, AirBnB).dit content please click on the edit icon in the menu that pops out when you mouseover content.
Transformation Team
The main purpose of transformation team is to ensure smooth and efficient digital transformation.
The work is carried out by:
The work is carried out by:
1. Following up the transformation.
2. Supporting those who work with the transformation.
3. Following up communication internally to ensure it is good and reaches all persons involved.
4. Planning for quick wins.
The transformation team should be a group of volunteers, informal and formal leaders, and it should be broadly representative.
U.
UI
User Interface (UI) design is the process of creating the look, feel, and interactivity of a digital product, such as a website, app, or software interface, to ensure users can easily interact with and understand it. It focuses on the visual elements, layout, and how users navigate and use the product.
Unstructured Data
Unstructured data, which could come from focus groups or texts posted on Internet forums and social networks, needs to be structured before it can be analyzed. Compare structured data.
User Base
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User fee (Revenue Model)
Charge for the amount of usage of a product/service. For example: IP telephony (Skype in/out and Viber).
User Scenario
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UX
The user experience (UX) refers to the overall experience a user has when using a product or service.
In the ISO 9421210 standard, it is defined as a person's perceptions and reactions when using and/or before using a product, system or service.
V.
Validation
Verification and validation are crucial processes for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of various systems, products, or processes.
Values
"A value is a basic perception of the desirability of a particular state, approach or result." That's how Wikipedia defines value. A person's values come from within and have been built up during a long period of time and also have a long lifetime. They are are something that don't easily change. The same is true of a company's values (or core values as they are also called). They are not "determined" but can only be discovered and often come from the entrepreneurs who once founded the company. The company's basic values do not change and they are often strongly linked to the vision and set standards for how the company will work and what's worth exploring. Morality, ethics, ideals and principles are what define the values. These values lay the foundation of the business culture the company has and set the framework for the vision and mission, as well as guide the company and individual employees in the decisions that are made.
It's a good idea to start with values and then decide on the vision and lastly the mission. Attempts to make your employees adjust to the values if they do not share them from the start is rarely effective. Value-driven companies instead look to employing people who share the essential values from the outset. To an increasing extent, both staff and customers choose companies that have values that they share and strive for. It is therefore a good idea to clearly express these in words and in actions.
One of the world's most revered visionaries, Google, has a vision of "Changing the World", but their value document, "10 things we believe in," has spread more. The most famous of these is No. 6, "You can earn money without doing evil," or in other words, "Don't be evil".
It's a good idea to start with values and then decide on the vision and lastly the mission. Attempts to make your employees adjust to the values if they do not share them from the start is rarely effective. Value-driven companies instead look to employing people who share the essential values from the outset. To an increasing extent, both staff and customers choose companies that have values that they share and strive for. It is therefore a good idea to clearly express these in words and in actions.
One of the world's most revered visionaries, Google, has a vision of "Changing the World", but their value document, "10 things we believe in," has spread more. The most famous of these is No. 6, "You can earn money without doing evil," or in other words, "Don't be evil".
Value proposition & Revenue model (motor)
The value proposition is the solutions that create values for the company's customers and other target groups. The revenue model is how the company earns money. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Values, Vision & Mission (motor)
The vision is a company's long-term goal. How the company will reach its long-term goal and the answer to why it exists are its mission. The aspects that are held in high regard along the journey are the values. One of the nine digital motors found in the Digital Maturity Matrix methodology.
Vector Image
An image that can be easily scaled or modified because the file contains mathematical calculations for every shape in the image. Vectors are typically used for images that are not photographs, such as logos, icons, diagrams, or other graphics.
Velocity
In Agile project management, velocity refers to the rate at which a team can complete work within a specific timeframe, typically a sprint. It's a key metric used to predict future sprint outcomes, plan projects, and manage stakeholder expectations. Velocity is calculated by averaging the total completed story points (or other effort estimates) over several past sprints.
Verification
Verification focuses on whether a product or system is built correctly according to the specifications, while validation focuses on whether the product or system is built correctly to meet the user's needs and real-world requirements. In essence, verification checks if you're building the right thing, while validation checks if you're building the right thing.
Viral marketing
Viral marketing is also called buzz marketing and is a relative to content marketing. The purpose is that it spreads like a virus across a large range of people. Social media has facilitated spreading and when someone shares on Facebook or retweets on Twitter, it helps to spread a message. To succeed, there has to be something that someone wants to tell someone else. Often it's a fun video or photo or an important news article or event.
A study was published by the New York Times in 2011 by two researchers from Wharton. They concluded, among other things, that what is going to go viral should preferably be something that touches feelings and, most preferably, emotions with positive signs. In addition to content, it may also be a really good product or service that someone wants to tell you about
Vision
A vision is a long-term goal that often is 3-10 years, but sometimes even longer. Many of the world's most successful companies are very vision-driven and they succeed in engaging and attracting everything from collaborators and partners to customers, financiers and the media, which increases their competitiveness and value. A vision formulation is sometimes dreamy and in other cases more concrete.
Some known vision formulations:
Ikea: To create a better everyday life for many people.
Henry Ford: A car in every garage
Amazon: To be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
Google: To change the world
Ikea: To create a better everyday life for many people.
Henry Ford: A car in every garage
Amazon: To be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
Google: To change the world
Visual Balance
A satisfying arrangement or proportion of design elements. Balance occurs when there is an equally distributed amount of visual signal on both sides of an imaginary axis going through the middle of the screen. This axis is often vertical but can also be horizontal. A design can have symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial balance.
Visual Hierarchy
The organization of design elements on the page so that the eye is guided to consume each design element in the order of intended importance. Visual hierarchy can be created through color and contrast, scale, and grouping of elements.
Visual Weight
The perceived importance or prominence of a design element based on its size, color, contrast, or placement. Objects that are bigger in size, similar in shape, use dark colors, or have high contrast appear visually heavier.
W.
Waves of Change
Waves of change are changes caused by digitalization. Examples of these changes are big data, dynamic pricing and the internet of things.
Wearables
With wearables, such as fitness trackers, watches or smart clothes, individual data is collected, processed, analyzed and presented to make it easier for the user. One example is the Apple Watch, which tells you when it's time to move around, and health apps which tell you how you feel or whether it's time to go to the doctor.
Wireframes
A wireframe depicts the “bare bones” of a website or app, focusing on the layout and positioning of different elements on the screen. Wireframing allows you to test and validate your initial concepts before developing them into high-fidelity designs and, eventually, live products.
Whitespace
The empty space between design elements used to achieve a balanced design, making it easier for users to scan and read.
Work
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WoW
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1.
121
In a workplace context, "121" often refers to a one-on-one meeting between an employee and their manager or supervisor. It's often a structured communication channel where discussions can focus on performance, goals, support, challenges, and action plans. Further, this is the opportunity for employees (in this case, designers) to express their growth concerns, delivery methods, and other factors that are preventing them from outperforming their daily duties.
2.
2-Sided Marketplace
A platform for economic exchange between two user groups with or without a transaction fee. Examples: Didi, Airbnb and Etsy.
3.
3x3
And that’s where I discovered the three-by-three (3x3) framework.
1/ Business — focus on the operation, budgets, vision, and objectives, including team structure and onboarding.
2/ Design —concentrate on the content and experience of the final design proposition, including asset management.
3/ Development —concentrate on sharing information about APIs, databases, and data migrations along the way, tracking the releases and integrating what we have built.
This straightforward framework allows everyone to maintain and digest information in a specific way. Equally, redistribution of the content immediately leads to complexity reduction and simplifies the communication around the topics.
4.
4
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5.
5
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