Indiana are you watching your language?

​ ​ ​ ​ Hello Indiana, ​ I recently received an email from somebody who is a UX designer for a well-known e-commerce fashion brand. He approached me interested in mentorship because, despite his best efforts, his organization was failing to embrace user experience best practices. As we discussed his situation over zoom, it quickly became apparent that some of his challenges were caused by how he talked about user experience internally. Wherever you work, we all have stakeholders that we need to win over, and the language we use to communicate with them will have a significant impact on whether we succeed or not. Let me share with you four examples to give you a sense of how big a difference the language we use has in how others perceive our work. Discovery vs. Review and Recommendation Have you ever talked about a discovery phase? The chances are you have. I use the term all the time. But I tend to avoid using it when talking to clients and stakeholders. That is because a discovery phase can lead to some negative lines of thought. Think about it. "Discovery" implies working out what is required. Most stakeholders feel pretty confident they already know and don't want to waste time and money going over it. However, if you reframe it as a review and recommendations phase, suddenly it changes its context. It acknowledges that the stakeholder already has done a lot of work and suggests building upon that with more recommendations. It just sounds more positive and forward-looking. Designer vs. Consultant My second example is why you should avoid using the word designer. I am a UX designer. But you will never hear me call myself that. I always refer to myself as a consultant. That is because a designer is a pixel pusher. They make pretty pictures. At least, that is the mental image most stakeholders have. Sure, you and I know that is not true. So yes, I could fight the good fight and try to educate clients. But it is easier to use language my stakeholders understand. People see consultants as providing leadership, insight and a vision. They expect a consultant to advise and provide guidance. Designers they see as somebody who makes things pretty. Suppose you have the term designer in your job title, no problem. Just start using the terms like "design consultancy" or "digital design strategy." By linking the term design to standard business terms that imply "leadership" and "vision", you start to shift thinking. Committee vs. Workshop Group Another word I avoid is "committee." Nobody likes a committee. Committees imply bureaucracy and endless meetings. When somebody is on a committee, they see their role as to express an opinion and critique the work of others, not contribute through action. Instead, I lean towards forming "workshop groups." I did use "working groups," but the term has become committees by another name. A workshop group is a group that gathers to workshop ideas. It is about prototyping and workshop exercises, not discussion and debate. Using the word workshop in the title makes it clear the kind of thing people can expect to find themselves doing. Web Services vs. Digital Transformation Team My final example is "web services." Many digital teams have the word "services' in their title. But services imply a support team that exists to implement the ideas of others. If you want more of a leadership role, you need to dump the word services. Either adopt something like "UX Team" or, even better, go for something like "Digital Transformation Team" as this implies innovation, leadership, and change. Words to Use Innovation is an excellent word to use because every company likes to think it innovates. There are lots of words that tend to get traction in organizations. Talk about things like "proof of concept projects" as an excuse to break the rules or "managing risk" as a way to justify testing. You can talk about "speed to market" to encourage the adoption of agile working and "increasing customer lifetime value" to justify emphasizing improving the user experience. I am aware all of this may come across as a lot of BS, but it isn't. As user experience professionals, we are always moaning about how the websites we produce should adopt the tone and language that most resonates with the audience we are trying to reach. Well, this is precisely the same. If we want to reach our stakeholders, we need to start using their language. Dealing with stakeholders is always tricky, but hopefully, this has helped point you in the right direction. If you feel you need support navigating this minefield, please feel free to reach out to me by email, and we can explore some coaching options. Thanks, ​ ​ If you no longer want to hear from me, I completely understand and you can unsubscribe from all emails here. Alternatively, if you need to update any of the information about yourself you can edit your profile here. ​ ​