Glossary

Not sure on some of the technical terms? We explain them here

An entrepreneur's glossary

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

Computer-aided design is software used to assist with design and documentation of ideas and products.

Concept Design

This refers to early-stage design, so not all aspects are resolved, however the overall intent or direction of the product should be clear.

Concept Development

Concept development is a process of developing ideas to solve specified design problems.

Design Brief

A design brief is a written document that thoroughly explains the problem that needs to be solved by a designer or designer team.

Eco-design

This is design which thinks carefully about the impact on the environment and the planet. It can also be called green design.

Ideation

This is another word for idea generation. It typically happens early in a project and in a relatively loose form. For example, brainstorming is an ideation technique.

Intellectual Property (IP)

These are characteristics of a design that the creator may wish to protect from unauthorized use. To do this, you can use strategies such as getting a patent or registering your design.

Interface

There are elements of a product via which a user receives and inputs information. On a smartphone this may be as simple as a touchscreen and a few buttons.

Iteration 

The repetition of a process, for example, when you are testing out the design of your product or service you may have many different iterations.

Net Promoter Score

A score ranging from -100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is used as a way to understand a customer’s overall satisfaction with a company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand.

Product Development

Product development typically refers to all of the stages involved in bringing a product from concept or idea, through market release and beyond.

Prototype

A model made during the design process to assess aspects of the design prior to manufacture. Usually physical, but may take other forms, including on-screen or even Post-it notes.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.

Stakeholder

This refers to a person with an interest or concern in something, for example, your business.

User-centered Design (UCD)

User-centred design is a process or set of tools used to design a service which focuses on what users need at the very beginning and continues throughout development until launch.

User Experience (UX)

The specific asset users interact with and how they find the experience of using your product or service.

User Interface (UI)

The interaction and experience users have with a company’s products and services, for example, your website. 

User Journey

A user journey is a path a user may take to reach their goal when using a particular website. User journeys are used in designing websites to identify the different ways to enable the user to achieve their goal as quickly and easily as possible.