Plain-English definitions for UX, product, user research, accessibility, service design, CRO, AI, and digital strategy terms used in day-to-day digital work.
Showing 80 of 388 terms
Strategy · Product
Product strategy defines how a product will achieve business goals by solving user problems in a focused and sustainable way. It sets direction, priorities, and trade-offs to guide decision-making.
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Product vision is a long-term statement that defines what a product aims to achieve and the impact it will have on users and the business. It provides direction and purpose beyond short-term delivery.
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Competitive advantage is a sustained edge that allows a product or business to outperform competitors. It can come from unique capabilities, brand, technology, or market positioning.
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Time to market is the amount of time it takes to move from an idea to a live product or feature. It reflects how quickly a team can deliver value to users.
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A roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the direction, priorities, and timeline for a product or initiative. It communicates what will be delivered and why, rather than just listing features.
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The backlog is a prioritised list of work that needs to be delivered, including features, fixes, and improvements.
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An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into smaller, manageable pieces.
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Digital strategy is a plan that defines how digital products, services, and channels are used to achieve business and user goals.
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Strategy is a high-level plan that defines long-term goals and the approach to achieving them.
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Digital transformation is the process of using digital technology to fundamentally change how an organisation operates and delivers value.
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Transformation is a fundamental change in how a system, organisation, or experience operates, often involving structure, processes, and behaviour.
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An operating model defines how an organisation delivers its products or services, including processes, roles, systems, and workflows.
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A business model describes how an organisation creates, delivers, and captures value.
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A revenue model defines the specific ways a business generates income from its products or services.
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A value chain is the full set of activities and processes involved in creating, delivering, and supporting a product or service.
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Market positioning defines how a product or brand is perceived in relation to competitors in the minds of customers.
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The competitive landscape is the overall view of competitors within a market, including their strengths, weaknesses, and positioning.
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A stakeholder is any individual or group with an interest in a product, project, or outcome, including internal teams and external parties.
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Stakeholder alignment is the process of ensuring all stakeholders share a common understanding of goals, priorities, and direction.
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Business objectives are specific, measurable goals that an organisation aims to achieve over a defined period.
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A KPI is a measurable value used to track progress towards a specific business objective.
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OKRs are a goal-setting framework that defines clear objectives and measurable key results to track progress.
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ROI measures the return generated from an investment compared to its cost.
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Governance defines the rules, processes, and structures that guide decision-making and ensure accountability within an organisation or system.
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Decision making is the process of selecting the best course of action from available options based on information, goals, and constraints.
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Prioritisation is the process of ranking tasks, features, or initiatives based on their importance, impact, and effort.
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Capability refers to an organisation’s ability to perform a specific function or deliver a particular outcome.
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A capability gap is the difference between the capabilities an organisation currently has and those it needs to achieve its goals.
View glossary termStrategy · Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is the use of machines and systems to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving.
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Data is raw information collected and stored for analysis, processing, or decision-making.
View glossary termStrategy · Product
Product alignment ensures that teams, stakeholders, and efforts are working towards the same goals and direction.
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Strategic direction defines the overall path and priorities a product or organisation is moving towards.
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Strategic vision is a clear description of what a product or organisation aims to become in the future.
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Strategic planning is the process of defining goals, priorities, and actions to achieve a desired future state.
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Business alignment ensures that teams, strategies, and activities are working towards shared goals.
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Organisational structure defines how teams, roles, and responsibilities are arranged within a business.
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Change management is the process of planning and managing how changes are introduced and adopted within an organisation.
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A transformation programme is a coordinated set of initiatives aimed at fundamentally changing how an organisation operates.
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Digital maturity measures how effectively an organisation uses digital tools, processes, and capabilities.
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A business capability is an ability an organisation needs to achieve its goals.
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Operational efficiency measures how effectively a business delivers outputs with minimal waste and effort.
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Business performance measures how effectively a company achieves its goals, typically through financial, operational, and customer metrics.
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Strategic focus is the prioritisation of key areas that align with business goals and drive meaningful outcomes.
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Continuous Delivery is the practice of automatically preparing code for release so it can be deployed at any time.
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A service blueprint is a visual map that shows how a service is delivered, including frontstage and backstage processes.
View glossary termStrategy · User Experience
An insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.
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Qualitative research explores user behaviours, motivations, and experiences through non-numerical data.
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Voice of Customer is the structured collection and analysis of customer feedback to understand needs and expectations.
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The surrounding conditions that shape behaviour and decisions.
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The underlying reason a problem exists.
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Agile is an approach to product development focused on iterative delivery, collaboration, and adapting to change.
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Scrum is an Agile framework that structures work into time-boxed iterations called sprints.
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Kanban is a method for managing workflow by visualising tasks and limiting work in progress.
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A sprint is a fixed time period where a team completes a set of planned work.
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Sprint planning is the process of selecting and defining work for the upcoming sprint.
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A stand-up is a short daily meeting to share progress and identify blockers.
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A retrospective is a session to reflect on a sprint and identify improvements.
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Refinement is the process of preparing and clarifying backlog items before development.
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Dual Track Agile separates discovery and delivery into parallel streams of work.
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Discovery is the phase of understanding problems, users, and opportunities before building solutions.
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A cross-functional team includes members with different skills working together towards a shared goal.
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Dependencies are tasks, systems, or teams that must be completed or available before other work can proceed.
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Constraints are limitations or restrictions that impact how a product or solution can be designed or built.
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Trade-offs are decisions where improving one aspect requires compromising another.
View glossary termStrategy · User Experience
A UX researcher studies user behaviour, needs, and motivations to inform design decisions.
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A product manager is responsible for defining product direction, priorities, and outcomes.
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Alignment is the shared understanding and agreement between teams, stakeholders, and objectives.
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A process is a defined sequence of steps used to achieve a specific outcome.
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A legacy system is an outdated system that is still in use, often due to its critical role.
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Service design is the process of designing and organising people, processes, systems, and touchpoints to deliver a complete user experience.
View glossary termStrategy · Artificial Intelligence
Signals are data points or triggers that indicate changes in user behaviour, context, or external factors.
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Secondary research involves analysing existing data or studies rather than collecting new data.
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A research objective defines what you are trying to learn or achieve through research.
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SEO is the process of improving a website’s visibility in search engines like Google through content, structure, and technical optimisation.
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Search intent is the underlying goal or purpose behind a user’s query, such as finding information, making a purchase, or navigating to a specific site.
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Structured data is a standardised format used to organise and label content so it can be easily understood by search engines and AI systems.
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Crawlability is how easily search engines can access and navigate a website’s pages.
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Indexability is the ability of a page to be stored and included in a search engine’s index after it has been crawled.
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Content authority refers to how trustworthy and credible content is perceived to be by search engines, AI systems, and users.
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Topical authority is the depth and breadth of content coverage on a specific subject, signalling expertise in that area.
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UX, research and product leadership for teams tackling complex digital services. The work usually starts where things have become harder than they need to be: unclear journeys, inconsistent products, competing priorities, or teams trying to move forward without a clear direction. I help simplify the problem, shape the right next step, and turn complexity into something people can actually use.
Previous feedback
I had a fantastic experience working with Andy. One of his most impressive achievements during our time at NHS HEE was masterminding a deeply complex information architecture for a new platform that brought together a large number of legacy websites.
Will Parkhouse
Senior Content Designer