Words We Use

A guide to the language we use throughout our work and practice.

A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

A

Academic Research

Academic research is a systematic process of collecting, analysing and interpreting information (data) in order to better understand a phenomenon about which we are interested or concerned. It is a lengthy process, focused, specific, intensive, accumulative and educational.

B

Business Research

Business research is a process of acquiring detailed information of all the areas of business and using such information in maximizing the sales and profit of the business. Such a study helps companies determine which product/service is most profitable or in demand.

Branding

Branding is a way of identifying your business. It is how your customers recognise and experience your business. A strong brand is more than just a logo – it's reflected in everything from your customer service and premises to your marketing materials and advertising.

C

Co-design

Co-design is a participatory process that aims to involve those impacted by a problem in the process of designing outcomes that will meet their needs (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011). It is based on the understanding that in order to generate services that are valuable and meaningful, we must design with people, not for people (Penin, 2018). Success of co-designing relies on using engagement tools that are tailored to the dynamic of the co-design team, working to create an environment where power is evenly distributed, and emphasis is placed on the value of lived experience (McKercher, 2020).

Customer Experience

Customer experience (CX) is everything related to a business that affects a customer’s perception and feelings about it. Customer experience (CX) focuses on the relationship between a business and its customers. It includes every interaction, no matter how brief and even if it doesn’t result in a purchase.

Community Engagement

Community Engagement seeks to better engage the community to achieve long-term and sustainable outcomes, processes, relationships, discourse, decision-making, and/or implementation.

Customer Research

Customer research is a set of techniques used to identify the needs, preferences, behaviors, and motivations of your current or potential customers.

D

Design Thinking

Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving process rooted in a set of skills. It is human centred at its core, encouraging organisations to focus on the people they’re creating for, which leads to better products, services, and internal processes.

Digital Strategy

Digital strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve business goals via the implementation of digital initiatives, including social media and any other online presence.

E

Employee Experience

Employee experience is a worker's perceptions about their journey through all the touchpoints at a particular company, starting with job candidacy through to the exit from the company.

Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic research study looks at the social interaction of users in a specified environment. The research provides an in-depth insight into the user’s views and actions along with the sights and sounds they encounter during their day.

F

Future Forecasting

Future Forecasting is a technique that uses historical data as inputs to make informed estimates that are predictive in determining the direction of the future.

Funding Strategy

A funding strategy is a written and agreed plan that determines the financial requirements of an organisation or group over a length of time.

M

Marketing Campaign Strategy

Marketing campaign strategies are organised, strategised efforts to promote a specific company goal, typically aiming to reach consumers in a variety of ways and involve a combination of media, including email, print advertising, television or radio advertising and social media.

N

Narrative Design (Storytelling)

Narrative design is the use of stories or scenarios to make sense of proposed design concepts.

O

Organisation Design

Organisational design is the process of aligning the structure of an organisation with its objectives, with the ultimate aim of improving efficiency and effectiveness.

P

Product Research

Product research is the process of gathering information that will inform your product's purpose and development direction. Conducting this research is how we can validate whether the product will be successful.

Product Strategy

A product strategy is a high-level plan describing what a business hopes to accomplish with its product and how it plans to do so.

Q

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research seeks to understand people in the context of their daily experiences. It uses ethnographic methods including observation and interviews and seeks to understand questions like why and how (Curedale, 2013).

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research uses mathematical and statistical methods. Findings may be expressed as numbers or percentages and uses methods such as surverys and questionnaires (Curedale, 2013).

S

Services

Services are the non-physical, intangible parts of our economy, as opposed to goods, which we can touch or handle. Services, such as banking, education,medical treatment, and transportation make up the majority of the economies of the rich nations. They also represent most of the emerging nations’ economies. Services are different to products because they are not physical, they change over time, they cannot be owned in the same way that physical products are owned, and they cannot be stored.

Social Design

Social research refers to the study of individuals and societies and is often used to identify regularly occurring social patterns in social life.

Sustainability Planning

A sustainability plan is a roadmap for achieving long-term goals and strategies to maintain a business’ structure, activities, and partnerships.

Service Strategy

Service strategy defines the perspective, position, plans and patterns that a service provider needs to execute to meet an organisation's business outcomes.

T

Team Building

Team building is the process of turning a group of individual contributing employees into a cohesive team—a group of people organised to work together to meet the needs of their stakeholders/audience by accomplishing their purpose and goals.

U

User Experience and User Interface (UX and UI)

UI generally deals with the interaction between users and computer systems, software and applications, and UX deals with a user's overall experience with a brand, product or service. Analysing how people interact with a system informs us of how services can be improved to be more usable, sustainable or and/or efficient.

V

Visual Communication

Visual communication is the practice of using visual elements to communicate information or ideas. This can include signs, typography, illustrations, graphs, infographics and videos.