VISIONN Creative Marketing

By Marvin Forte

It’s a simple step, making sure that the project team (you, your employees or subcontractors, your clients, and the site’s users) communicate with consistent and predictable language. Sure, we have all seen a Glossary of Terms that defines esoteric words not everyone knows but what about a Glossary of Terms you define at the beginning of a project to define the parts of the project itself? It is a simple step, and one that increases efficiency and prevents misunderstandings or mistakes. Give it a try and you’ll be convinced.

Projects That Should Have a Glossary

Not all projects benefit from a Glossary of Terms but many do. For Web 2.0 applications or Administrative Content Management Systems (CMS) it can be vital.

For example, let’s say you are developing a Web application to help users create/manage their photo collections. One of the details you will need to establish is the hierarchy and structure of the directories where the photos will be stored. Will there be sub-directories as well as directories? Will there be categories to cross-reference photos by content? What will the images themselves be called, Photos, Frames? How will we refer to these details when communicating with the project team?

You might choose to define a sub-directory of photos as an “Album” and the parent directory as a “Bookshelf”. You might refer to categories as “Themes”. You might choose “Frame” for an individual image.

By defining these terms up-front, you ensure that everyone will know what you’re talking about when you use the word “Album” or “Frame”. As long as everyone on the Project Teams follows the naming conventions, there’s little chance for a misunderstanding or a request for clarification. WIthout the glossary, when someone uses the word “Album” they might get it confused with a “Bookshelf”.

How to Get Started

To get started, create an outline of all the items you need to define. Don’t fret about the exact language yet, just write a short description of the item to let you know what the item is. Once you think the list is fairly complete, brainstorm as many possible names for each item as you can. Be creative and descriptive. Now, review all the names you came up with for each item and see which one might be best fit. Choose a name that describes the item as completely and concisely as possible. For example, “Album” might be a better choice for the collection of photos than “Portfolio”. Get as many people from the project team involved in this process as possible and if time/budget allows, run the names by a focus group and get their reactions.

Once you have your names, organize them in an easy-to-read guide and send a copy to the client and/or your team for approval. If you are working with a client, make sure they sign off on the glossary before the next step of the project begins.

Enforcement, It’s the Law After All

Once the glossary is done and approved, make sure everyone on the team gets a copy. The next step can the hardest, make sure everyone on the team abides by the glossary all the time, without exception. If a team member sends out an e-mail that uses a different term than the one defined in the glossary, stop and make sure that member clarifies what they meant before continuing.

If a term comes up that was never defined, go through the same brainstorming and approval process, update the glossary of terms and send a revised copy to every team member.

Aren’t you Glad You Did

When you reach the development stage of the project, you’ll find that the glossary of terms is extremely beneficial. Not only does it define many of the page titles, buttons, form field names, etc. but it also defines much of the functionality.

When you reach the quality assessment or testing stage of the project, you’ll find that the glossary of terms is vital. If the client finds a bug and writes you an e-mail describing how to recreate the problem, there can be no misunderstanding about what item they are referring to, as long as they abide by the glossary.

It’s also important to update and save the glossary of terms because you may have to go back and update the project months or even years later. A quick review of the glossary and you’ll recall many of those little details.