Glossary

Below is a glossary of commonly used terms that you will encounter through this course.

agile: an iterative approach to delivering a project or service throughout its life cycle; agile life cycles are composed of several iterations or incremental steps towards the completion of a project

alpha: the initial phase in product development, during which you can prototype different solutions and new ideas. You can use these to test the biggest assumptions and risks, generally without releasing the product publicly. This phase is focused on doing the least work possible to learn fast, so you can make sure the product is worth building, and you should expect to throw your prototypes away

analysis: the process of examining, sorting and refining raw data so that you can draw conclusions and generate findings and insights

beta: the phase in product development which follows the alpha phase. During the beta phase products or services are tested with a small selection of users. These beta users provide feedback on any issues, bugs, or usability improvements, helping the development team finalise and polish the product before its full, public release.

co-design group: a collaborative working model in which people with different skills and expertise come together to solve problems

compassion fatigue: a condition that can occur when providing care to another person, in which exposure to emotional and physical distress can cause negative effects on the carer’s capacity for compassion and empathy.

data: the things produced through research (facts, survey responses, information, notes, recordings, etc.)

Design Principles: a set of values and guidelines that describe how an organisation goes about designing its services

digital inclusion: making sure anyone who needs to use a service can use it as easily as possible, giving them the right access, skills, motivation and trust to confidently go online

digitally excluded: refers to users who do not use a digital service or may need additional support because it is digital

discovery: the phase in the product or service lifecycle during which a team aims to determine if and why it should be developed. In this phase, you learn about your users and what they are trying to achieve, the underlying policy intent you’ve been set to address, any constraints you may face when making changes to how the service is run and opportunities to improve things

ethics: guiding principles of conducting research in order to minimise harm and distress caused to anyone involved

findings: statements made after data analysis that show the factual results of the research

Government Digital and Data: a community of experts leading digital transformation in government, creating more efficient services that have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

inclusive research: research that actively engages people who have been historically excluded and underrepresented in research

informed consent: the consent that is given by participants after they have been informed of all relevant information about the proposed research

insights: the actionable conclusions drawn from research findings put into context

iteration: the cyclical process of incremental improvement to a product or service

Kanban: a popular framework and visual management system for implementing agile working practices

live: the fourth stage of the product life-cycle, when the product is being used at scale by the public. During live, we support the service in a sustainable way while still iterating and making improvements where necessary and continue to work closely with users to ensure the product or service is fulfilling a real user need and achieving its outcome

outcome: a result, which usually comes from using the outputs you produce or the end value you are seeking to create for the user

output: something you produce or do; a thing you build

power imbalance: a situation in which one person or group has, or is perceived to have, more power than others

project inception session: an initial meeting with the team and relevant stakeholders to consolidate existing knowledge and start to scope the research ahead

qualitative research: research that tries to understand peoples’ thoughts, feelings and beliefs – things that cannot necessarily be measured

quantitative research: research that involves numbers, or numerical data

retirement: the final stage of the product lifecycle at which a product is considered to no longer be needed and so it is withdrawn

research question: the high-level, broad questions that the research aims to answer

roadmap: an evolving map which shows stakeholders a strategic view of what you’re looking to work on to create value for users now, next and later. It’s not a specific delivery plan.

safeguarding: the process of protecting participants and researchers and minimising harm

Scrum: an agile working framework that involves teams working incrementally in short, focused periods of work called sprints

Service Standard: the principles behind building a good service in government

service brief: a proposal for a service that shows an existing understanding of a problem and a desired outcome. In government, a service brief commonly includes an idea, policy implementation or proposed solution

show and tell: a session during which a product team shows and talks about their completed work to give others more visibility of it or to get feedback

solution: the product or service that will be built to fix a problem and meet a user need

sprint: a work cycle lasting for a fixed period of time – usually 2 weeks – during which a team works to complete a fixed amount of work

sprint review: an informal meeting at the end of the sprint to determine what is and what is not finished, or to give a progress update to stakeholders

tasks: pieces of work that need to be completed

Universal Barriers: all reasons why someone might struggle to complete a task, from opening a packet of food to using a government service

user: a person who interacts, has interacted, or will interact with a product or service

user-centred design: a principle for design that puts users at the heart of decision-making

user experience (UX): the overall experience that a user has while interacting with a product, service or system

user need: a problem described from your users’ perspective, something they want or need to get done

user research: a method for collecting insights about your users’ contexts, problems, experiences, feelings, behaviours and motivations

user story: a statement which describes the user, their need and why they need something in a way that is focused on outcomes rather than a particular solution or implementation.

vicarious trauma: trauma in those involved in caring for another who has also experienced trauma

waterfall: a clearly defined sequence of execution with project phases that do not advance until a phase receives final approval