the importance of a common language

I am working on writing a set of use cases for a new project and as I am writing it occurs to me that the team I am working with calls all the different parts of the site and the content different things.

I have been struggling with how to write these use cases because of this and it drove home the point that before we move any further we really need to come to an agreement about a set of common terms.

This sets up a common language, sets expectations so we all know what each of us is referring to when talking about schedules and deliverables and generally removes the struggle for clarity.

And hopefully, this clarity will become apparent in the language and design of the end web site.

erin
current: experience matters design :: senior level interaction design and systems strategy consulting former partner, tangible user experience; Yahoo! founder of the public and internal Yahoo! pattern library. design director of ued teams responsible for designing solutions across key yahoo! platforms: social media, personalization, membership and vertical search.