I’ve mixed up and seen many of these terms misused over the years. So, with some help from ChatGPT, I decided to clarify them using one example – the creation of a fitness app – throughout.
After several iterations and manual updates and changes, here’s the refined output to date. I will probably keep changing and adding to this table but feel free to use it as you like or incorporate it into your own prompts 🙂.
| Grouping | Element | Definition | Example (Fitness App) | Key Question | How to Write It | Sense Check / Distinction |
| .🔍 Strategic Foundations | Purpose | The fundamental reason why the product or organisation exists. | To empower people to lead healthier lives through daily fitness. | Why do we exist? | Broad, inspiring, and enduring statement. | Underpins vision and mission; why vs. what/how. |
| Mission Statement | A concise statement of what the product aims to achieve and for whom, in the near to mid-term. | To provide quick, effective workouts tailored for busy professionals. | What do we do, for whom, and how? | Clear, specific, and actionable statement. | Bridges purpose and vision; focused on current action. | |
| Vision | The long-term change or ideal future state the product aims to enable. | Help people build lifelong habits that support health and happiness. | What world do we want to help create? | A broad, aspirational statement. | Guides overall direction; not measurable. | |
| Value | A core belief or principle that guides behavior and priorities. | We believe movement improves both physical and mental wellbeing. | What principles guide what we do? | Use positive, declarative statements; often plural. | Shapes tone, decision-making, and team alignment. | |
| Value Proposition | The unique value the product offers to the user. | Quick, smart workouts that adapt to your schedule and keep you motivated. | Why should someone choose this product? | Short and benefit-focused. | Combines user benefit and competitive edge. | |
| Key Benefit | The primary gain or result the user receives from using the product. | Feel energised and accomplished in under 15 minutes. | What’s the biggest payoff for the user? | One clear user-centric value; think: “What’s in it for them?” | Should tie to the value proposition. | |
| Persona | A representation of a key user segment. | Sarah, 32, marketing manager, struggles to fit workouts into her unpredictable workdays. | Who are we designing for? | Name + needs, behaviors, goals. | Useful for empathy and alignment. | |
| Design Principle | A core guideline to inform consistent design decisions. | Design for momentum: remove friction and reward quick wins. | What values should guide our design? | Actionable beliefs or rules of thumb. | Helps ensure product cohesion. | |
| Stakeholder | Any individual or group with influence or interest. | Fitness coaches, user researchers, developers, and end users. | Who is involved or impacted? | Use role or group names. | Includes internal and external parties. | |
| 🧠 Problem Understanding | Problem Statement | The fundamental issue or challenge faced that needs resolution. | People want to feel energised in the morning but often skip workouts due to time and decision fatigue. | What’s the core problem we’re solving? | A clear, concise statement of the core challenge. | Avoid embedding solutions; focus on the core issue. |
| Need | The underlying value or benefit people seek. | A sense of daily energy and confidence in personal wellbeing. | What core benefit is being sought? | Use nouns that describe an end state or value. | Often unspoken or emotional. | |
| Want | A stated desire, often feature-focused. | I want a fast, energising workout with music that matches my mood. | What do people say they want? | Use direct quotes or feature requests. | May not align with true needs. | |
| Pain Point | A specific frustration, inefficiency, or blocker in the experience. | I waste time each morning deciding what to do and often give up. | What is causing friction or dissatisfaction? | Use specific user language to describe frustration. | Often surfaces needs and opportunities. | |
| Task | An action someone does or intends to do, past or future. | Browse and save quick workouts I can do before work. | What is the person doing or trying to do? | Verb + object, e.g., “Browse workouts”. | Can be habitual or aspirational. | |
| Point of View (POV) | Defines the user, their need and why the need is important to that user. | An adult who lives in the city, needs to be motivated to exercise regularly because the user would feel a lot worse without regular exercise. | What is the right challenge to address in the design process? | [User] + [need] + [insight]. | The insight is likely to be a problem statement or pain point. | |
| Job to Be Done | The progress someone seeks in a specific situation. | When I feel groggy in the morning, I want to do a quick, energising workout so I can start my day focused. | What outcome is desired in a situation? | When [situation], I want [action], so I can [goal]. | Captures functional, emotional, or social value. | |
| Opportunity | A gap between the current and ideal state. | Enable users to feel progress daily so they build lasting workout habits. | Where is there room to add value? | Phrase as a value gap or improvement. | Informed by pain points or unmet needs. | |
| Insight | A distilled observation from research with strategic significance. | Users are more motivated by seeing streaks and visual milestones than calorie counts. | What have we learned that’s actionable? | A sharp, evidence-based takeaway. | Informs direction or innovation. | |
| Assumption | An unverified belief about the user, product, or market. | People will continue using the app if they feel small wins daily. | What are we assuming to be true? | “We believe…” or plain declarative statements. | Requires validation. | |
| Hypothesis | A testable belief connecting a change to a predicted outcome. | If users can visually track streaks, they’ll work out 3x more weekly, because it reinforces progress. | What do we believe will happen if we act? | If [change], then [result], because [rationale]. | Should be measurable and falsifiable. | |
| Constraint | A fixed limitation, such as legal, technical, or time-related. | All personal data must be stored securely and comply with GDPR at every touchpoint. | What limitations must we work within? | “Must…”, “Cannot…” statements. | Non-negotiable; limits solution space. | |
| Risk | A potential negative outcome or failure point. | If workouts feel repetitive or off-target, users may churn within the first week. | What might go wrong? | If [event], then [impact]. | Should be tracked and mitigated. | |
| 🎯 Defining the Scope | Goal | A high-level aspiration or mission. | Empower users to build habits that stick beyond short-term motivation. | What future success looks like? | Abstract and inspirational. | Guides overall strategy. |
| Objective | A clear, time-bound target supporting a goal. | Improve 30-day user retention from 40% to 60% by Q4. | What do we aim to achieve now? | Measurable and specific statements. | Should lead to key results. | |
| Key Result | A measurable result tied to an objective. | Increase NPS from 30 to 45 among daily active users by end of Q3. | How do we know we’re progressing? | Numeric target with verb. | Indicates whether objectives are met. | |
| Epic | A large body of work with user or business value. | Enable consistent morning workouts through smart nudges and tailored routines. | What large outcome are we working toward? | A short, aspirational phrase. | Breaks into multiple user stories. | |
| Initiative | A strategic effort addressing an opportunity. | Develop and launch the “Morning Boost” experience: routines, reminders, and progress tracking. | What overarching effort are we pursuing? | Action-focused with strategic scope. | May span multiple teams or epics. | |
| User Story | A short narrative from a person’s point of view. | As a returning user, I want to view my workout streak so I stay motivated to keep going. | What does someone want and why? | As a [role], I want [goal] so I can [benefit]. | Drives development decisions. | |
| Solution | A specific design, system, or feature. | An interactive progress dashboard with weekly streaks, milestones, and encouragement tips. | What are we building or designing? | Noun phrases, descriptive and clear. | Concrete, not theoretical. | |
| Decision / Trade-off | A product decision and its rationale. | Prioritised progress-tracking over expanding content to reduce cognitive overload. | What trade-offs are we making? | Decision + reason. | Ensures alignment and transparency. | |
| 🚀 Execution & Learning | Input | Resources needed to begin work. | UX designers, frontend capacity, onboarding data, and trainer-curated content. | What do we need to start? | List of assets, roles, or data. | Fuels activities. |
| Activities | The work done to produce a result. | Design streak view, test motivation copy, build weekly summary. | What are we doing? | Verb-based actions. | Creates outputs. | |
| Experiment | A structured test to validate a hypothesis. | Run A/B test: dashboard vs. checklist to compare weekly engagement rates. | How do we test our assumption? | Describe setup, variable, and metric. | Confirms or disproves assumptions. | |
| Output | A tangible deliverable or asset. | Released “Your Progress” dashboard in version 1.8. | What did we produce? | Feature, tool, report, etc. | May not equate to outcomes. | |
| Milestone | A key point or checkpoint in progress. | Launch MVP of “Morning Boost” by September 1 with 3 core features. | When have we hit a major point? | Named phase + deadline. | Indicates progress, not finality. | |
| Feedback | Insights from people or data. | “I wish the graphs showed weekly goals — not just calories burned.” | What did people say or do? | Quote or summarise what users said, did, or showed through data. | Drives iteration. Should connect to feedback or evidence — not just opinion. | |
| Iteration | An update made in response to learning. | Added weekly goal indicators and color-coded progress states. | What changed and why? | State what changed, why it changed, and what informed it. | Informed by feedback or testing. | |
| KPI | An ongoing performance indicator. | % of daily users completing at least one tracked workout. | How do we track success over time? | Use metrics that track behaviour or system health over time. | Should be regularly updated and connected to objectives. | |
| Outcome | A meaningful user or system change. | 70% of new users build a 3x/week habit within 30 days. | What changed as a result? | Describe what behaviour or performance change occurred after release. | Proves effectiveness. Must be measurable and meaningful; more than just delivery. | |
| Impact | The broader or long-term benefit. | Users report sustained energy and reduced stress within 6 weeks. | What long-term value was created? | Describe the broader, lasting change or benefit your work contributed to. | Often indirect or longer-term; connect to vision or mission. |
Initially generated by ChatGPT GPT-4o on 17 June 2025 but has been subject to (manual) expansions and refinements since.
