The meaning we intend to communicate doesn't matter if it makes no sense, or the wrong sense, to the people we want to reach.

The following exercise will help you state your intent and clarify your language with other people. First, choose a set of adjectives you want your users to use to describe what you're making. Then, choose a set of adjectives that you're okay with not being used to describe the same thing.

When we don't define what good means for our stakeholders and users, we aren't using language to our advantage.

When making things, we should aim to give equal attention to looking good and being good. If either side of that duality fails, the whole suffers.

Language is any system of communication that exists to establish shared meaning.

Perception is the process of considering, and interpreting something.

Intent is the effect we want to have on something. We make language-based decisions whenever we talk about our intent.

Users: Who are your intended users? What do you know about them? How can you get to know them better? How might they describe this mess? Stakeholders: Who are your stakeholders? What are their expectations? What are their thoughts about this mess? How might they describe it? Information: What interpretations are you dealing with? What information i

There's a certain point when continuing to know at the expense of doing allows the mess to grow further.