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Methods

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Summary​

The (high-level) process that we call Terminology Design aims to establish and maintain terminologies for various contexts that are suitable for, e.g.:

  • creating and maintaining e.g.,:
    • a common understanding between a group of people that work together as they pursue specific objectives;
    • a set of (simple) documents that describe the various terms, how they relate to one another (to form mental models).
  • authoring well-formed arguments, nicely readable whitepapers, explanations, reference documentation, that use the terms in a consistent and coherent way, and that can readily be understood by the intended audiences of such texts.

The key characteristic of a terminology that is designed for a particular context is that it is fit for the purpose(s) that are pursued within that context. If, for example, the purpose pursued in a context is the architecture and design of IT, the terminology will be much more precise than when it were developed for a context in which coming the purpose is to come to grips with e.g., societal or ethical issues (which are inherently less precise).

To reap the full benefits of a (well-designed) terminology, a few principles must be adhered to:

  1. the respective definitions of the terms that are being created and maintained in a particular terminology are to be created by the means provided by the processes we define. This basically means that the focus lies on the MEANINGs (distinctions) that are needed in the context for which the terms are defined, rather than on the terms that represent such meanings.
  2. when doing work (e.g. making documents, discussing things, etc.) within a context for which a terminology is being maintained, the participants are committed to use the terms that are contained in that terminology in the meaning in which they are defined there (the meaning of other terms would be 'as usual'). A lack of this commitment is a counterindicator for maintaining a terminology.

The terminology design process is supported by terminology tools that enable people to document the results of this process, and use them to write other documents e.g. as part of a website, or a pdf file, or other rendered format.

Triggers and Counterindicators​

There are many signals that may serve as a trigger to start this process, such as:

  • the determination, by a group of people that pursues one or more objectives, that they are spending (too much) time discussing topics or terms without reaching a conclusion that is satisfactory for use by every member of the group (which means that such discussions keep popping up, even if a decision has been made that should have closed it).
  • the desire that is felt by all(most all) members of a group to develop a mental model on some topic.
  • the felt need for creating and/or maintaining some kind of standard or other reference text.
  • the need for creating some kind of framework or other foundational (set of) document(s) that are expected to serve as a basis for others to work from.

There are also various counterindicators, i.e. signals that should prevent the process from being started, such as:

  • the participants have an insufficient interest and/or motivation to spend the time and effort to realize the intended result.
  • the participants have no intention of consequently using the results in

Activities​

Running the process consists of executing the following activities:1

  1. Determine the scope of the terminology (i.e.: the context in which the terms of the terminology will be used).

  2. Determine the distinctions that participants make, and that they find relevant for realizing the objectives that they pursue within this scope; use the criteria-elicitation process to ensure that all participants are enabled to make the same distinctions.

  3. Establish the set of elicited criteria that relate to one another in a way that is useful/relevant for realizing the objectives, and associate a term with each of them (thereby creating a definition for that term).

  4. Use the terms in texts in the meaning as defined.

  5. Whenever a use-case/text emerges that calls for the revision of one or more terms, then:

    1. remove the problematic terms from the terminology;
    2. re-assess the distinctions as mentioned in steps 2 and 3;
    3. repeat steps i and ii until the problem that caused the revision is resolved;
    4. revise all texts that exist within the scope so that they will be consistent with the new version of the terminology.

Issues/Exceptions​

Tips​

Example​

An account of how this process was run several times in a project is described in this real-life example

  1. The crucial arguments that come up during the discussions in any of these steps should be logged, so that they can be documented later and as such provide guidance to readers for understanding why certain terms are used, and certain design decisions have been made.↩