3Ws #
Prevent your customers from waiting, worrying or wondering, which comes from *Burn Your Portfolio* by Michael Janda.
5on2 (or 5/2) #
Spend 5 minutes discussing with a team member about a +2hr task before heading in the wrong direction and wasting hours or days. See also: Work Out Loud
10&2 #
Reduce distractions by holding questions until 10 am or 2 pm. Some questions or blockers are urgent, but most are not. Ask yourself "Am I blocked and need an answer right now? If not, could I record my questions now and ask them all at a 10&2?"
Above the Line (top 10) #
Your top 8-12 customers based on the percentage of the incoming revenue in the last 12 months. You either want one problem to solve for many customers, or a few problems for a few customers.
Asynchronous meetings #
When you have a question or an update, you can create a screencast and send it to someone. Screencasts allow for asynchronous meetings and help you move on to the next task while you wait. Joining an asynchronous meeting means I can attend when it’s convenient. Even the pace is convenient by speeding up the video to 2x.
Blocker #
The inability to continue working because something or someone is in your way. (work-wall you can not get through/over by yourself???). See also: 10&2
Blurry number #
An approximate guess at a number that is used to make better business decisions. (if our average sale is "$20", we need 100 sales to meet our goal)
Bug #
An unexpected behavior, error, and incorrect style.
(ex: link to wrong view, expected input error, glitch, wrong role access, 404, authentication failure, broken UI)
Not a bug: new features, new views, new modals, content changes, UX/UI tweaks, modifying features and experiences.
Bus coefficiency #
The number of people on your team that could get hit by a bus and the project (or company) would survive. Spreading knowledge and critical information across your team will increase your bus co-efficiency. This makes your products less fragile and more resilient.
Expert #
You. This is the area you learn, practice, write, bring value, and produce on a topic you enjoy.
Feature-Boxing #
Reduce down to the requirements, only spending a portion of your budget, to insure there are resources for the nice-to-have features. See also: Timeboxing
Fractional Role #
A fractional role is a part-time or project-specific position filled by a specialized member of our team—an expert without a full-time commitment.
How Might We #
Turn your problems into opportunities by reframing the problem. Reframe your problem by saying "How might we solve x problem"
Ideas are Valuable #
We believe our ideas are one of the most valuable things we can provide for our clients. So we charge for them. We've spent years gathering, creating and refining interactive exercises that generate the best ideas.
Lightning Demos #
Often, finding an example of something is the quickest way to explain the look and feel of a new feature.
MLOE #
Our Minimum Level Of Engagement helps us focus on important projects without getting distracted by smaller projects. Example: If our MLOE is $10k. Then we would pass on any $5k project lead that comes in. We would refer this client to someone else.
MVP #
Minimum Viable Product. Launch with only the essential features where value is added, and get real user feedback sooner.
NGGYU #
The number one reason why customers choose us is our dedication to NGGYU. See for yourself by watching this Sodium Halogen Customer Loyalty video.
Noise #
The clutter surrounding what is really important.
Project Completion Date #
The date that we wrap up working on a project with the information we have.
Retrospective #
A strategic discussion after a project (or phase of a project) is complete. What did we learn and how can we improve next time?
Scope Trading #
At the beginning of a project, it's hard to "know what you don't know." Once the scope of a project is agreed to, new features can be added to the project without a change in price – if they replace existing features of equal scope.
Scoping Doc #
We all want to know where the finish line is, so we define it at the beginning of every project. We create user-stories that define the features that accomplish the desired future state. To ensure the team stays focused on the finish line, we list the distractions that is out of scope. See also: Scope Trading
Single Source of Truth #
One place where our team or customers can find answers to all questions .
Sprint #
A sprint is a set period of time during which specific work has to be completed and made ready for review.
Stack Rank #
In a list of to-dos or goals, sort your list, putting the most important items on the top. Now focus on your top item.
Timeboxing #
To reduce the risk of wasted time, set a time (5 min) for the meeting or a task to be completed. When the time is up, you can decide later if 5 more minutes is worth everyone's time.
User Story #
A first person statement that describes a goal. It tells the *why* and validates your task. (ex: software feature, blog post, marketing video)
Template: as: {user type}, want: {to do something} so: {a problem is solved}.
Example: as: Owner, want: to see overtime and PTO report on Monday every week so: my team isn't scrambling at the end of the month.
User Test #
Understanding how and why your users are using your product will validate the work you should do next.
UI/UX #
UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) are two interdependent terms. UI deals with the interaction between users and the applications, UX deals more generally with a user's overall experience.
WAW #
See also: Work About Work
WOL #
See also: Work Out Loud
Work About Work #
Force without movement. Busywork. The work we do that is not the work we are hired to do. Examples are, chasing the status of work, tracking time + gathering reports on tracked time, and communicating about the work.
Workflow #
Steps to complete an area of work.
