Naming Services in Consumer Language

Name services in consumer language by describing a recognisable outcome or capability, and avoid internal product names, department names and unexplained acronyms. A catalogue should translate the provider's service model into information consumers can find and use, while ownership and traceability sit behind that view.

• Collect consumer terminology first, then describe the outcome the service enables.
• Test candidate names in search and in conversation, and record technical aliases separately so the consumer-facing name stays clear.
• Follow the article's example: a catalogue uses 'New starter setup' rather than the names of the identity, device and HR systems involved.
• Measure search success, name comprehension and misrouted demand as a set. Search success is the starting signal, but compare it with comprehension before deciding whether a change worked. The owner records the expected effect on misrouted demand and the date that assumption will be checked.
• Avoid using vendor product names, encoding organisational structure, and choosing names only experts recognise. Trace naming decisions back to search success and the consumer outcome, revise them when that connection is weak, and review results with both delivery teams and consumers.