Why Clear Communication is Critical for Successful Digital Product Development

Imagine, you're in a client meeting, and someone proudly announces they want to "leverage cutting-edge design thinking methodologies to create a paradigm-shifting user experience that drives engagement through innovative synergies."

Translation: They want a website that people actually like using.

If you just felt a small headache come on reading that first sentence, you're not alone. In the world of digital product development, where clarity should be our north star, we're drowning in corporate jargon. The cost? According to recent Axios HQ research, poor communication costs organizations over £11,000 per employee in lost productivity.

The Irony of Unclear Communication in Design

As designers and developers, our entire job revolves around making digital solutions that are clear, simple, and intuitive to use. We spend countless hours ensuring that websites and apps communicate effectively with users. The goal is to make every button, every heading, and every interaction crystal clear.

Yet somehow, when it comes to talking about our work, we often fall into the trap of using language that does exactly the opposite. With teams spending 72% of their work week on communication, this disconnect has never been more costly.

When Jargon Derails Digital Product Development

Let's break down how corporate speak and unclear communication actually hurts the product development process:

Discovery Phase

What should be a straightforward conversation about business goals and user needs can end up turning into buzzword bingo. Instead of hearing "We need our customers to easily book appointments," you get "We need to optimize the user journey touchpoints to maximize conversion potential through innovative scheduling paradigms." The real needs get buried under layers of words meant to just sound smart.

Design & Development

This is where things can get really painful. Simple feedback like "make the button more visible" transforms into "enhance the call-to-action's visual impact to leverage user engagement metrics."

Wireframing sessions that should focus on user flow become wrapped in discussions about "innovative interface paradigms" and "cutting-edge design thinking methodologies."

Testing & Feedback

The final stage isn't immune either. Clear user feedback like "I couldn't find the contact information" gets translated into a document as "The information architecture requires optimization to enhance discoverability of elements within the UI ecosystem."

All this so that the person drafting the document comes across smarter than the person in a previous meeting who said "Our approach is to drive transactional outcomes via customer-centric interactions."

Absolutely no one is clear what the other person is talking about, but no one wants to be the person who admits it. Who does this really help? Certainly not us, the client, or the users.

A Tale of Two Approaches

Recently, we encountered a situation that perfectly illustrates this problem. A client approached us, frustrated after their previous experience with another agency.

Their story? They'd signed up for what was pitched as a "comprehensive digital transformation strategy leveraging cutting-edge design thinking methodologies to revolutionize user engagement paradigms."

Well that isn't verbatim, but you get the gist of it.

What they actually needed? A website that would showcase their product in an attractive manner and display information about it. That's it.

The problem wasn't that the website never got made. The problem was that all their communication ended up involving a lot of unnecessary jargon which made a lot of decisions unclear and the timeline got delayed as a result of it.

Why Clear Communication Matters More Than Ever

As Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson notes, "Many of society's problems are caused by the lack of communication and are solved by the right communication at the right moment with the right person." This couldn't be more true in digital product development.

Think about your website for a moment. Would you ever write "leverage innovative methodologies to facilitate user engagement optimization" on your homepage? Of course not. You'd write "We help make your business better" because that's what effectively communicates and connects with people.

The same principle applies to how we communicate about design and development. Clear communication isn't just about sounding smart, it's about building trust and getting things done efficiently.

The Real Cost of Corporate Buzzwords

Hiding behind corporate jargon and buzzwords makes meetings longer and emails more confusing. This leads to:

• Creating unnecessary barriers between us and our clients

• Making simple concepts seem more complicated than they are

• Wasting time that could be spent on actual problem-solving

• Eroding trust (nobody likes to trust someone they can't understand)

Digital Communication: A Tool for Clarity, Not Confusion

In the post-pandemic world with remote work being common, clear communication has never been more crucial. Slack messages, emails, and video calls should make our work easier, not harder. Yet too often, we see simple messages buried under layers of unnecessary complexity.

No one understands nonsense like "We need to leverage asynchronous communication methodologies to optimize our remote workflow paradigms."

All that is required is "Let's make sure we keep the project channel updated so that everyone knows what's happening."

Breaking Free from Jargon: Our Approach at TaktForm

At TaktForm, we believe in overcommunication, but not in the way you might think. Our approach involves:

1. A Dedicated Notion Dashboard for Every Client Clear, accessible information about project progress, decisions, and next steps – no corporate speak required.

2. Weekly Check-ins That Actually Mean Something Direct conversations about what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change.

3. Real-Time Communication Channels Because sometimes you just need to ask a quick question without writing a thesis about it.

The Bottom Line

Clear communication isn't just nice to have, it's a competitive advantage. In a world drowning in corporate speak, being clear and direct stands out. It builds trust, saves time, and ultimately leads to better digital products.

Want to discuss your product or idea in a simple and clear manner? Come say hello at www.taktform.com. No buzzwords required.