Business Thinking for Designers

Chapter 2
Explore business 
concepts
Essential vocabulary, models, and strategies

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30 
Explore business concepts
About six months after joining Apple, I moved from a team 
focused on internal training to one responsible for customer-
support programs. When I joined the new team, I struggled to 
convince my peers in Program Management that dedicated 
time for research was an important part of the design process. 
As I reflect on that experience, I realize I simply lacked the 
language to get others on board with my ideas. I was speaking 
design, but my colleagues were speaking business. I didn’t 
take the time to get to know their unique needs and objectives 
before I made suggestions on how I could improve things. To 
help you avoid my mistakes, here are some essential concepts 
you can introduce to your vocabulary to help you align better 
with your colleagues.
As with learning any language, vocabulary is important. 
Here, we’ll review the terms and concepts you’ll need to 
communicate effectively with leaders across the business. 
Chances are, you already have a loose understanding of what 
these mean. But let’s nail them down.