Requirement
Name features, pages, and labels in plain language your users already use. Name by function, not metaphor. A name that requires explanation has already failed.
Rationale
Every feature, page, and label is a brand touchpoint. Users navigate dozens of platforms; a clever name is one more thing to decode between tasks. This control applies at intent and plan time — the cheapest moment to catch a bad name is before it spreads into navigation, copy, and training material.
Evaluator guidance
Flag, quoting the name:
- Invented portmanteaus: "SyncFlow", "InsightHub", "EduConnect".
- Internal codenames or project names leaking into UI.
- Technical jargon or unexplained acronyms in navigation or page titles.
- Metaphor over function: "Compass" for a settings page.
- Cleverness that needs a tooltip to explain.
Good names name the job: "Task Planner", "Customer Notes", "Log Hours".
Do not flag: product names that passed the identity rule (these are settled identities), or terms your users genuinely use even when they look like jargon to outsiders (for example, an industry acronym they use every day).
Waiver
documented — a name that fails the plain-language test but is retained needs a
named approver and the reason in the decision record (e.g. a policy-mandated
programme name that must appear verbatim).