# Initiatives

Initiatives define the work that needs focus. Most teams have more ideas than capacity. There are pages to improve, flows to fix, features to rethink, campaigns to sharpen, and customer journeys that need attention. Without a clear initiative, everything feels important at the same time.That is where design work starts to scatter.An initiative gives the team a clear area of work to improve. It creates a container for signals, methods, comparisons, and decisions. Instead of testing random ideas, the team knows what problem they are trying to move and why it matters.A strong initiative connects three things:a user needa business goala measurable part of the experienceWhen those are clear, the team can focus its energy, choose the right method, and compare results in a way that supports better decisions.Why initiatives matterMost design work gets messy when the team does not agree on what is actually being improved. One person thinks the goal is conversion. Another thinks it is clarity. Someone else wants to reduce support tickets. The design team may be focused on usability, while leadership is looking for growth.None of those goals are wrong. The problem is that they are not yet framed as one clear initiative. Initiatives cut through that meandering.They help teams:name the area of work that deserves attentionconnect design effort to user and business outcomesdecide which signals matter mostkeep testing focused instead of scatteredmake progress easier to explain laterA clear initiative gives the team a shared target. It tells everyone, “This is the part of the experience we are trying to improve.”How initiatives workAn initiative starts by choosing the area where better decisions would create value. That might be a product flow, a marketing page, a feature, a support path, an onboarding moment, or a larger customer journey. The size can change, but the purpose stays the same: give the team a focused area to evaluate and improve.From there, the team defines what success should look like. The initiative should make it easier to decide which methods to use, which metrics to track, and which comparisons matter.A good initiative answers a few simple questions:What part of the experience needs attention?Who is affected by it?What user need is involved?What business goal does it connect to?What signal would show progress?What decision needs to be made?Without those answers, the work may still move, but the learning will be harder to use.What goes into an initiativeAn initiative works best when the team has enough clarity to focus the work, but not so much certainty that the decision is already made.It usually includes:the area of experience being improvedthe user group or audience involvedthe user need or behavior the team wants to supportthe business goal or pressure behind the workthe UX metric that will show whether the experience is improvingthe decision the team needs to make nextThis keeps the initiative grounded. It prevents the team from starting with a solution too early. It also keeps the work from becoming a broad research effort with no clear action.Types of initiativesInitiatives can show up across many kinds of design work. Some are focused on a single moment. Others span a larger journey. The key is to make the scope clear enough that the team can test, compare, and decide.Common initiative types include:Simplify Identity & AccessAccelerate Onboarding & First-Use SuccessOptimize Navigation & DiscoveryStreamline Checkout & PaymentIncrease Engagement & RetentionPersonalize User ExperiencesStrengthen Collaboration & CommunicationElevate Marketing & Growth PagesImprove Content & SupportExpand Device & Context ReachThese are not just categories. They are starting points for focused improvement.Each one points to a different kind of user friction, business pressure, and signal pattern. An onboarding initiative may need metrics around comprehension, task success, and confidence. A checkout initiative may focus on completion, effort, trust, and drop-off. A marketing page initiative may look at clarity, appeal, intent, and conversion signals.The initiative helps the team choose the right lens.How to choose an initiativeStart with how the work already exists in the business.In many companies, initiatives are already defined before design gets involved. A leader may already have a goal, roadmap item, campaign, product bet, or workflow that needs improvement. But by the time the work reaches design and product, it often shows up as scattered requests: redesign this page, fix this flow, test this feature, improve this message.Those requests matter, but they are not always framed in a way that creates the most value. Design and product can shape the initiative by connecting the request back to the larger goal, the user need, the concepts worth exploring, and the decision the business needs to make.Use five steps:1. Map the request to the larger goalStart with what the business is asking for, then pull back.A page redesign might connect to conversion. A navigation change might connect to discovery. A new feature might connect to adoption. A campaign update might connect to trust, clarity, or intent.Ask:What is being requested?What business goal is behind it?What part of the experience does it affect?Is this one concept, or part of a larger initiative?This step helps the team avoid treating every request as a separate project. It shows whether the work belongs inside a bigger outcome.2. Find the user need behind the workOnce the larger goal is clear, look at what the user is trying to accomplish.The initiative should help users make progress in a way that also creates value for the business. This keeps the team from improving something just because it is visible, urgent, or politically important.Ask:What is the user trying to do?Where are they getting stuck?What needs to feel clearer, faster, easier, or more valuable?What user behavior would show progress?This step turns the initiative from an internal request into a user-centered opportunity.3. Group the concepts that could create valueNow look for the smaller ideas that belong to the same effort.One initiative might include 10, 50, or even 100 concepts. These might be pages, flows, features, messages, prototypes, content changes, or product improvements. The goal is not to test them all at once. The goal is to see the range of possible moves before narrowing too early.Group concepts by:the user need they supportthe business goal they connect tothe part of the experience they improvethe decision they help informThis step helps the team manage scope without losing the bigger picture.4. Decide what signal would create confidenceBefore choosing the initiative, define what evidence would help the team move forward.The signal might show which concept users understand, which flow creates less friction, which message builds more trust, or which direction has more pull. This gives the initiative a clear learning path.Ask:What do we need to know before investing more?What UX metric would show progress?What comparison would make the decision clearer?What signal would reduce doubt for the team or stakeholders?This step keeps the initiative tied to evidence, not activity.5. Choose the initiative where design can create the most valueThe best initiative is not always the biggest one. It is the one where design and product can connect many possible concepts to a shared outcome, then use signals to help the business make a better decision.Choose the initiative when:scattered requests connect to one larger goalthe same experience problem appears across pages, flows, or featuresstakeholders are focused on pieces, but the bigger opportunity is uncleara business goal depends on improving several parts of the user experiencethe team needs to manage scope without losing directiona clearer signal would help decide which concepts deserve more investmentA strong initiative gives scattered work a sharper frame. It helps teams compare concepts fairly, manage scope, and move the ideas most likely to create value.Peter Gouldingframes his process,When the business cycle changes and we start optimising the product again, we normally have metrics established for each project we run.What comes out of an initiativeThe output of an initiative is a clearer path to decisions that move the business forward.A strong initiative gives the team:A clear area of workA defined audienceA user need to supportA business goal to connect toA UX metric to trackA set of concepts to compareA decision the team needs to makeThis gives the work shape. The team can choose the right method, collect the right signal, and compare the right options without losing sight of the bigger goal.The real value comes from the comparative findings. They show which concepts create more clarity, confidence, usefulness, or pull with users. Those findings help different workflows across the business move forward with more confidence.Product can prioritize what deserves investment.Design can refine the direction with stronger proof.Marketing can sharpen the message around what users value.Leadership can see why one path is worth backing.An initiative does not just organize design work. It helps turn many possible concepts into evidence-backed decisions the business can act on.Where initiatives fit in GlareInitiatives sit inside the Focus facet of Glare. Measure helps teams turn concepts, hunches, questions, and findings into signals. Initiatives give those signals a place to work. They define the area where the team needs to compare options and make a decision.In the Focus flow:Initiatives define what needs attention.Methods define how the team will learn.Comparing shows what performs better.Decisions turn the evidence into action.Initiatives are where Focus begins. They give design work a clear target, so signals can build toward decisions that move the work forward.AI PromptThis prompt helps you define a clear initiative so your team has a shared container for signals, methods, comparisons, and decisions.Start with a set of requests, a redesign, or a design effort that feels scattered or hard to scope. It guides you to:Map the request back to the larger business goal behind itFind the user need the work is actually trying to supportGroup the concepts that could create value under one shared outcomeName the UX metric and decision that will show whether the initiative movedYou'll end with a scoped initiative that connects a user need, a business goal, and a measurable part of the experience.Use this when everything feels important at once, or when scattered requests need a clearer frame before any testing or collection begins.AI SkillThe Initiatives skill file teaches your AI the full five-step method for choosing and framing an initiative so it can help you move from scattered requests to focused work with a shared outcome.Load it when you need to go deeper on connecting requests to business goals, grouping concepts under an initiative, or using the 10 common initiative types as starting points. It gives your AI:The five-step method for choosing an initiative from competing requestsThe 10 common initiative types with their friction and signal patternsThe six questions a strong initiative must answer before methods beginThe guidance for knowing when scope is tight enough to learn quicklyDownload the skill file below to use the full Initiatives framework with your AI assistant.