# Glossary of Terms Glare uses a small set of terms to explain how product and design decisions move from uncertainty to impact. This glossary gives each term a simple meaning so teams, leaders, and AI systems can use the same language. ### **AI Agent** An AI system that can manage a goal, choose steps, and use Skills to complete work. In Glare, Ray our agent can help coordinate parts of the workflow, such as applying a Skill, structuring input, or comparing signals. ### [**AI Skill**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/ai-skills) A reusable way of working that gives AI and teams a consistent structure to complete a task. A prompt tells AI what to do in one moment. A Skill defines how to do something repeatedly. Skills help teams: - Frame decisions - Clarify user needs - Connect business goals - Shape signals - Interpret results ### **AI Workflow** The way prompts, Skills, agents, signals, and teams work together to move from idea to decision. A simple AI workflow looks like: - Prompt generates an idea - Skill structures the work - Agent coordinates the steps - Participant input creates a signal - Team makes the decision ### **Business Goal** The outcome the team or organization wants to move. A business goal gives the signal direction. It helps connect design work to what the company cares about, such as conversion, activation, retention, trust, efficiency, or growth. ### [**Design Assessment**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment) A way to see how well design decisions move through an organization. The Design Assessment looks across five dimensions: - [Organizing Work](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment/organizing-work) - [Managing Complexity](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment/managing-complexity) - [Building Proof](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment/building-proof) - [Guiding Decisions](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment/guiding-decisions) - [Scaling Influence](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-assessment/scaling-influence) It helps teams see where signals are strong, where decisions break down, and where the system needs support. ### **Design Impact** The change created by a design decision. Design impact becomes clearer when a decision connects to: - A user need - A UX metric - A design signal - A product or business outcome ### [**Design Review**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-review) The moment where work is discussed, evaluated, and expected to move toward a decision. In Glare, Design Review is where signals are applied so conversations stay focused and decisions can land. ### [**Design Signal**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/design-signal) The smallest unit of clarity a team can use to move a decision forward. A design signal connects: - A UX metric - Intuition - Direction - Context - A user need - A business goal Signals help teams understand what users are showing and how that should shape a decision. ### **Decision** A clear choice about what moves forward. A decision might mean: - Choosing one direction - Refining an idea - Stopping something that is not working - Changing the scope - Creating another signal In Glare, decisions are supported by signals. ### [**Decision Map**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map) The part of Glare that shows how design signals are strengthened through the work. The Decision Map organizes decision activity into four areas: - Define - Measure - Focus - Lead It helps teams understand where a decision is, what information is needed, and what should happen next. ### [**Define**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map/define) The part of the Decision Map focused on clarifying what matters. Define helps teams understand: - The user need - The audience - The context - What success should mean ### [**Focus**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map/focus) The part of the Decision Map focused on comparing options and choosing direction. Focus helps teams use signals to decide what should move forward. ### **Hunch** An early read on the work. A hunch usually shows up before evidence is clear. It might sound like: - “Users might get stuck here” - “This direction feels stronger” - “This could improve conversion” In Glare, a hunch becomes useful when it is shaped into a signal. ### **Intuition** What the team is noticing based on experience, judgment, and pattern recognition. Glare does not remove intuition. It gives intuition structure so teams can connect it to user needs, metrics, and decisions. ### [**Lead**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map/lead) The part of the Decision Map focused on connecting decisions to outcomes. Lead helps teams show how design decisions influence product direction, business goals, and design impact. ### [**Measure**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map/measure) The part of the Decision Map focused on understanding how the work performs. Measure helps teams choose the UX metrics and input needed to strengthen a signal. ### **Participant Input** Responses from people who interact with a concept, flow, message, or experience. Participant input helps create or strengthen signals by showing how real users respond. ### **Prompt** A one-time instruction used with an AI tool. Prompts are useful for generating ideas, reframing questions, creating variations, or exploring directions quickly. Prompts are flexible, but they are temporary. Skills make that work repeatable. ### **Signal Loop** The repeatable flow of turning a hunch into a signal and applying it to a decision. A simple signal loop looks like: - start with a hunch - connect it to user needs and business goals - anchor it to a UX metric - apply it to a decision - carry the signal forward ### **Tradeoff** What the team gains or gives up when choosing one direction over another. Signals make tradeoffs easier to see because they show how different options perform against what matters. ### [**User Need**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/decision-map/define/user-needs) What a user is trying to do, understand, feel, or accomplish. A user need gives the signal its human anchor. Without a clear user need, signals can drift toward internal opinion or business-only goals. ### [**UX Metric**](https://glare.zurb.com/docs/ux-metrics) A measure that helps the team understand how well the experience is working. Common UX metrics include: - Comprehension - Usability - Confidence - Desirability - Trust - Completion UX metrics help turn user input into signals that can guide decisions.