(Illustrated above) An architect likes that her new building modeling application uses language, conventions, and workflow that are specific to the practice of architecture. Other collaborative design products she has tried using in the past felt more like overly general 3D modeling tools that required her to excessively translate her ideas into arbitrary commands and design shapes.

A scientist finds that the features of her new analysis application are geared specifically to the types of clinical data explorations that she performs in her research. Whereas the general “data mining” tools her lab is migrating away from seemed arbitrary and unnecessarily difficult to learn, her new tool seems very approachable and relevant.

As a financial trader quickly scans the menus and field names of the trial version of a new market information application, he recognizes standard options and functionalities that he is accustomed to using.

What meaningful consistencies in work practices across targeted organizations might your team translate into readily recognizable domain cues?

What clear commonalities in nomenclature and information representation could become visible references within your product?

Do your application concepts fit into — or somehow relate to — existing product genres that targeted individuals will likely know about? How might your team’s design strategies play up these affinities while retaining meaningful brand differentiation?

What domain specific interaction patterns could trigger targeted knowledge workers to view your product as a potential addition to their technology environments?

How might the interactive entry points for primary pathways within your sketched computing tool provide a strong sense of domain relevancy?

How might strong or subtle design references to familiar and iconic artifacts improve potential users’ “gut” judgments of your product’s utility and applicability?

Do you have enough information to usefully answer these and other envisioning questions? What additional research, problem space models, and design concepting could valuably inform your team’s application envisioning efforts?