Aligned Language

A 5-Day Email Course for Design Leaders and Product Teams

Most design failures aren’t about bad design—they’re about bad communication. When designers, stakeholders, and product teams use different definitions for “research,” “testing,” and “validation,” projects stall, trust erodes, and opportunities get missed.

This course teaches you how to align on terminology, establish design credibility, and collaborate without the constant friction of misunderstanding.

What You’ll Learn

Over 5 days, you’ll get one short email delivered each morning:

Day 1: Understanding the Double Diamond - The framework that organizes all design work (and why stakeholders miss it)

Day 2: Generative Research - What it actually means and why it’s not the same as usability testing

Day 3: Evaluative Research - How to validate designs and why this conversation is completely different from discovering opportunities

Day 4: Making Work Visible - Design briefs, timelines, and how to transform abstract concepts into shared understanding

Day 5: Teach Through Action - How to get your entire team speaking the same language and building trust through experience

Each email takes 5-7 minutes to read and includes one actionable exercise you can implement with your team immediately.

Who This Is For

Design Leaders frustrated by stakeholders questioning their approach
UX Designers tired of explaining why design takes time
Product Managers trying to improve design collaboration
Engineering Leads struggling to understand design scope and timelines
Stakeholders managing product portfolios and making investment decisions
Design Managers tasked with scaling design processes across teams

What You’ll Get

✓ The Double Diamond Framework - A visual model that explains every design project

✓ Precise Terminology - Definitions for generative research, evaluative research, validation, and more

✓ Design Brief Template - A tool to communicate scope and timelines clearly

✓ Language Discipline - How to replace vague terms with specific, shared definitions

✓ Teaching Strategies - How to align your team through experience, not just explanation

✓ Stakeholder Communication Playbook - Real examples of how to explain design work clearly

By Day 5, you’ll have a framework to explain design work to anyone, terminology your team can align on, and a concrete tool (design brief) to use on your next project.

Join the Free Course

No spam. No upsells. Just aligned language and better collaboration.
Unsubscribe anytime.

✓ Free forever ✓ One email per day ✓ Starts tomorrow

How It Works

Enter your email above - The signup form is powered by Buttondown
Get Day 1 tomorrow - Welcome email arrives immediately, Day 1 the next day
One email per day for 5 days - Delivered each morning at 7 AM
Learn and implement - Each day includes a specific exercise to try with your team
Establish design leadership - By the end, you’ll have language and frameworks to lead

This Course Is Free

No upsells. No hidden costs. No catch.

I created this course because I watched too many talented designers get frustrated with stakeholder questions that stem from language misalignment, not ignorance. The solution is simple: align on terminology, make work visible, teach through experience.

When you speak the same language about design work, everything gets better.

About the Instructor

I’m Esko Lehtme, Design Lead at SEB.

For the past decade, I’ve built design teams, established design practices at scale, and watched organizations transform when designers and stakeholders start speaking the same language.

The biggest challenge I’ve seen isn’t whether designers are skilled. It’s whether anyone actually understands what they’re doing. When a stakeholder says “Can’t you just design one screen?” and a designer says “I need to understand the customer journey,” they’re not having a conflict about competence—they’re having a language problem.

I’ve run design processes that went smoothly. I’ve run design processes that ground to a halt. The difference? Communication. Shared terminology. Visible work plans.

This course distills everything I’ve learned about aligning design language with product teams and stakeholders. It’s not theoretical. It’s battle-tested in distributed teams, product organizations, and complex business environments.

The language we use shapes the work we do and the value we deliver.

Read my comprehensive blog post on this topic →

Still Not Sure?

Want more depth first? Read my comprehensive blog post: We’re not speaking the same language, and it’s costing us time

It explores specific examples of language misalignment, goes deeper into the Double Diamond framework, and includes a detailed terminology guide for your team.

Then come back and join the course when you’re ready to implement.

Have questions? Once you join, you can reply to any course email. I read everything.