Controlled Vocabulary with Banned Synonyms

These examples and illustrative results are independently authored teaching materials, not measured model results.

Use case

A billing design alternates between customer, user and account, leaving the object of ‘delete account’ unclear. The teaching model defines Customer as the billing relationship owner and User as a login identity; one Customer may have many Users. Account is undefined. Preserve these distinctions rather than varying terms for style.

Mechanism

Extract concepts and responsibilities from maintained domain material into a short glossary, explicitly distinguishing non-synonyms. Inspect specifications, examples and outputs. For ambiguous account, identify possible Customer/User meanings and obtain the needed decision. Unify confirmed occurrences without collapsing genuinely different concepts.

Bad example

Rewrite the billing document, alternating Customer, User and Account for readability. Interpret 'delete account' as deletion of a login user.

Good example

Use the teaching glossary: Customer owns billing, User is a login identity, and one Customer can have many Users. Account is not a synonym for either. Inspect and standardize names for the same concept. For 'delete account', mark the meaning unresolved and ask whether it denotes Customer, User or another concept. Do not choose a user-deletion flow before confirmation. Return the glossary, standardized locations and open terms.

Why the change matters

Synonym substitution in a domain model can change objects, relationships and consequences. A shared glossary exposes ambiguity before standardization, preserving meaning instead of merely smoothing prose.

Observable expectation

An illustrative result preserves the Customer-to-Users relationship and records ‘delete account’ as an open question. Check defined meanings, consistent names and no invented deletion semantics.

If later material defines Account as another entity, extend the glossary and inspect relationships rather than banning the term permanently.

Limits

Version domain vocabulary and decisions as it evolves; a glossary does not replace domain confirmation. Source bans on synonyms serve a specific vocabulary contract, not all natural prose. The billing relationships here are a teaching model.