Kajabi updates and simplifies language on the platform

Over the past few months, we've been working to simplify the product language we use here at Kajabi.

Today, we're excited to share a preview of our newly updated terms, all designed to make your Kajabi user experience more intuitive, accessible, and consistent. Not only does language play an important role in communication but it also has the power to shape how a person learns, adopts, and uses software or an application, as it impacts whether something is easy or more challenging to understand.

Erin Gray, a Lead Copywriter at Kajabi, says, “The thing I love about language is that it’s all about connection and understanding one another. So when we see customers asking ‘What’s the difference between a blueprint, theme, and template?’ and there was no meaningful difference… that’s a clear sign that something needs to change.” 

Let's dive into what this update means for you!

What’s changing on Kajabi?

Goodbye, confusing terms! Hello, simplification!

We are updating a handful of terms used within the Kajabi platform and on the website - terms many of our customers had a difficult time understanding. Specifically, we’ve identified eight troublesome terms that will be part of this update. Starting today, these are the terms you will see change:

The first group of terms are receiving a full revamp:

• “Pipeline” will become “Funnel”
• “Member” will become “Customer”
• “Post” will become “Lesson”
• “Category” will become “Module”

While the second group will be updated for consistency across the product:

• “Clone” will change to “Duplicate”
• “Blueprint” will change to “Template”
• “Theme” will change to “Template”
• “People” will change to “Contacts”

The why behind simplifying language on Kajabi

When we initially built our software over a decade ago, we intentionally chose to use different terminology than other platforms to stand out from the crowd. But, we have heard from customers that the most commonly used industry terms are often the most understandable. You spoke. We listened.

To simplify things for customers, which we refer to as Kajabi Heroes, we are adopting more industry-standard language! We hope that by using these recognizable terms, Kajabi customers, both current and future, will have an easier time getting up to speed on the platform.

Aurora Lumi, a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Kajabi, says,

"When I first started at Kajabi, I was playing around with the platform and found some words confusing (seriously, what are posts and categories?!). After talking to customers, I found that I wasn't the only one who thought that way - they were also confused! When joining a new platform, we recognize there is a lot to learn, and language plays a massive role in this. By simplifying terms and using language our customers prefer, we hope to make Kajabi more intuitive, thus, easier for you to get your business up and running!”

Another goal of simplifying our product language is to make it easier for our Kajabi Partners to speak about our product with their customers. With recognizable terms, you may be more effective at referring customers to Kajabi, which can help both you and the people in your network grow your businesses.  

How did we arrive at the list of new terms?

Choosing what terms to change and what new terms to use was a big undertaking. Curious about how we did it? We thought so! Here is our process outlined:

Step 1: We gathered all of the problem terms.

Step 2: We generated alternatives.

Step 3: We researched and validated our predictions.

Step 4: We implemented by making technical product updates and website updates. 

From the beginning of the project, we knew it was important to orient this update around the people that the platform serves - our customers. 

Throughout the process, customers were included at every step to inform us of which direction to take. We surveyed customers, conducted customer interviews, made social media posts, and started a riveting discussion in the Official Kajabi User Facebook community. As a final touch, we worked with our Customer Experience team to gather the terms that needed changing. 

We wanted to reach a healthy sample size of our customers to give people an opportunity to speak their minds and shape the tool on which they run their business.

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But we didn’t stop at simply asking what we should change. We then polled our customer base for their preferred updated terms so we could implement what they actually wanted to see.

Another important step was to leverage our internal Kajabi team members. The teams that interact with our Heroes have obtained valuable insights from their direct line to the very people who use Kajabi.

Emily Sudduth is an Implementation Manager on the Customer Experience team. She says, 

"I've been at Kajabi for three years and speak to customers daily! Whenever they have questions about pipelines, I quickly got into the habit of saying, ‘a pipeline is basically just your marketing funnel.’ Finally, I could see the light bulb go off in their head, and they understood what I was referring to. I'm glad we are changing terms and aligning with the same language our customers (and team) have already used for years!” 

In addition to the customer outreach, we also ran a competitive analysis, looked at industry-standard terms, and conducted research with prospective customers.

How are Kajabi Heroes responding to the language changes?

What do people think about the changes so far?

When shared that language simplification was coming soon within the Official Kajabi User Facebook Group, these were a few of the responses we got:

“Brilliant. Language matters.”

“There are so many new people to the platform who aren’t technical and are super confused. I talk to them every week. This change will help. Long-awaited and much needed.” 

“For those of us helping clients design courses, the terms ‘module’ and ‘lesson’ are SO MUCH better.”

“It is so important to be able to use simple words that make more sense. Love it!”

It's the little things that matter. While we know it may take a bit of time to adjust to these terms, we appreciate your patience, and we hope these changes make your Kajabi experience better for your business!

Stay connected with Kajabi

For the latest on Kajabi, check out our Kajabi News blog posts and our monthly product updates.

And, for our active Heroes, be sure to join the Official Kajabi User Facebook community so you can stay in the loop about future projects and share your feedback with our team!