The lack of a common language between business users and developers during application development projects often results in developers spending a lot of time designing a solution that does not meet user needs. This article explores an approach to application development called exploratory modeling (xM) that reduces the risk of application design failure by using non-technical, business-level tools and concepts to create an application model, and then enabling fine-tuning of the model through shortened, interactive analysis and design cycles. The article starts by examining the root causes of design failures, and then defines the xM approach and discusses how it was successfully used in two projects.