Plain-English definitions for UX, product, user research, accessibility, service design, CRO, AI, and digital strategy terms used in day-to-day digital work.
Showing 74 of 388 terms
Product
An MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the simplest version of a product that delivers real value to users while allowing teams to test assumptions and learn quickly. It focuses on solving a core problem with minimal effort, helping teams validate what works before scaling development.
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Product-market fit is the point where a product consistently meets the needs of a defined audience, resulting in strong adoption, retention, and organic growth. It shows that the product is solving a real problem in a way users genuinely value.
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A value proposition clearly explains why a product is valuable and why users should choose it over alternatives. It defines the core benefit and differentiator in a way users can quickly understand and act on.
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Product strategy defines how a product will achieve business goals by solving user problems in a focused and sustainable way. It sets direction, priorities, and trade-offs to guide decision-making.
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Product vision is a long-term statement that defines what a product aims to achieve and the impact it will have on users and the business. It provides direction and purpose beyond short-term delivery.
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Product lifecycle describes the stages a product goes through from initial idea to growth, maturity, and eventual decline or evolution. It helps teams understand where a product is and what actions are needed next.
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Product adoption refers to how users start using and integrating a product into their behaviour or workflows. It measures how successfully a product moves from awareness to regular use.
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Retention measures how well a product keeps users over time by continuing to deliver value. It is a key indicator of product success and long-term viability.
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Churn is the rate at which users stop using a product over a given period. It highlights where value is not being sustained and where users are dropping off.
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A feature is a specific piece of functionality within a product that delivers value to users. It represents something users can do or experience as part of the overall product.
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Feature creep is the uncontrolled addition of new features to a product, often beyond its original scope or purpose. It can lead to increased complexity, delays, and reduced usability.
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Product differentiation is what makes a product distinct from competitors in a way that matters to users. It defines why users should choose one product over another.
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Competitive advantage is a sustained edge that allows a product or business to outperform competitors. It can come from unique capabilities, brand, technology, or market positioning.
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Time to market is the amount of time it takes to move from an idea to a live product or feature. It reflects how quickly a team can deliver value to users.
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Scaling is the process of growing a product or system to handle increased demand without compromising performance or experience. It applies to technology, users, and operations.
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A pivot is a strategic change in direction based on learning, feedback, or market signals. It involves adjusting the product, audience, or approach to improve outcomes.
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A proof of concept (PoC) is a small-scale experiment used to demonstrate that an idea, technology, or approach is feasible. It focuses on validating whether something can work, rather than whether it should be built.
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Alpha is an early, internal version of a product used to test core functionality before it is exposed to real users. It is typically incomplete, unstable, and focused on validating whether the product basically works.
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A beta is a near-finished version of a product released to real users to test performance, usability, and identify issues before full launch. It helps validate how the product performs in real-world conditions.
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Gold Master is the final version of a product that is considered complete and ready for release. It represents the approved build that will be distributed to users without further changes.
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A release candidate is a version of a product that is potentially ready for release, pending final testing and validation. It should be feature-complete and stable, with only critical issues remaining.
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A release is the point at which a product or feature is made available to users. It marks the transition from development to real-world use and often involves deployment, communication, and monitoring.
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A roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the direction, priorities, and timeline for a product or initiative. It communicates what will be delivered and why, rather than just listing features.
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The backlog is a prioritised list of work that needs to be delivered, including features, fixes, and improvements.
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A user story describes a piece of work from the user’s perspective, focusing on value rather than features.
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An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into smaller, manageable pieces.
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The process of understanding problems before building solutions.
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The process of building and releasing solutions.
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Testing whether a product or feature meets real needs.
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Market fit refers to how well a product aligns with the needs, expectations, and demand of a specific market. It indicates whether there is a real opportunity for the product to succeed commercially.
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Early adopters are the first group of users willing to try a new product, often before it is fully mature. They are typically more tolerant of issues and provide valuable feedback that shapes the product.
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Product iteration is the process of continuously improving a product through small, incremental changes based on feedback, data, and learning. It allows teams to evolve products over time rather than relying on large, infrequent updates.
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Product velocity refers to the speed at which a team can design, build, and release product improvements. It reflects how efficiently a team can turn ideas into working solutions.
View glossary termProduct · Conversion Optimisation
A conversion is any action a user takes that aligns with a defined goal, such as making a purchase, signing up, or completing a task.
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Retention rate is the percentage of users who continue to use a product or return over a given period of time.
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Strategy is a high-level plan that defines long-term goals and the approach to achieving them.
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Stakeholder alignment is the process of ensuring all stakeholders share a common understanding of goals, priorities, and direction.
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Decision making is the process of selecting the best course of action from available options based on information, goals, and constraints.
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Prioritisation is the process of ranking tasks, features, or initiatives based on their importance, impact, and effort.
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A platform is a system or environment that enables users, services, or applications to interact, build, or operate.
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Product risk refers to the potential for a product to fail, underperform, or create negative outcomes for users or the business.
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A product opportunity is a potential area where a product can deliver value, solve a problem, or meet a user need.
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Product scope defines what is included and excluded in a product, project, or release.
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Product positioning defines how a product is presented and perceived in the market relative to competitors.
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A product narrative is the story that explains what a product is, why it exists, and how it delivers value.
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Product alignment ensures that teams, stakeholders, and efforts are working towards the same goals and direction.
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Product ownership refers to the responsibility for defining, managing, and delivering a product’s vision and outcomes.
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Strategic direction defines the overall path and priorities a product or organisation is moving towards.
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A version is a specific iteration of software or a product at a point in time.
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Iteration is the process of repeatedly improving a product through cycles of testing, feedback, and refinement.
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An experiment is a structured test used to evaluate hypotheses and measure outcomes.
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Event tracking is the process of capturing specific user actions within a system for analysis.
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An insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.
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Customer feedback is information provided by users about their experience with a product or service.
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Dividing users into groups based on shared characteristics or behaviour.
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Agile is an approach to product development focused on iterative delivery, collaboration, and adapting to change.
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Scrum is an Agile framework that structures work into time-boxed iterations called sprints.
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A sprint is a fixed time period where a team completes a set of planned work.
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Sprint planning is the process of selecting and defining work for the upcoming sprint.
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Refinement is the process of preparing and clarifying backlog items before development.
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Dual Track Agile separates discovery and delivery into parallel streams of work.
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Discovery is the phase of understanding problems, users, and opportunities before building solutions.
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Delivery is the process of building, testing, and releasing a product or feature.
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A design sprint is a structured, time-boxed process for solving problems and testing ideas quickly.
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Lean UX is an approach that focuses on rapid experimentation, collaboration, and learning over documentation.
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A cross-functional team includes members with different skills working together towards a shared goal.
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Constraints are limitations or restrictions that impact how a product or solution can be designed or built.
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Trade-offs are decisions where improving one aspect requires compromising another.
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Acceptance criteria are the conditions that must be met for a piece of work to be considered complete.
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A UX designer focuses on creating effective, usable, and meaningful user experiences.
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A UX researcher studies user behaviour, needs, and motivations to inform design decisions.
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A product designer combines UX, UI, and product thinking to design end-to-end product experiences.
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A product manager is responsible for defining product direction, priorities, and outcomes.
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A developer builds and maintains the technical implementation of a product.
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