Product strategy glossary

The moment a new user experiences the core value of a product for the first time, not just signs up for it.

The full list of ideas, fixes, and requests a team could work on, ordered roughly by priority but not yet committed to a release.

The rate at which customers stop using or paying for a product over a given period.

The early research work of confirming a problem is real and worth solving before design or engineering time is spent on it.

A two-cycle design process: the first diverge-converge cycle explores the problem, the second explores solutions.

A way of understanding what customers are really "hiring" a product to do, independent of features or demographics.

Sorts features into basic expectations, performance features, and delighters — and reminds teams that delighters fade into basics over time.

Minimum Viable Product — the smallest version of an idea that lets you learn something real from real users.

One number that captures the value a product delivers to customers, which tends to pull revenue along with it when it grows.

Objectives and Key Results — a goal-setting format pairing a qualitative objective with measurable results that prove you got there.

The first experience a new user has with a product, designed to get them to value as quickly as possible.

A composite profile representing a group of real users with similar goals and behavior, used to keep design decisions grounded.

The act of deciding which validated ideas get built next, ideally using a shared framework instead of whoever argued loudest.

The share of users who keep coming back to a product over time, usually the clearest sign a product delivers ongoing value.

A scoring method — Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort — used to compare very different ideas on the same roadmap.

A visible, sequenced view of what a team plans to work on, ideally organized around outcomes rather than fixed dates.

A fixed, short period (commonly one or two weeks) during which a team commits to completing a specific set of work.

Anyone with a legitimate interest in a product decision — not only executives, but support, sales, and sometimes legal too.

A short description of a feature from the user's perspective, usually in the form "As a [user], I want [goal], so that [reason]."

A low-fidelity sketch of a screen's layout, used to test structure and flow before any visual design is applied.