Quick reference for product management and business analysis terminology.
A/B Testing - Experimental method comparing two variants (A and B) to determine which performs better based on a success metric.
AARRR (Pirate Metrics) - Growth framework tracking: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral.
Acceptance Criteria - Conditions that a software product must satisfy to be accepted by a user, customer, or stakeholder. Usually written as GIVEN-WHEN-THEN scenarios.
Agile - Iterative approach to project management and software development emphasizing flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback.
API (Application Programming Interface) - Set of rules allowing different software applications to communicate with each other.
Backlog - Prioritized list of features, user stories, and tasks to be completed. Maintained by the Product Owner.
Backlog Refinement (Grooming) - Ongoing activity where the team reviews upcoming user stories to ensure they're ready for a sprint.
BRD (Business Requirements Document) - Document outlining the business objectives, scope, and high-level requirements for a project.
Burn-down Chart - Graph showing remaining work (typically story points) over time within a sprint.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) - Total cost of acquiring a new customer (marketing + sales expenses / # of customers).
Churn Rate - Percentage of customers who stop using a product over a given time period.
Cohort Analysis - Segmenting users into groups (cohorts) based on shared characteristics (e.g., signup week) to analyze behavior over time.
CTA (Call to Action) - Prompt encouraging users to take a specific action (e.g., "Sign Up Now" button).
Daily Standup (Daily Scrum) - 15-minute daily meeting where team members answer: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Any blockers?
Definition of Done (DoD) - Shared understanding of what it means for work to be considered complete.
Definition of Ready (DoR) - Checklist ensuring a user story has enough detail to be pulled into a sprint.
Dependency - When one task/feature relies on another being completed first.
Epic - Large body of work that can be broken down into smaller user stories. Typically takes multiple sprints to complete.
Estimation - Process of predicting the effort required to complete a task, often using story points or hours.
Feature Flag - Technique allowing you to enable/disable features without deploying new code (useful for A/B testing or gradual rollouts).
Fibonacci Sequence - Number sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ...) commonly used for story point estimation due to increasing uncertainty.
FSD (Functional Specification Document) - Detailed document describing how a feature should work, including UI flows, business rules, and acceptance criteria.
Funnel Analysis - Tracking users through a multi-step process to identify where they drop off.
Grooming - See Backlog Refinement.
INVEST - Criteria for well-formed user stories: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable.
Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) - Framework focusing on the underlying task or "job" a customer is trying to accomplish, rather than specific product features.
Kanban - Visual workflow management method using a board with columns (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) to track work.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) - Measurable value demonstrating how effectively a company is achieving business objectives.
LTV (Lifetime Value) - Total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over their entire relationship.
MAU (Monthly Active Users) - Number of unique users who engage with a product in a month.
Mermaid - Text-based diagramming tool embedded in Markdown for creating flowcharts, sequence diagrams, etc.
MoSCoW Prioritization - Method categorizing features as: Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won't-have (this time).
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) - Version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future development.
NFR (Non-Functional Requirement) - Requirements specifying system quality attributes (performance, security, scalability) rather than specific behaviors.
North Star Metric - Single key metric that best captures the core value delivered to customers.
NPS (Net Promoter Score) - Customer loyalty metric measured by asking: "On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this product?"
OKR (Objectives and Key Results) - Goal-setting framework where an Objective (qualitative goal) is measured by 3-5 Key Results (quantitative outcomes).
OpenAPI (Swagger) - Standard for describing REST APIs in a machine-readable format (YAML/JSON) enabling auto-generated docs and client libraries.
Persona - Fictional character representing a user segment, including demographics, goals, frustrations, and behaviors.
Planning Poker - Estimation technique where team members independently select story point cards, then discuss discrepancies.
Product Backlog - Master list of all known work for a product, prioritized by the Product Owner.
Product Owner (PO) - Scrum role responsible for defining features, prioritizing backlog, and maximizing value.
REST (Representational State Transfer) - Architectural style for designing networked applications using HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE).
Retrospective (Retro) - Meeting held at the end of a sprint where the team reflects on processes and identifies improvements.
RICE Score - Prioritization framework: Reach × Impact × Confidence / Effort.
ROI (Return on Investment) - Measure of profitability: (Gain - Cost) / Cost.
SaaS (Software as a Service) - Software delivery model where applications are hosted in the cloud and accessed via the internet (subscription-based).
Scrum - Agile framework using fixed-length sprints (1-4 weeks) with defined roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Dev Team) and ceremonies.
Scrum Master - Facilitator ensuring the team follows Scrum practices and removes impediments.
Spike - Time-boxed research task to answer a technical question or reduce uncertainty before estimating a story.
Sprint - Time-boxed iteration (typically 1-2 weeks) during which a specific set of work must be completed.
Sprint Planning - Meeting at the start of a sprint where the team decides what work to pull from the backlog.
Sprint Review (Demo) - Meeting at the end of a sprint where the team demonstrates completed work to stakeholders.
Stakeholder - Individual or group with an interest in the outcome of a project (e.g., customers, executives, engineers).
Story Points - Unit of measure for estimating the effort required to implement a user story, based on complexity, uncertainty, and effort.
Technical Debt - Implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing a quick solution now instead of a better, longer approach.
UAT (User Acceptance Testing) - Final testing phase where actual users verify the system meets requirements before go-live.
User Story - Short description of a feature from the user's perspective: "As a [user], I want [goal], so that [benefit]."
Velocity - Measure of the amount of work (story points) a team completes in a sprint. Used for forecasting.
Webhook - Automated message sent from one system to another when a specific event occurs (e.g., Twilio notifying our app after SMS is delivered).
Wireframe - Low-fidelity sketch or blueprint of a user interface showing layout and structure without final design.
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) - Prioritization method: Cost of Delay / Job Duration.
80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) - Observation that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes (e.g., 80% of revenue from 20% of customers).
95th Percentile (p95) - Value below which 95% of observations fall. Used to measure performance excluding outliers (e.g., "API response time is <500ms at p95").