Model-View-Controller (MVC) is an architectural pattern that separates an application into three main logical components: the Model (data), the View (user interface), and the Controller (processes that handle input). Essential for creating modular, maintainable, and scalable software applications by promoting separation of concerns.
The process of performing a series of seemingly unrelated and often tedious tasks that are necessary to solve a larger problem. Important for recognizing and managing the indirect tasks that contribute to achieving the main objectives in digital product design.
Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, and Ethical (STEEPLE) is an analysis tool that examines the factors influencing an organization. Crucial for comprehensive strategic planning and risk management in product design.
Product Strategy is a framework that outlines how a product will achieve its business goals and satisfy customer needs. Crucial for guiding product development, prioritizing features, and aligning the team around a clear vision.
A document that provides a high-level overview of a product, including its objectives, target market, key features, and requirements, used to guide development efforts. Essential for ensuring that all stakeholders have a clear and consistent understanding of the product.
A strategic plan that outlines the goals, milestones, and steps needed to deliver a product that achieves desired outcomes incrementally, providing a clear path forward. Essential for guiding product development and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
Product Requirements is a document that outlines the essential features, functionalities, and constraints of a product. Crucial for guiding the development process and ensuring all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the product's goals.
Quantitative measures used to track and assess the performance and success of a product, such as usage rates, customer satisfaction, and revenue. Essential for making data-driven decisions to improve product performance and achieve business goals.
The process of testing and evaluating a design to ensure it meets user needs and business goals before final implementation. Crucial for ensuring that designs are effective and meet intended objectives.
A prioritized list of features, enhancements, and fixes that are intended to be addressed in future product development cycles. Essential for managing and planning product development activities efficiently.
Products are individual items or services designed to meet specific customer needs, while programs are collections of related projects and products managed together to achieve broader strategic goals. Essential for understanding the different scopes and objectives involved, helping to manage and align efforts effectively within an organization.
The speed at which users start using a new product, typically measured as a percentage of the target market over a specific period. Essential for evaluating the success of a product launch and planning subsequent strategies.
The process of identifying user needs and market opportunities to inform the development of new products or features. Crucial for ensuring that products are user-centered and meet real market demands.
The process of distinguishing a product from its competitors through unique features, benefits, or branding to attract and retain customers. Crucial for creating a competitive advantage and capturing market share.
A fictional representation of a user segment, created based on user research to guide design decisions and ensure the product meets the needs of its target audience. Crucial for keeping design efforts focused on user needs and preferences.
The risk that the product being developed will not deliver sufficient value to the users, meaning it won't meet their needs or solve their problems. Critical for ensuring the product will be desirable and valuable to the users, which is essential for its success.
The degree to which a product or system can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use. Essential for creating products that are easy to use and meet user needs effectively.
A collaborative tool used to visualize what a user thinks, feels, says, and does to better understand their experiences and needs. Essential for gaining deep insights into user behavior and guiding design decisions.
A visual representation of a sequence of events or user interactions, used to plan and communicate the flow of a narrative or process. Important for visualizing and communicating design concepts and user journeys.
A cognitive bias where individuals overestimate their own abilities, qualities, or performance relative to others. Important for understanding user self-perception and designing systems that account for inflated self-assessments.
A visual exercise that helps product teams understand and prioritize features by organizing user stories into a cohesive narrative that aligns with user journeys and goals. Essential for planning and prioritizing product features and ensuring alignment with user needs.
The risk that the product will not be financially or strategically sustainable for the business, potentially leading to a lack of support or profitability. Essential for ensuring that the product aligns with business goals and can be maintained and supported long-term.
Joint Application Development (JAD) is a collaborative approach to gathering requirements and designing solutions in software development projects. It facilitates rapid decision-making and consensus-building by bringing together key stakeholders, including users, developers, and project managers, in structured workshop sessions.
The tendency to overestimate how much our future preferences and behaviors will align with our current preferences and behaviors. Important for understanding user behavior and designing experiences that account for changes over time.
A brainstorming technique that frames problems as opportunities for innovation, starting with the phrase "How might we...?". Essential for fostering creativity and generating solutions during the design process.
A systematic evaluation of all features in a product to determine their usage, effectiveness, and alignment with business goals. Essential for optimizing product performance and user satisfaction.
The process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential threats that could impact the success of a digital product, including usability issues, technical failures, and user data security. Essential for maintaining product reliability, user satisfaction, and data protection, while minimizing the impact of potential design and development challenges.
Proof of Concept (PoC) is a demonstration, usually in the form of a prototype or pilot project, to verify that a concept or theory has practical potential. Crucial for validating ideas, demonstrating feasibility, and securing support for further development in product design and innovation processes.
A framework for prioritizing product features based on their impact on customer satisfaction, classifying features into categories such as basic, performance, and delight. Crucial for understanding customer needs and prioritizing features that enhance satisfaction.
The systematic process of capturing, evaluating, and implementing ideas to drive innovation, reflecting a collective commitment to continuous improvement and product excellence. Essential for harnessing team creativity and maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit that characterizes successful product development.
A qualitative research method involving direct conversations with users to gather insights into their needs, behaviors, and experiences. Essential for gaining deep insights into user perspectives and informing design decisions.
A system where outputs are fed back into the process as inputs, allowing for continuous improvement based on user responses. Crucial for iterative development and continuous improvement in design and product management.
A cognitive bias where people assume others share the same beliefs, values, or preferences as themselves. Important for helping designers avoid projecting their own biases and assumptions onto users during research and design.
A qualitative research method where a small group of people discuss a product, service, or concept to gather diverse insights and opinions. Important for gaining in-depth understanding of user perceptions and needs.
A brainstorming technique where participants sketch eight ideas in eight minutes to generate a wide range of concepts quickly. Essential for fostering creativity and generating diverse ideas rapidly.
The process of generating a broad set of ideas on a given topic, with no attempt to judge or evaluate them initially. Crucial for creative problem-solving and developing innovative solutions in product design and development.
A statistical measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of data values. Essential for understanding data spread and variability, which helps in making informed decisions in product design and analysis.
A strategic research process that involves evaluating competitors' products, services, and market positions to identify opportunities and threats. Essential for informing product strategy, differentiating offerings, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
The process of making predictions about future trends based on current and historical data. Useful for anticipating user needs and market trends to inform design decisions.
Agile Release Train (ART) is a long-lived team of Agile teams that, along with other stakeholders, incrementally develops, delivers, and operates one or more solutions in a value stream. Important for coordinating Agile development and delivery at scale.
A cognitive bias where people judge the likelihood of an event based on its relative size rather than absolute probability. Important for understanding user decision-making biases and designing systems that present information accurately.
Program Increment (PI) Planning is a cadence-based event that serves as the heartbeat of the Agile Release Train, aligning teams on goals and priorities for the next increment. Crucial for aligning teams, setting goals, and planning work.
An ongoing process of learning about user needs and validating assumptions through continuous research and experimentation. Crucial for staying responsive to user needs and improving products iteratively.
Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a methodology that uses visual modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, and validation activities throughout the development lifecycle. Essential for managing complex systems, improving communication among stakeholders, and enhancing the overall quality and efficiency of systems engineering processes.
A principle stating that as investment in a single area increases, the rate of return on that investment eventually decreases. Important for understanding and optimizing resource allocation in product design and development.
A concise statement of what the team aims to achieve during a sprint, providing direction and a shared understanding of the sprint's purpose. Crucial for ensuring team alignment and focus on the most important outcomes during a sprint.
ModelOps (Model Operations) is a set of practices for deploying, monitoring, and maintaining machine learning models in production environments. Crucial for ensuring the reliability, scalability, and performance of AI systems throughout their lifecycle, bridging the gap between model development and operational implementation.
A strategic planning tool that outlines the future direction of a project or product using Kanban principles, emphasizing continuous delivery and improvement. Important for aligning team efforts and maintaining focus on long-term goals.
A visual workflow management method used to visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency. Crucial for improving workflow and productivity in various processes.
A Japanese term meaning "continuous improvement," focusing on small, incremental changes to enhance processes and products. Crucial for fostering a culture of ongoing improvement and excellence in product design and development.
A clear and concise list of criteria that a product or task must meet to be considered complete, ensuring alignment and understanding within a team. Essential for maintaining quality and consistency in agile project management.
An enhanced version of the SCAMPER technique that includes additional prompts to further stimulate creativity and innovation. Useful for expanding the scope of ideation and generating more diverse ideas.
A high-level description of a system's structure and interactions, focusing on its market-facing aspects rather than technical details. Useful for communicating the value and structure of a digital product to non-technical stakeholders and aligning with market needs.
A clear, concise description of the issue(s) that need to be addressed, focusing on the specific challenge and its impact. Essential for guiding problem-solving efforts and ensuring a clear understanding of the issue at hand.
A tool used to organize ideas and data into groups based on their natural relationships. Essential for designers and product managers to synthesize information and generate insights.
A meeting at the end of a sprint where the development team presents their completed work to stakeholders. Crucial for gathering feedback and demonstrating progress.
The tendency to believe that large or significant events must have large or significant causes. Important for understanding cognitive biases in decision-making and designing systems that present accurate causal relationships.
The perseverance and passion for long-term goals, often seen as a key trait for success. Important for understanding and fostering resilience and persistence in design and product development.
SAFe is a framework designed to scale agile practices across large organizations by integrating agile and lean principles. It is widely used but criticized for its rigidity, bureaucratic structure, and potential to stifle true agile culture.
A management framework that organizes employees into small, cross-functional teams (tribes) to enhance agility, collaboration, and innovation. Important for fostering a collaborative and agile work environment.