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The glossary

Product terms, defined plainly.

A
ActivationShipActivation is the first moment a new user experiences your product's core value, the step between signup and real retention.Aha MomentDiagnoseThe aha moment is the point in onboarding when a new user first experiences the core value of a product and decides it is worth keeping.
C
ChurnShipChurn is the rate customers or revenue leave over a period, the core signal Produck's Ship stage watches to confirm whether shipped work actually held.Continuous DiscoveryDiagnoseContinuous discovery is weekly customer touchpoints run by the team building the product, in pursuit of a desired outcome.Customer DevelopmentDiagnoseCustomer development is Steve Blank's method for testing startup assumptions by talking to real customers before building at scale.
D
DogfoodingShipDogfooding is using your own product internally, day to day, the same way your customers do.
E
Early AdoptersProduct-market fitEarly adopters are the first customers who use an unproven product before it has broad evidence of working, because they value what it promises more than certainty.
F
Feature RequestListenA feature request is a user's suggestion for new functionality, and the surface layer of a problem the user hasn't fully articulated yet.Feedback LoopListenA feedback loop is the repeating cycle where user input shapes a product change, and that change is observed and fed back in again.Feedback TriageListenFeedback triage is the practice of sorting incoming user feedback by topic and urgency so teams know what to act on first.
G
Growth LoopShipA growth loop is a closed system where a product's output becomes new input, so growth compounds instead of leaking out of a linear funnel.
I
Ideal Customer ProfileProduct-market fitAn Ideal Customer Profile describes the firmographic traits of the company most likely to buy your product and get lasting value from it.IterationShipIteration is shipping a small, testable change and using real user response to shape the next one, without changing your underlying direction.
J
Jobs to Be DoneDiagnoseJobs to Be Done frames a purchase as "hiring" a product for the progress a customer is trying to make in a specific situation.
K
Kano ModelDecideThe Kano Model sorts features by the shape of satisfaction they create, from table-stakes fixes to genuine delight, so teams prioritize what actually moves users.
M
Minimum Viable ProductProduct-market fitA minimum viable product is the smallest version of a product that lets you test real demand and learn from actual users.MoSCoW MethodDecideMoSCoW sorts requirements into Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have to force explicit tradeoffs before you build.
N
Net Promoter ScoreListenNet Promoter Score is a 0-10 survey metric measuring how likely customers are to recommend a company, sorted into promoters, passives, and detractors.North Star MetricDecideA North Star Metric is the single metric a team agrees best captures the value customers get from delivering on their goals.
P
PivotProduct-market fitA pivot is a structured change in strategy, driven by validated learning, that keeps the vision while changing the plan to reach it.Power UserShipA power user is someone in the top slice of a product's engagement histogram, the small group that uses it daily and shapes what you build next.Prioritization FrameworkDecideA prioritization framework is a repeatable set of criteria teams use to rank what to build next instead of deciding by gut feeling or the loudest voice.Product DiscoveryDiagnoseProduct discovery is the work of figuring out what to build before you build it, through customer contact and fast tests.Product-Market FitProduct-market fitProduct-market fit is the point where a product satisfies real demand in a market strong enough to pull growth, not push it.
R
RetentionShipRetention is the share of users who keep using a product over time, and the clearest signal that it has found product-market fit.RICE ScoringDecideRICE scoring ranks features by multiplying Reach, Impact, and Confidence, then dividing by Effort, to compare ideas on one scale.
S
Sean Ellis TestProduct-market fitThe Sean Ellis test asks users how they'd feel without your product; 40% or more saying "very disappointed" signals product-market fit.
U
User FeedbackListenUser feedback is any information users share, directly or indirectly, about their experience with a product.User InterviewDiagnoseA user interview is a one-on-one conversation where you ask a real user about their past behavior to learn what they actually do, not what they think of your idea.
V
Voice of the CustomerListenVoice of the Customer is the practice of systematically capturing and structuring customer language into a ranked hierarchy of needs that shapes product decisions.