Unveiling the Lexicon: A Comprehensive Startup Glossary for Product Development Stages

Compiled by Karthikeyani M., Associate – Incubation at SSN iFound

1. Agile Development: An iterative and flexible approach to software development that emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and customer feedback.
2. Backlog: A prioritized list of features, tasks, and enhancements that need to be addressed in a product.
3. Beta Testing: A phase of testing where a product is released to a limited group of users for real-world feedback before a full launch.
4. Continuous Integration (CI): A development practice that involves automatically testing and integrating code changes into the main project repository to ensure ongoing stability.
5. DevOps: A set of practices that combine software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) to enhance collaboration and productivity.
6. Feature Creep: The gradual addition of unnecessary features or functionalities to a product, often leading to scope expansion and project delays.
7. Feature Set: A group of related features or functionalities within a product.
8. Iterative Development: A development approach that involves repeating cycles of prototyping, testing, and refining to improve a product incrementally.
9. Product Backlog: A dynamic list of features, tasks, and improvements that need to be developed for a product.
10. Product Lifecycle: The stages a product goes through, including introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
11. Product Manager: A professional responsible for the strategy, development, and success of a product.
12. Product Roadmap: A strategic plan outlining the vision and direction for a product’s development over time.
13. Pilot Testing: Implementing a small-scale version of a product in a real-world setting to assess its performance and gather user feedback.
14. Prototyping: Creating a preliminary model or version of a product to test and validate design concepts.
15. Quality Assurance (QA): The process of ensuring that a product meets specified requirements and standards.
16. Release Candidate (RC): A version of a product that is considered feature-complete and ready for release pending final testing.
17. Scalability: The ability of a product or system to handle increased workload or demand without compromising performance.
18. Scrum: An agile framework for managing and organizing work, often used in software development.
19. Sprint: A time-boxed period (usually 2-4 weeks) during which a specific set of tasks or features is developed and made ready for review.
20. Technical Debt: The accumulated cost of additional work created by choosing an easy, short-term solution over a better long-term solution.
21. Usability Testing: Evaluating a product’s user interface by observing real users interacting with it.
22. User Acceptance Testing (UAT): A phase of testing where end-users evaluate and validate a product to ensure it meets their requirements.
23. User Experience (UX): The overall experience a user has with a product, including usability, accessibility, and satisfaction.
24. User Interface (UI): The visual and interactive aspects of a product that users interact with, including buttons, screens, and navigation.
25. Version Control: A system that manages changes to source code or documents, enabling multiple contributors to collaborate on a project.
26. Waterfall Model: A traditional linear approach to product development with distinct phases, such as requirements, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance.
27. Wireframe: A visual representation of a product’s user interface, outlining its structure and layout.