Reference
Research Glossary
69 terms from the product research canon. Every entry is tagged with its source for easy reference.
5
- 5segs Map
- A customer segmentation framework that divides the total addressable market into five segments based on purchase and usage behavior: loyal users, general users, lapsed users, aware non-users, and unaware non-users. Used to identify where growth opportunities lie.[stck]
9
- 9segs Map
- An extension of the 5segs map that further splits each behavioral segment by purchase intent (positive or negative), producing nine segments. The additional granularity reveals which segments are at risk and which are primed for conversion.[stck]
A
- Affinity Diagramming
- A bottom-up synthesis method where individual observations are written on cards and silently sorted into emergent groups by a team. Themes arise from the data rather than being imposed by a framework.[just-enough][prr]
- Assumption Mapping
- The practice of identifying and prioritizing the assumptions underlying a product decision, typically along axes of risk (how bad if wrong) and evidence (how much we know). High-risk, low-evidence assumptions are tested first.[cdh]
B
- Beachhead Market
- The initial, narrowly defined market segment a company targets to establish a foothold before expanding. Chosen for its accessibility, urgency of need, and ability to serve as a reference for adjacent segments.[de][obviously-awesome]
- Best-Fit Customer
- The customer segment for which your product's unique value proposition is most compelling. Positioning should be built around best-fit customers rather than the broadest possible audience.[obviously-awesome]
C
- CoCA (Cost of Customer Acquisition)
- The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, onboarding, and support expenses. Used alongside LTV to evaluate the sustainability of a business model.[de]
- Commitment Currencies
- The four forms of meaningful commitment a customer can give: time, reputation, money, and intellectual property. Real commitment in any of these currencies validates interest more reliably than verbal enthusiasm.[mom-test]
- Communication Idea
- In a design sprint, the concept written above a solution sketch that captures the big idea in a few words. Helps the team quickly understand and vote on sketches without requiring the author to present.[sprint]
- Compare and Contrast Mindset
- A perceptual tendency where customers evaluate products relative to alternatives rather than in absolute terms. Positioning must account for the reference points customers already hold.[obviously-awesome]
- Competitive Audit
- A structured evaluation of competitor products across consistent dimensions such as features, pricing, positioning, and user experience. Reveals table stakes, differentiation opportunities, and crowded positioning angles.[just-enough]
- Concierge Execution
- A validation technique where you manually deliver the product experience to a small number of customers before building any technology. Tests whether the value proposition works before investing in automation.[mom-test]
- Confirmation Bias
- The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in ways that confirm pre-existing beliefs. In research, it leads teams to notice supporting evidence and dismiss contradictory findings.[cdh][just-enough]
- Continuous Discovery
- A product management practice where the product trio conducts small research activities (interviews, experiments, prototype tests) every week rather than in large, infrequent research phases. The goal is to maintain a continuous connection to customer reality.[cdh]
- Core (Competitive Advantage)
- The fundamental capability, asset, or insight that enables a product's unique value and is difficult for competitors to replicate. Effective positioning is anchored in the core rather than in surface-level features.[obviously-awesome]
- Customer Slicing
- The process of iteratively narrowing a broad target audience into a specific who-where pair: a precisely defined customer type and a concrete location (physical or digital) where they can be reached.[mom-test]
D
- Decision-Making Unit (DMU)
- The group of people involved in a purchase decision within an organization. Typically includes the end user, the economic buyer, the technical evaluator, and sometimes a champion and a blocker. Understanding the DMU is critical for B2B positioning and sales.[de][obviously-awesome]
- Desirability Assumption
- The assumption that customers want the outcome your product provides. One of the four core assumption types in continuous discovery.[cdh]
E
- Earlyvangelists
- Early customers who have the problem, know they have it, have been actively seeking a solution, have cobbled together a partial solution, and have budget to spend. They are the ideal first customers because they tolerate imperfection in exchange for solving a real pain.[de]
- Escalation of Commitment
- A cognitive bias where increasing investment in a decision makes it harder to abandon, even when evidence suggests the decision is wrong. In product development, it manifests as continuing to build features that data shows are failing.[cdh]
- Evaluative Research
- Research conducted to test a specific solution, concept, or prototype against defined criteria. Answers the question "does this work?" as opposed to generative research which asks "what should we build?"[just-enough][prr]
- Experience Map
- A visual representation of a customer's end-to-end journey showing steps, touchpoints, emotions, and pain points. Created individually by team members first, then merged into a shared artifact to surface differing interpretations.[cdh]
F
- False Positive
- In research, a signal that appears to validate an idea but is actually driven by politeness, leading questions, or unrepresentative participants. False positives are the most dangerous research outcome because they create confidence in the wrong direction.[mom-test]
- Feasibility Assumption
- The assumption that the team can build and deliver the proposed solution with the available technology, skills, and resources. One of the four core assumption types.[cdh]
- Five-Act Interview
- The design sprint interview structure: friendly welcome, context questions, introduction to the prototype, tasks with the prototype, and debrief. Designed to put participants at ease and capture both behavioral and attitudinal data within a single session.[sprint]
- Fluff
- Vague, hypothetical, or generic statements from interview participants that sound informative but contain no actionable data. Examples include "I usually," "I would," and "I always." The Mom Test prescribes redirecting fluff to specific past instances.[mom-test]
G
- Generative Research
- Research conducted to explore a problem space, discover unmet needs, and identify opportunities before solutions are proposed. Answers the question "what should we build?"[just-enough][prr]
- Goldilocks Quality
- The level of prototype fidelity that is just realistic enough to elicit authentic reactions but rough enough that participants feel comfortable giving honest criticism. Too polished feels finished; too rough breaks suspension of disbelief.[sprint]
H
- HiPPO
- Highest-Paid Person's Opinion. The tendency for teams to default to the preferences of the most senior person in the room rather than relying on evidence. Design sprints explicitly counter this with structured decision-making and the Decider role.[sprint]
- How Might We
- A question format that reframes problems and observations into open-ended opportunity prompts: "How might we [desired outcome]?" Bridges research synthesis and ideation by inviting solutions without specifying them.[sprint]
I
- Interview Snapshot
- A one-page post-interview artifact capturing participant context, top insights, direct quotes, pain points, and potential opportunities. Created within 30 minutes of the interview and shared with the product trio.[cdh]
K
- Keystone Habit
- The one behavior or workflow that, once adopted, naturally pulls a customer into deeper product engagement. Identifying the keystone habit helps focus onboarding and activation efforts.[stck]
L
- Lead-Node Opportunity
- Within an opportunity solution tree, the specific, leaf-level opportunity that the team selects to pursue. Lead nodes are concrete enough to generate testable solutions, unlike higher-level parent opportunities which are too broad.[cdh]
- Left-Brain Interpreter
- A neuroscience concept describing the brain's tendency to construct post-hoc rational explanations for decisions that were actually driven by emotion or habit. Explains why asking people "why did you do that?" produces unreliable data.[cdh]
- Lighthouse Customer
- A well-known, respected customer whose adoption of your product signals credibility to the broader market. Particularly valuable in B2B where reference customers accelerate sales cycles.[de]
- LTV (Lifetime Value)
- The total revenue a business expects to earn from a single customer over the entire duration of the relationship. Compared against CoCA to evaluate acquisition economics.[de]
M
- Mental Model
- A person's internal representation of how something works. Effective products align with existing mental models or intentionally teach new ones. Research reveals mental models through behavioral observation and open-ended questions, not by asking directly.[just-enough][prr]
- Mom Test
- A set of rules for asking questions during customer conversations that yield truthful, useful data even when talking to someone who wants to be nice to you. Core rules: talk about their life instead of your idea, ask about specifics in the past instead of hypotheticals in the future, and talk less and listen more.[mom-test]
- MVBP (Minimum Viable Business Product)
- The smallest version of a product that can be sold to a customer and deliver enough value to retain them. Unlike MVP, MVBP explicitly includes the business viability requirement, not just functional viability.[de]
N
- N1 Analysis
- A deep-dive investigation into a single customer's complete journey, from awareness through current behavior. The extreme depth of a single case reveals causal dynamics that aggregate analysis obscures. Generates hypotheses for broader validation.[stck]
- NPI (New Product Introduction)
- The cross-functional process of bringing a new product from concept to market launch, encompassing engineering, marketing, sales enablement, and operations readiness.[de]
O
- Opportunity Solution Tree
- A visual framework that connects a desired outcome at the top to the opportunity space (customer needs and pain points) in the middle and solution ideas at the bottom. Ensures that every solution maps to a real customer opportunity and a measurable business outcome.[cdh]
- Opportunity Space
- The collection of customer needs, pain points, and desires that exist between the current experience and the desired outcome. The opportunity space is what you explore through discovery before proposing solutions.[cdh]
P
- Persona
- A composite character representing a key user segment, based on research data. Useful as a communication tool but dangerous when treated as a substitute for ongoing customer contact. Best personas are behavioral, not demographic.[just-enough]
- Positioning Baggage
- The unintended associations, expectations, and competitive comparisons that customers bring when they encounter your product's category label or market positioning. Repositioning often requires explicitly breaking these associations.[obviously-awesome]
- Pre-mortem
- A risk identification technique where the team imagines a project has already failed and works backward to list the most likely causes. Leverages prospective hindsight to surface assumptions and risks that normal planning overlooks.[cdh][sprint]
- Primary Market Research
- Original research conducted directly with customers or potential customers, as opposed to secondary research which analyzes existing data and reports. Includes interviews, surveys, usability tests, and field observations.[just-enough]
- Product Idea
- A specific, proposed solution to a customer opportunity. In continuous discovery, product ideas sit at the bottom of the opportunity solution tree and are tested as assumptions, not shipped as certainties.[cdh]
- Product Trio
- The core cross-functional team responsible for product discovery: typically a product manager, a designer, and a tech lead. All three participate in customer interviews and decision-making to prevent handoff gaps.[cdh]
- Prototype Mindset
- The disposition of treating everything as an experiment to learn from rather than a commitment to ship. Encourages rapid, low-fidelity testing and reduces the emotional attachment that leads to escalation of commitment.[sprint]
R
- Research Question
- The specific question a research activity is designed to answer. A well-formed research question is narrow enough to be answerable with a defined method and broad enough to be strategically useful.[just-enough][prr]
S
- Sales Story Arc
- A narrative structure for positioning a product in sales conversations: the shift in the world that created the problem, the consequences of the status quo, the unique capability your product offers, and the proof that it works.[obviously-awesome]
- Satisfying Click
- The moment when a customer first experiences the core value your product promises. Analogous to an "aha moment" but emphasizes the emotional satisfaction of the experience, not just intellectual understanding.[stck]
- Sprint Question
- The specific, testable question a design sprint is designed to answer by the end of the week. Generated during Monday's map-and-target activities, often through pre-mortem exercises. A sprint without a clear sprint question lacks focus.[sprint]
- Story-Based Interviewing
- An interviewing approach that asks participants to recount specific past events rather than state opinions or hypotheticals. Anchoring to real instances produces behavioral data that is more accurate and actionable than self-reported generalizations.[cdh][mom-test]
- Supervote
- In a design sprint, the Decider's special votes (typically three) that carry extra weight during dot voting. The supervote ensures that decision authority remains clear while still incorporating team input.[sprint]
- Surrogation
- A cognitive bias where a metric intended to measure a concept becomes the concept itself. Teams pursuing "engagement" start optimizing the metric (clicks, time-on-page) rather than the underlying value it was meant to represent.[cdh]
T
- TAM (Total Addressable Market)
- The total revenue opportunity available if a product achieved 100% market share in its defined market. Used in business planning but often inflated; more useful when combined with bottom-up segmentation.[de][obviously-awesome]
- The Decider
- In a design sprint, the person with final decision-making authority (usually the CEO, product lead, or equivalent). The Decider role prevents democratic paralysis while maintaining team input through structured voting.[sprint]
- Triangulation
- The practice of using multiple research methods, data sources, or researchers to study the same question. When different approaches converge on the same finding, confidence in the finding increases. When they diverge, the discrepancy itself becomes informative.[just-enough][cdh]
- Two-Way Door Decision
- A decision that is easily reversible if it turns out to be wrong. Two-way door decisions should be made quickly with less analysis, reserving rigorous research and deliberation for one-way door decisions that are costly to reverse.[cdh]
U
- Usability Assumption
- The assumption that customers can figure out how to use the proposed solution. One of the four core assumption types in continuous discovery.[cdh]
V
- Vanity Metric
- A measurement that looks impressive but does not correlate with meaningful business outcomes. Examples include total registered users (without activation rate), page views (without conversion), and social media followers (without engagement).[mom-test][de]
- VFWPA
- Vision, Framing, Working backwards, Prototype, and Assumptions. A structured approach to defining and testing new product concepts, moving from the big-picture vision down to the specific assumptions that must hold true.[cdh]
- Viability Assumption
- The assumption that the proposed solution works as a business: customers will pay enough, the unit economics are sustainable, and it fits the company's strategy. One of the four core assumption types.[cdh]
Z
- Zombie Leads
- Prospects who expressed initial interest but never converted and are unlikely to convert. They persist in the pipeline, consuming sales effort and distorting conversion metrics. Often a symptom of weak positioning or a misidentified target segment.[obviously-awesome]
