The Awkward Guide to

PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
JARGON-ISMS
PART I
Overview
This guide compiles some commonly

used terms that Product Managers

throw out during their normal

conversations.

The purpose is to show what these

terms in theory and compare it to how

Product Managers like me might

awkwardly use them in practice to

push their agenda.

Warning: Light humor & bad puns ahead.

"Bandwidth"
Definition in the books
Finite time that a resource possesses at a

given point of time.

How PMs use it

"We don't have any bandwidth for this task

during this sprint."

What they mean

"Leave us alone. We don't have time for your

fun & games."

"Value Prop"
Definition in the books
The main benefit customers will derive

from the feature or product.

How PMs use it

"I understand the request but what's the

value proposition here?"

What they mean

"Why the heck are we thinking to build this

pointless feature, bro?"

 "Agile"
Definition in the books
Iterative approach to product development

where value is shipped in increments.

How PMs use it

"So, you changed your mind on what you

wanted? No worries - we work with agile, so

we're all about adapting. "

What they mean

"This change will make the dev team cry but

hey, they already hate me, so it's cool."

 "Mockup"
Definition in the books
Early model or design of an upcoming

release prepared for alignment & approval.

How PMs use it

"Can you prep these mockups by Monday? I

need to get some buy-in from customers."

What they mean

"I promised a feature to a customer that I

shouldn't have but I'm going to buy us some

time with some Figma voodoo."

 "User Flow"
Definition in the books
The path taken by a typical user on a

web/mobile product to complete a job/task.

How PMs use it

"It's not a big deal. I'm just going to sit with

the dev to tweak a a couple of user flows &

we'll be good. "

What they mean

"I missed some obvious edge cases & will

now proceed to beg the dev to stay the

night up for a patch to help me save face."

"Quick-Win"
Definition in the books
Some task of significant value that is quick &

simple to achieve given the constraints.

How PMs use it

"OK guys, let's brainstorm some quick wins

we can score this quarter."

What they mean

"Guys, tell me things you can do quickly

that'll make me look good AND you won't kill

me over."
 "Backlog"
Definition in the books
A repository of user stories/features that are

waiting to be implemented.

How PMs use it

"I understand you really need this feature.

We're slammed right now but I'm going to

put it in our backlog."

What they mean

"Why don't I show you a magic trick? Here's

what you requested. I just place it here in

the backlog. And. Boom. Gone. Ta-da."

 "Sync up"
Definition in the books
A quick meeting meant to get participants on

the same page regarding a matter.

How PMs use it

"100%, I know it's late in the sprint. Do you

have 10 minutes for a quick sync up? I'll

explain what I mean. It's super easy."

What they mean

"I'm going to shed some tears & plead you

to cram this user story in the sprint somehow

because if we don't, I'm in trouble."

 "Metrics"
Definition in the books
A quantitative measurement of performance

that is used to track progress or change.

How PMs use it

"Our features clearly worked. Check out

these metrics and how they are improving.

The trend is upwards."

What they mean

"Here are some cool graphs that I picked out from

the Analytics tool because the line was going up.

We're definitely doing something right."

 "Priority"
Definition in the books
The state of a task, activity or objective when it

is deemed more important than others.

How PMs use it

"I'm sorry but I see this as a low priority task.

We'll get to it once we have cleared some

of the higher priority backlog items."

What they mean

"Thanks...but no thanks."