Plain language for product work

Designing and building digital products so people with disabilities can use them — including keyboard navigation, screen readers, contrast, and clear focus states. Accessibility improves usability for everyone and is increasingly required by law and procurement standards.

Adding practical artificial intelligence into a product — assistants, search, recommendations, document understanding, or workflow automation — usually via models and APIs connected to your existing app and data.

Application Programming Interface — a contract that lets software systems talk to each other. APIs power logins, payments, mobile apps, integrations, and AI features by exposing data and actions over the network in a controlled way.

A front door for APIs that handles routing, authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring. Gateways help teams expose many backend services safely under one consistent entry point.

Verifying who a user is — passwords, magic links, OAuth (Google/Apple), passkeys, or multi-factor authentication (MFA). Strong auth is the foundation of account security and personalization.

Deciding what an authenticated user is allowed to do — roles, permissions, and access policies. Good authorization prevents users from seeing or changing data they shouldn’t.

Replacing repetitive manual work with systems that run on triggers, schedules, or events — from onboarding emails to data syncs and internal ops workflows.

The server-side of a product: databases, APIs, business logic, jobs, and integrations. Users rarely see it, but it determines reliability, security, and how features scale.

A prioritized list of planned work — features, bugs, and improvements. A healthy backlog keeps shipping focused instead of reactive.

The visual and verbal system that makes a company recognizable — logo, color, type, tone, and usage rules. Strong identity keeps every surface consistent as the product grows.

Unexpected software behavior that breaks a feature, performance, or experience. Bugs are found through testing, monitoring, and user reports — then fixed in prioritized releases.

Temporary storage of frequently used data so apps respond faster and hit the database or network less often. Caching is a core performance technique for web and mobile products.

Content Delivery Network — a global network of servers that serve images, scripts, and pages from locations close to users. CDNs improve speed and reliability worldwide.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment — automated testing and release pipelines that ship code safely and often, reducing manual release risk.

Running applications and infrastructure on remote providers (AWS, GCP, Azure, Vercel, etc.) instead of on-premise servers — for scale, reliability, and flexible cost.

Content Management System — software that lets teams publish and update site content without shipping code for every change. Examples include headless CMS platforms and traditional site builders.

A reusable set of UI building blocks (buttons, inputs, cards) shared across a product. Libraries keep interfaces consistent and speed up design-to-engineering handoff.

A lightweight package of an app and its dependencies (often Docker) that runs the same way in development, staging, and production — improving consistency and deploy reliability.

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action — signup, purchase, demo request. Product, design, and messaging all influence conversion.

A small piece of data a site stores in the browser — used for sessions, preferences, and analytics. Privacy laws regulate how cookies are disclosed and consented to.

Create, Read, Update, Delete — the four basic operations most apps perform on data. Almost every admin panel and content tool is built around CRUD flows.

Cascading Style Sheets — the language that styles web layouts: typography, color, spacing, motion, and responsive behavior across screen sizes.

Structured storage for application data — relational (SQL) or document/key-value (NoSQL). Choice depends on data shape, queries, consistency, and scale needs.

A living set of principles, tokens, components, and guidelines that keep product UI cohesive. Design systems reduce redesign debt as teams and surfaces multiply.

Practices that connect development and operations — automation, monitoring, infrastructure as code, and faster feedback loops from commit to production.

Software users interact with — web apps, mobile apps, platforms, or tools — designed around a clear job-to-be-done rather than a one-off brochure site.

Domain Name System — the internet’s phone book that maps human-readable domains (devfic.co) to server addresses. Correct DNS is required for websites, email, and SSL.

Your website’s address on the internet (for example, example.com). Domains are registered, pointed with DNS, and secured with SSL certificates.

Running code closer to users (at CDN edge locations) to cut latency for pages, APIs, and personalization. Common in modern web frameworks and CDN platforms.

Encoding data so only authorized parties can read it — in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest (databases, backups). Encryption is baseline hygiene for user trust.

A specific URL or route where an API accepts requests — for example, POST /api/login. Clear endpoint design makes integrations predictable.

A structured toolkit for building software faster with conventions — React, Next.js, Flutter, NestJS, and others. Frameworks trade flexibility for speed and consistency.

Everything users see and interact with in the browser or app — layout, interactions, performance of the UI, and how data from APIs is presented.

Working across both frontend and backend — UI, APIs, databases, and deployment — so features can be owned end to end by a small team.

A query language for APIs that lets clients request exactly the fields they need in one request. Useful for complex UIs and mobile apps that want fewer round trips.

A CMS that stores and delivers content via API without dictating the frontend. Marketing and product teams edit content; engineering owns presentation across web and mobile.

Where your application and assets live online — shared hosting, VPS, PaaS, or serverless platforms. Hosting choices affect speed, uptime, security, and cost.

HyperText Markup Language — the structure of web pages: headings, paragraphs, forms, links, and semantic landmarks that browsers and search engines read.

The protocols browsers use to request pages and APIs. HTTPS adds TLS encryption so traffic between user and server can’t be easily intercepted.

How content and features are organized — navigation, labeling, and hierarchy — so users can find what they need without friction.

Connecting your product to other systems — payments, CRM, email, analytics, ERP, or AI providers — usually through APIs and webhooks.

A mobile application built for Apple’s iPhone and iPad platforms, distributed through the App Store and typically written with Swift or cross-platform frameworks.

The primary programming language of the web, used for interactive frontends and, with Node.js, for backend services too.

JavaScript Object Notation — a lightweight text format for exchanging data between clients and APIs. Most modern REST and GraphQL responses use JSON.

JSON Web Token — a compact, signed token often used for sessionless authentication between clients and APIs. Must be stored and validated carefully to stay secure.

Key Performance Indicator — a measurable signal of progress toward a business or product goal, such as activation rate, retention, or page speed.

An open-source system for orchestrating containers at scale — scheduling, scaling, and healing workloads across clusters. Common in larger cloud environments.

A focused page built around one offer or action — demo request, waitlist, or purchase — usually optimized for conversion and paid or organic traffic.

The time delay between a request and a response. Lower latency feels snappier; it’s improved by caching, CDNs, efficient queries, and edge delivery.

Large Language Model — AI systems trained to understand and generate text (and often more). Used for chat, summarization, search, and agent-style workflows inside products.

An architecture style that splits a product into smaller, independently deployable services. Useful at scale, but adds complexity compared to a well-structured monolith.

The smallest version of a product that can test a core hypothesis with real users — enough value to learn, not every feature on the roadmap.

Software installed on phones and tablets — native (Swift/Kotlin), cross-platform (Flutter/React Native), or progressive web apps that behave like apps in the browser.

A single repository containing multiple apps and packages. Helps teams share UI libraries and tooling, with the tradeoff of needing stronger repo tooling.

An app built specifically for one platform (iOS or Android) using that platform’s tools. Native often unlocks the best performance and deepest OS integrations.

A React framework for production web apps — routing, server rendering, APIs, and performance features that help teams ship fast, SEO-friendly products.

Non-relational databases (document, key-value, graph) that store flexible data shapes. Often chosen for rapid iteration or large-scale unstructured data.

An open standard for delegated access — “Sign in with Google” style flows and third-party app permissions without sharing passwords.

The ability to understand a system’s health through logs, metrics, and traces — so teams can detect issues, debug faster, and keep uptime high.

Software whose source code is publicly available to use, inspect, and often contribute to — the backbone of modern stacks (Linux, React, Postgres, and more).

Improving how fast and smoothly a product loads and responds — Core Web Vitals, image strategy, code splitting, caching, and database tuning.

A powerful open-source relational database used widely for production apps. Strong consistency, rich queries, and excellent ecosystem support.

An early interactive model of a product used to test flows and ideas before full engineering investment — often built in Figma or lightweight code.

Progressive Web App — a website that can install, work offline, and feel app-like using modern browser capabilities, without a full native rewrite.

The practice of verifying that software works as intended — manual testing, automated tests, and release checks that catch issues before users do.

A request for data — from a database (SQL), a search index, or an API. Efficient queries are central to product performance at scale.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation — pairing an LLM with your own documents or database so answers stay grounded in company knowledge instead of hallucinated guesses.

A popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces with reusable components. The foundation of many modern web products and frameworks like Next.js.

Layouts that adapt cleanly across phones, tablets, and desktops — so one product works everywhere without separate sites for each device.

A common API style that uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and resource URLs. Widely supported and easy for clients and partners to integrate.

A plan of what to build next and why — sequenced by impact, effort, and risk. Good roadmaps stay flexible as learning from users arrives.

Software as a Service — products delivered online on a subscription model. Most modern business tools and many consumer apps are SaaS.

Software Development Kit — libraries and tools that help developers integrate a platform (payments, maps, analytics, AI) faster than building from scratch.

Search Engine Optimization — improving how clearly sites are structured, written, and performed so they can rank for relevant searches and earn organic traffic.

Running backend logic as managed functions that scale automatically without operating traditional servers. Great for APIs, jobs, and event-driven features.

Service Level Agreement — a commitment about uptime, response times, or support. SLAs set clear expectations between vendors and customers.

A short, time-boxed cycle of work (often 1–2 weeks) used in agile delivery to plan, build, review, and adjust based on progress.

Structured Query Language — the standard language for querying and managing relational databases.

Protocols that encrypt traffic between browsers and servers (the lock icon in HTTPS). Essential for trust, SEO, and protecting credentials.

Server-Side Rendering and Static Site Generation — ways to deliver HTML for speed and SEO. Modern frameworks often mix both depending on the page.

A production-like environment used to test releases before they go live. Staging reduces the risk of shipping broken features to real users.

Shortcuts in code or architecture that speed delivery now but cost more later. Managed debt is normal; unmanaged debt slows every release.

JavaScript with static types — catching entire classes of bugs before runtime and making large codebases easier to refactor safely.

The visual layer of a product — screens, components, typography, color, and motion that users interact with directly.

Talking to and observing users to learn needs, pain points, and behaviors — interviews, usability tests, analytics, and surveys that guide product decisions.

How a product feels to use end to end — flows, clarity, effort, and emotion. Strong UX reduces drop-off and support load.

Tracking changes to code over time (usually with Git). Enables collaboration, code review, rollbacks, and safe parallel work.

The visible area of a page in a browser or device. Responsive layouts adapt to viewport width and height.

An application that runs in the browser — dashboards, SaaS tools, marketplaces — typically richer than a marketing site, with accounts and dynamic data.

An HTTP callback that notifies your system when something happens elsewhere — payment succeeded, form submitted, deploy finished. Core to event-driven integrations.

A low-fidelity sketch of a screen that focuses on structure and flow before visual design. Used early to align stakeholders quickly.

Extensible Markup Language — a structured data format still used in some enterprise integrations, sitemaps, and legacy systems (JSON is more common for new APIs).

A human-readable data format often used for configuration — CI pipelines, infrastructure as code, and app settings.

A release strategy that updates production without taking the product offline — using rolling deploys, blue-green, or similar patterns.