Glossary
Product communication glossary
49 terms product, marketing and customer success teams use when they talk about product updates, feedback and adoption. Each one defined in plain language, with examples and related reading.
B
Beta program
A beta program gives a limited group of real users early access to a product or feature before its general release. The company uses thei…
Read the definition →Breaking change
A breaking change is a product, API, or software update that stops existing integrations, workflows, or code from working the way they di…
Read the definition →C
Changelog
A changelog is a chronological record of the notable changes made to a software product, listed by version or date. Each entry states wha…
Read the definition →Changelog automation
Changelog automation uses software to generate, format, and publish changelog entries from sources such as commits, pull requests, issue …
Read the definition →Changelog widget
A changelog widget is a small embeddable component that shows a product's recent updates inside the application itself, usually as an ico…
Read the definition →Churn rate
Churn rate is the share of customers, users, or recurring revenue a business loses over a set period, usually a month or a year. It is ca…
Read the definition →Customer effort score (CES)
Customer effort score (CES) is a survey metric that measures how easy it was for a customer to complete a specific task, such as resolvin…
Read the definition →Customer feedback loop
A customer feedback loop is the repeating cycle of collecting input from customers, analyzing it, acting on it, and then telling those cu…
Read the definition →Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
A customer satisfaction score (CSAT) measures how happy customers are with a specific product, feature, or interaction. Customers answer …
Read the definition →D
E
F
Feature adoption
Feature adoption is the extent to which users discover, try, and keep using a specific capability in a product. It is usually measured as…
Read the definition →Feature announcement
A feature announcement is a message that tells users a new or improved capability is now available in a product, what it does, and how to…
Read the definition →Feature discovery
Feature discovery is the moment a user learns that a product capability exists and understands what it does. It happens when users explor…
Read the definition →Feature request
A feature request is a suggestion from a user or customer asking a product team to add a new capability or change an existing one. It des…
Read the definition →Feature voting
Feature voting is a feedback method in which users upvote the feature requests they want a product team to build. Each vote is a signal o…
Read the definition →Feedback board
A feedback board is a shared page where customers submit product ideas, vote on requests from other users, and follow the status of each …
Read the definition →I
In-app messaging
In-app messaging is communication delivered to users inside a software product while they are actively using it, instead of through email…
Read the definition →In-app notification
An in-app notification is a message shown to a user inside a software product while they are using it, rather than sent by email, SMS, or…
Read the definition →Incident communication
Incident communication is the practice of telling affected customers, users, and internal teams about a service outage or degradation: wh…
Read the definition →Internal communication
Internal communication is the sharing of information, decisions and updates among the people inside a company. In a software business it …
Read the definition →Internal release notes
Internal release notes are a written summary of what changed in a software release, prepared for people inside the company rather than cu…
Read the definition →K
M
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external tools and data through one shared interf…
Read the definition →Monthly active users (MAU)
Monthly active users (MAU) is the count of distinct people who take a qualifying action in a product within a calendar month or a rolling…
Read the definition →Multi-channel product communication
Multi-channel product communication is the practice of delivering product updates, such as new features, fixes and changes, through sever…
Read the definition →N
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score is a loyalty metric from one survey question: how likely are you to recommend this product, rated 0 to 10. Scores of 9…
Read the definition →Notification center
A notification center is a dedicated panel inside a product where users can see, sort, and act on every message the product has sent them…
Read the definition →O
P
Product announcement
A product announcement is a message that tells customers about something new or changed in a product, such as a launched feature, an upda…
Read the definition →Product launch
A product launch is the coordinated introduction of a new product, or a major new version of one, to the market. It aligns positioning, m…
Read the definition →Product marketing
Product marketing is the function that brings a product to market and keeps it selling. It defines positioning and messaging, plans launc…
Read the definition →Product qualified lead (PQL)
A product qualified lead (PQL) is a user or account that has shown buying intent through real product usage, such as reaching an activati…
Read the definition →Product roadmap
A product roadmap is a plan that shows what a product team intends to build, why, and roughly when. It links product strategy to concrete…
Read the definition →Product tour
A product tour is a guided, step-by-step walkthrough inside a software product that shows users where key features are and how to use the…
Read the definition →Product update
A product update is any change made to a software product that is then communicated to its users, such as a new feature, an improvement, …
Read the definition →Product-led growth (PLG)
Product-led growth is a go-to-market strategy in which the product itself is the main driver of customer acquisition, activation, expansi…
Read the definition →Public roadmap
A public roadmap is a published view of what a software company plans to build, is currently building, and has recently shipped, shared o…
Read the definition →R
Release cadence
Release cadence is the regular rhythm at which a product team ships changes to users, such as daily, weekly, every two weeks, or quarterl…
Read the definition →Release management
Release management is the process of planning, scheduling, testing, and deploying software changes, then communicating them to users. It …
Read the definition →Release notes
Release notes are the document a software team publishes alongside a release to tell users what changed and why it matters. They usually …
Read the definition →Roadmap prioritization
Roadmap prioritization is the process of deciding which product initiatives to build first, later, or not at all. Teams rank candidate fe…
Read the definition →S
T
U
User activation
User activation is the moment a new user first experiences the core value of a product, usually by completing a small set of key actions …
Read the definition →User engagement
User engagement is how often, how deeply, and how consistently people use a product after they sign up. It is measured through actions th…
Read the definition →User onboarding
User onboarding is the process of guiding new users from their first login to the moment they get real value from a product. It covers ac…
Read the definition →User retention
User retention is the share of users who keep using a product over a set period after they first sign up or become active. It shows wheth…
Read the definition →User segmentation
User segmentation is the practice of dividing a product's users into groups that share a common trait, such as plan, role, behavior, or c…
Read the definition →