Welcome to the User Understanding & Experience Jargon Guide – a focused resource for Product Managers to decode critical terms used in crafting user-first products. Whether you’re conducting user research, optimizing onboarding, or improving usability, this section breaks down commonly used UX and research jargon into practical definitions to help you design with empathy, clarity, and impact.
Persona
A fictional character that represents a segment of your users, built using data, interviews, and behavioral patterns.
Example: A “Busy Urban Commuter” persona might help prioritize offline capabilities in a transit app.
User Journey
A step-by-step map of how users interact with your product to achieve a goal, revealing pain points and moments of delight.
Use Case: Helps teams identify friction during onboarding or discover upsell opportunities in later stages.
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)
A framework that defines what job the user is “hiring” your product to do in their life.
Example: A parent might “hire” an app like Notion to keep school, work, and home tasks organized in one place.
Empathy Mapping
A visual tool that captures what users think, feel, say, and do to understand
their mindset more deeply.
Use Case: Especially helpful in early design stages or during
qualitative research synthesis.
User Intent
The motivation behind a user’s action — the “why” behind the “click.”
Example: Searching “best DSLR under ₹50,000” indicates purchase intent — ideal for product discovery optimization.
User Segmentation
The process of dividing users into distinct groups based on behavior, needs, or demographics.
Use Case: Powering personalization strategies or A/B testing across different cohorts.
Voice of Customer (VoC)
Direct input from users collected through interviews, surveys, reviews, and support tickets — used to surface real pain points and opportunities.
Use Case: Analyzing VoC feedback might reveal that users find your checkout flow confusing, prompting a design revamp.
Onboarding
The process of guiding new users to their first “Aha!” moment where they experience core product value.
Sign: A good onboarding flow reduces churn and increases Day 1 retention.
Accessibility
Designing your product so it’s usable by people with disabilities — including visual, auditory, cognitive, or motor impairments.
Use Case: Adding alt text, ensuring color contrast, and keyboard navigation support are all key to accessibility.
Usability Testing
A method to evaluate how easily real users can use your product or feature by observing their behavior during key tasks.
Use Case: Reveals where users struggle — like missing a CTA or abandoning a form mid-way.
The ProductBrain 