Software, AI & Microsoft glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms that come up when businesses plan software, AI, data and Microsoft Dynamics 365 projects.
A
- DesignA/B testingA/B testing compares two versions of a page, screen or message by showing each to a share of real users and measuring which one performs better.
- Business appsAccounts payable automationAccounts payable automation is the use of software to capture supplier invoices, extract their details, match them to orders, route them for approval and schedule payment with little manual entry.
- AIAgentic workflowAn agentic workflow is a business process where one or more AI agents plan and carry out several steps, using tools and data along the way, with people stepping in at agreed points.
- DeliveryAgileAgile is an approach to software development that delivers work in short, iterative cycles, with frequent feedback from users and stakeholders and the flexibility to change priorities along the way.
- AIAI agentAn AI agent is software that uses a language model to understand a goal, decide on the steps to reach it and take actions in other systems, such as updating a CRM or booking a meeting.
- AIAI evaluation (evals)AI evaluation, often called evals, is the practice of systematically testing an AI system against a defined set of inputs and expected outcomes to measure accuracy, safety and consistency.
- AIAI governanceAI governance is the set of policies, roles and controls an organization uses to make sure its AI systems are used responsibly, legally and in line with business goals.
- AIAI guardrailsAI guardrails are the rules and checks placed around an AI system to keep it safe, on topic and within its permissions.
- AIAI hallucinationAn AI hallucination is an answer from an AI model that sounds confident but is wrong or made up.
- MicrosoftAL extensionAn AL extension is a package of custom code, written in Microsoft's AL language, that adds features to Dynamics 365 Business Central without changing its standard code.
- EngineeringAPI gatewayAn API gateway is a service that sits in front of a group of APIs and acts as the single entry point for client requests, routing each one to the right backend.
- EngineeringAPI integrationAn API integration connects two software systems through their APIs, the defined ways they accept and share data, so information moves between them automatically.
- EngineeringApplication monitoringApplication monitoring is the continuous tracking of a live application's health and performance, including errors, response times, resource usage and user-facing failures, with alerts when something goes wrong.
- EngineeringApplication programming interface (API)An application programming interface, or API, is a defined way for one piece of software to request data or actions from another.
- MicrosoftAzure OpenAI ServiceAzure OpenAI Service is a Microsoft Azure offering that gives businesses API access to OpenAI models, such as GPT language models and embedding models, running inside Azure.
B
- E-commerceB2B e-commerceB2B e-commerce is the online sale of goods or services from one business to another, through a self-service web store, customer portal or marketplace.
- DataBusiness intelligence (BI)Business intelligence is the practice of turning business data into reports and dashboards that help people make decisions.
- AutomationBusiness process automationBusiness process automation uses software to run repeatable business processes, such as approvals, onboarding or invoicing, with little or no manual work.
C
- EngineeringCachingCaching is the technique of storing a copy of frequently requested data in a fast, temporary location so future requests can be answered without repeating the original work.
- E-commerceCart abandonmentCart abandonment is when a shopper adds items to an online shopping cart but leaves without completing the purchase.
- Business appsCase managementCase management is the practice and supporting software for logging, assigning, tracking and resolving customer issues or requests as individual records called cases.
- DataChange data capture (CDC)Change data capture (CDC) is a technique that detects inserts, updates and deletes in a source database and passes only those changes to other systems, often in near real time.
- Business appsChart of accountsA chart of accounts is the organized list of every account a business uses to record financial transactions, grouped into assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses.
- AIChatbotA chatbot is software that holds a conversation with people through text or voice.
- AIChunkingChunking is the process of splitting long documents into smaller, meaningful sections before they are converted into embeddings and stored for AI retrieval.
- EngineeringCI/CDCI/CD stands for continuous integration and continuous delivery.
- EngineeringCloud migrationCloud migration is the process of moving applications, data and infrastructure from on-premises servers or older hosting to a cloud platform such as AWS or Microsoft Azure.
- EngineeringCode reviewCode review is the practice of having one or more developers examine a colleague's code changes before they are merged, checking for bugs, security issues, readability and fit with the existing design.
- DataCohort analysisCohort analysis is a method of grouping customers or users by a shared starting point, such as the month they signed up or made a first purchase, and tracking how each group behaves over time.
- AIComputer visionComputer vision is the field of AI that enables software to interpret images and video, for example detecting objects, reading text, spotting defects or counting items.
- EngineeringContainerizationContainerization is the practice of packaging an application together with its libraries, settings and runtime into a lightweight, portable unit called a container.
- EngineeringContent delivery network (CDN)A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed group of servers in many locations that stores copies of website files, such as images, scripts and videos, and delivers them from the location closest to each visitor.
- AIContext windowA context window is the maximum amount of text, measured in tokens, that a language model can consider at once, including your instructions, any supplied documents and its own reply.
- E-commerceConversion rate optimization (CRO)Conversion rate optimization is the ongoing work of increasing the share of visitors who complete a goal, such as buying, booking or signing up.
- EngineeringCore Web VitalsCore Web Vitals are a set of Google metrics that measure real-user page experience: Largest Contentful Paint (loading speed), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness) and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
- Business appsCRM (customer relationship management)A CRM is software that keeps every interaction with customers and prospects in one place, from first contact through sales, service and renewals.
- EngineeringCross-platform app developmentCross-platform app development is building a mobile or desktop app from a single shared codebase that runs on several operating systems, typically iOS and Android.
- DataCustomer churnCustomer churn is the loss of customers who stop buying, cancel a subscription or do not renew a contract over a given period.
- DataCustomer lifetime value (CLV)Customer lifetime value (CLV) is an estimate of the total revenue or profit a business can expect from one customer over the whole relationship.
D
- DataDashboardA dashboard is a single screen that brings together the most important metrics, charts and alerts for a team or process, usually updated automatically from source systems.
- DataData governanceData governance is the set of rules, roles and processes that decide who owns data, who may use it and how its quality is kept high.
- DataData lakeA data lake is a low-cost store that keeps large volumes of raw data in its original format, from structured tables to files, logs and images.
- DataData martA data mart is a focused subset of an organization's data, organized for one department or subject area such as finance, sales or marketing.
- DataData migrationData migration is the process of moving data from one system to another, for example from an old ERP to a new one, while cleaning and reshaping it to fit the new system.
- DataData modelingData modeling is the process of deciding how an organization's data is structured, named and related, usually drawn as tables, fields and the links between them.
- DataData pipelineA data pipeline is an automated series of steps that moves data from where it is created to where it is used, cleaning and combining it along the way.
- DataData qualityData quality is the degree to which data is accurate, complete, consistent, current and fit for the purpose it is used for.
- DataData visualizationData visualization is the practice of presenting data as charts, maps, tables and other visual forms so that patterns, trends and outliers are easy to see.
- DataData warehouseA data warehouse is a central database that collects and organizes data from many business systems so it can be reported on and analyzed.
- MicrosoftDAX (Data Analysis Expressions)DAX is the formula language used in Power BI and related Microsoft tools to create calculations such as totals, ratios and year-over-year comparisons.
- DeliveryDedicated development teamA dedicated development team is an engagement model in which a vendor provides a group of engineers, designers or testers who work full-time on one client's product for an extended period.
- DesignDesign systemA design system is a shared library of reusable interface components, styles and guidelines that teams use to build consistent products.
- EngineeringDevOpsDevOps is a way of working that brings software development and IT operations together, using automation to build, test, release and run software reliably.
- EngineeringDisaster recoveryDisaster recovery is the set of plans, backups and infrastructure that let a business restore its systems and data after a major failure, such as a cloud outage, ransomware attack or accidental deletion.
- MicrosoftDynamics 365 Business CentralDynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft's cloud ERP for small and mid-sized businesses.
- MicrosoftDynamics 365 Customer ServiceDynamics 365 Customer Service is Microsoft's application for managing customer support through cases, queues, knowledge articles and service level agreements.
- MicrosoftDynamics 365 SalesDynamics 365 Sales is Microsoft's CRM application for managing leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities and sales forecasts.
- MicrosoftDynamics GPDynamics GP, originally known as Great Plains, is Microsoft's long-standing on-premises ERP system for small and mid-sized businesses, covering financials, purchasing, inventory and payroll.
- MicrosoftDynamics NAVDynamics NAV, originally Navision, is Microsoft's older on-premises ERP for small and mid-sized businesses.
E
- AIEmbeddingsEmbeddings are lists of numbers that represent the meaning of a piece of text, an image or another item, so a computer can measure how similar two things are.
- EngineeringEncryptionEncryption is the process of converting readable data into scrambled ciphertext using a key, so that only someone with the correct key can turn it back into its original form.
- DeliveryEnd-to-end testingEnd-to-end testing is automated testing that runs through complete user journeys in a real or realistic environment, such as signing up, adding items to a cart and paying, to confirm every layer works together.
- Business appsERP (enterprise resource planning)ERP is business software that runs core operations, such as accounting, purchasing, inventory, sales and projects, from one shared database.
- DataETL (extract, transform, load)ETL is the process of extracting data from source systems, transforming it into a clean and consistent shape, and loading it into a destination such as a data warehouse.
- EngineeringEvent-driven architectureEvent-driven architecture is a software design approach where components communicate by publishing and reacting to events, such as "order placed" or "payment received", rather than calling each other directly.
F
- EngineeringFeature flagA feature flag is a setting in software that turns a feature on or off at runtime without deploying new code.
- AIFine-tuningFine-tuning is further training of an existing AI model on your own examples so it learns a specific style, format or task.
- DeliveryFixed-price contractA fixed-price contract is an agreement in which a software vendor delivers a defined scope of work for a set total price, regardless of the hours it actually takes.
- EngineeringFlutterFlutter is an open-source framework from Google for building apps for iOS, Android, web and desktop from a single codebase written in the Dart language.
- AIFunction calling (tool use)Function calling, also called tool use, is a capability that lets a language model request an action from external software, such as looking up an order or creating a ticket, by returning structured inputs for a predefined function.
G
- Business appsGeneral ledgerA general ledger is the central record of all a company's financial transactions, organized by the accounts in its chart of accounts.
- AIGenerative AIGenerative AI refers to AI models that create new content, such as text, images, code or audio, based on patterns learned from large amounts of data.
- DeliveryGo-liveGo-live is the moment a new system or product is switched on for real users and real business, after testing and data migration are complete.
- EngineeringGraphQLGraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs that lets the client ask for exactly the data it needs in a single request, using a typed schema that describes what is available.
H
- EngineeringHeadless commerceHeadless commerce separates an online store's front end, what shoppers see, from the commerce engine that handles products, carts and orders.
- AIHuman in the loopHuman in the loop is a design approach where people review, correct or approve an AI system's work at chosen points.
I
- AIInferenceInference is the step where a trained AI model is used to make a prediction or generate an answer for new input.
- DesignInformation architectureInformation architecture is the way content and features in a website or app are organized, labeled and connected so people can find what they need.
- EngineeringInfrastructure as code (IaC)Infrastructure as code means defining servers, networks, databases and other cloud resources in configuration files rather than setting them up by hand.
- Business appsInventory managementInventory management is the process of tracking how much stock a business holds, where it is, what it is worth and when to reorder it.
J
- DesignJobs to be done (JTBD)Jobs to be done is a framework for understanding what customers are really trying to achieve when they use a product.
- EngineeringJSON Web Token (JWT)A JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, digitally signed string that carries claims, such as a user ID, roles and an expiry time, between systems in JSON format.
K
- DeliveryKanbanKanban is a method for managing work by visualizing tasks on a board with columns such as To do, In progress and Done, and limiting how many items can be in progress at once.
- DataKey performance indicator (KPI)A key performance indicator is a measurable value that shows how well a business, team or process is meeting an important goal.
- AIKnowledge baseA knowledge base is an organized collection of information, such as help articles, policies and product guides, that people or AI assistants use to find answers.
- AIKnowledge graphA knowledge graph is a way of storing information as a network of entities, such as customers, products and suppliers, linked by named relationships like 'buys', 'supplies' or 'reports to'.
- EngineeringKubernetesKubernetes is an open-source platform that automates deploying, scaling and managing containerized applications across a cluster of machines.
L
- AILarge language model (LLM)A large language model is an AI model trained on very large amounts of text so it can understand and generate language.
- EngineeringLatencyLatency is the delay between a request being made and the response starting to arrive, such as the time from tapping a button to seeing a result, usually measured in milliseconds.
- Business appsLead scoringLead scoring is a method of ranking prospects by how likely they are to become customers, using a point system or a predictive model.
- EngineeringLegacy system modernizationLegacy system modernization is the process of updating or replacing older software that is costly to maintain, hard to change or no longer supported, so it fits current business needs.
- DeliveryLoad testingLoad testing is a type of performance testing that simulates many users or requests at once to see how an application behaves under expected and peak traffic.
- AutomationLow-codeLow-code is an approach to building software with visual tools, ready-made components and simple formulas instead of writing all the code by hand.
M
- AIMachine learningMachine learning is a branch of AI where software learns patterns from historical data and uses them to make predictions or decisions, instead of following rules written by hand.
- DataMaster data management (MDM)Master data management (MDM) is the practice of keeping one trusted, shared version of core business records, such as customers, products, suppliers and locations, across all the systems that use them.
- EngineeringMicroservicesMicroservices is a way of building software as a set of small, independent services that each handle one part of the business, such as payments or notifications, and talk to each other through APIs.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft AppSourceMicrosoft AppSource is Microsoft's online marketplace where businesses find apps, add-ins and consulting offers that work with Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft AzureMicrosoft Azure is Microsoft's public cloud platform, offering on-demand computing, storage, databases, networking, AI and analytics services from data centers around the world.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft CopilotMicrosoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant built into products such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft DataverseMicrosoft Dataverse is the secure cloud data platform behind Power Apps, Power Automate and Dynamics 365 customer apps.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Entra IDMicrosoft Entra ID, formerly called Azure Active Directory, is Microsoft's cloud identity and access management service.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft FabricMicrosoft Fabric is a software-as-a-service analytics platform that brings data integration, data engineering, warehousing, real-time analytics, data science and Power BI reporting together in one product.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Power AppsMicrosoft Power Apps is a low-code platform for building business apps for web, tablet and phone.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Power AutomateMicrosoft Power Automate is Microsoft's tool for automating workflows across apps and services.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Power BIMicrosoft Power BI is Microsoft's business intelligence platform for building interactive reports and dashboards.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Power PagesMicrosoft Power Pages is a low-code tool for building secure business websites and portals that read and write data in Microsoft Dataverse.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Power PlatformMicrosoft Power Platform is Microsoft's family of low-code tools: Power Apps for building apps, Power Automate for workflows, Power BI for reporting, Power Pages for portals and Copilot Studio for AI agents.
- MicrosoftMicrosoft SharePointMicrosoft SharePoint is a Microsoft 365 platform for building team sites and intranets and for storing, organizing and sharing documents with version history and permissions.
- DeliveryMinimum viable product (MVP)A minimum viable product is the smallest version of a product that real users can use and that tests whether the idea delivers value.
- AIMLOpsMLOps (machine learning operations) is the set of practices for deploying, monitoring and updating machine learning models in production.
- AIModel Context Protocol (MCP)The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, introduced by Anthropic in 2024, that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data sources through a common interface.
- AIModel driftModel drift is the gradual decline in a machine learning model's accuracy after deployment because the real-world data it sees has changed from the data it was trained on.
- EngineeringMonolithic architectureMonolithic architecture is a way of building software where the user interface, business logic and data access live in a single codebase and are deployed as one unit.
- EngineeringMulti-tenant architectureMulti-tenant architecture is a way of building software where one running application serves many customers, called tenants, while keeping each customer's data separate and secure.
- AIMultimodal AIMultimodal AI is artificial intelligence that can take in or produce more than one type of data, such as text, images, audio and video, within a single model or system.
N
- AINamed entity recognition (NER)Named entity recognition (NER) is a natural language processing technique that finds and labels specific items in text, such as names of people, companies, locations, dates, amounts and product codes.
- EngineeringNative appA native app is a mobile application built specifically for one operating system using that platform's own languages and tools, such as Swift for iOS or Kotlin for Android.
- AINatural language processing (NLP)Natural language processing is the field of AI that lets computers understand, analyze and generate human language.
- DataNoSQL databaseA NoSQL database is a database that stores data in formats other than the fixed tables of a relational database, such as documents, key-value pairs, wide columns or graphs.
O
- EngineeringOAuthOAuth is an open standard for authorization that lets a user grant one application limited access to their data in another service without sharing their password.
- AIOCR (optical character recognition)OCR is technology that reads text from images and scanned documents and turns it into editable, searchable text.
- E-commerceOmnichannel commerceOmnichannel commerce gives customers one connected experience across every place they buy, such as a website, mobile app, marketplace and physical store.
- E-commerceOnline marketplaceAn online marketplace is a platform where many independent sellers list and sell products or services to buyers, while the operator handles discovery, payments and often trust features like reviews.
- E-commerceOrder management system (OMS)An order management system (OMS) is software that tracks each order from the moment it is placed through payment, fulfillment, shipping and returns, often across several sales channels and warehouses.
- EngineeringOWASP Top 10The OWASP Top 10 is a widely used list, published by the nonprofit Open Worldwide Application Security Project, of the most critical security risks in web applications, such as broken access control and injection flaws.
P
- E-commercePayment gatewayA payment gateway is the service that securely sends card and other payment details from a checkout to the payment networks and returns an approval or decline.
- EngineeringPenetration testingPenetration testing is an authorized, simulated attack on an application, network or system, carried out by security specialists to find weaknesses before real attackers do.
- MicrosoftPower FxPower Fx is the low-code formula language used across Microsoft Power Platform, most visibly in Power Apps.
- MicrosoftPower Platform connectorA Power Platform connector is a wrapper around an API that lets Power Apps, Power Automate and Copilot Studio read from and act on another service through ready-made actions and triggers.
- DataPredictive analyticsPredictive analytics uses historical data, statistics and machine learning to estimate what is likely to happen next, such as future sales, customer churn or equipment failures.
- DeliveryProduct discoveryProduct discovery is the early phase of a software project where a team works out which problem to solve, for whom, and whether a proposed solution is valuable and feasible.
- E-commerceProduct information management (PIM)Product information management (PIM) is the practice, and the software, used to collect, enrich and manage product data such as descriptions, specifications, images and translations in one central place.
- DeliveryProduct roadmapA product roadmap is a high-level plan that shows the direction of a product over time, listing the major goals, features or themes a team intends to deliver and roughly when.
- EngineeringProgressive web app (PWA)A progressive web app is a website built to behave like an installed app: it can be added to a phone's home screen, work offline and send notifications.
- AIPrompt engineeringPrompt engineering is the practice of writing and testing the instructions given to an AI model so it produces reliable, useful output.
- AIPrompt injectionPrompt injection is a security attack in which someone hides instructions in content an AI system reads, such as a user message, web page or document, to make the model ignore its original rules.
- DeliveryProof of concept (PoC)A proof of concept is a small, working version of an idea built to test whether it is technically possible and worth investing in.
- DesignPrototypeA prototype is an interactive model of a product or feature, ranging from clickable screens to partly working code, built to test an idea before full development.
- EngineeringPush notificationsPush notifications are short messages that an app or website sends to a user's device, appearing on the lock screen or in the notification area even when the app is not open.
R
- EngineeringReact NativeReact Native is an open-source framework, created by Meta, for building iOS and Android apps with JavaScript or TypeScript and the React library.
- DeliveryRegression testingRegression testing is re-running existing tests after a code change, update or integration to confirm that features which worked before still work.
- AIRerankingReranking is a second step in search or retrieval where a specialized model rescores an initial list of results and reorders them by how well each one actually answers the query.
- DesignResponsive designResponsive design is building websites and apps so their layout adapts to any screen size, from phones to large monitors.
- EngineeringREST APIA REST API is a common style of web API where data is organized as resources, such as customers or orders, and accessed with standard web requests like GET and POST.
- AIRetrieval-augmented generation (RAG)Retrieval-augmented generation is a method where an AI model first searches your own documents or data for relevant information, then uses what it found to write its answer.
- AutomationRobotic process automation (RPA)Robotic process automation is software that repeats the clicks and keystrokes a person would make in an application, so routine tasks run automatically.
S
- Business appsSales pipelineA sales pipeline is a visual and data view of all open deals, organized by the stage each one has reached, from first contact to closed.
- EngineeringScalabilityScalability is a system's ability to handle growing amounts of users, data or transactions by adding resources, without a rewrite or a drop in performance.
- DeliveryScope creepScope creep is the gradual, often unplanned growth of a project's requirements after work has started, as new features, changes and edge cases are added without matching adjustments to budget or timeline.
- DeliveryScrumScrum is an agile framework in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length iterations called sprints, usually one to four weeks long.
- DataSelf-service analyticsSelf-service analytics is an approach in which business users explore data and build their own reports and dashboards without asking a data team for each request.
- AISemantic searchSemantic search finds results based on the meaning of a query rather than matching its exact words.
- AISentiment analysisSentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing to detect the opinion or emotional tone in text, typically classifying it as positive, negative or neutral.
- EngineeringServerless computingServerless computing is a cloud model where you run code or use managed services without provisioning or managing servers, and the provider scales capacity automatically and bills for actual usage.
- DeliveryService level agreement (SLA)A service level agreement is a written commitment that defines the level of service a provider will deliver, such as response times, resolution times and uptime.
- E-commerceShopifyShopify is a hosted e-commerce platform that lets businesses build and run online stores, take payments and manage products, orders and customers without maintaining their own servers.
- EngineeringSingle sign-on (SSO)Single sign-on lets people use one login, such as their Microsoft or Google work account, to access many applications.
- AISmall language model (SLM)A small language model (SLM) is a language model with far fewer parameters than the largest frontier models, typically from a few hundred million to several billion.
- EngineeringSoftware as a service (SaaS)Software as a service is software delivered over the internet on a subscription, rather than installed and maintained on each customer's own computers or servers.
- AISpeech-to-textSpeech-to-text is AI technology that converts spoken audio into written text, either live or from recordings.
- DeliverySprintA sprint is a short, fixed period, usually one or two weeks, in which a team plans, builds and reviews an agreed set of work.
- DataSQLSQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard language for storing, querying and changing data in relational databases, which organize data into tables of rows and columns.
- EngineeringStaging environmentA staging environment is a copy of the production setup, with the same configuration, integrations and similar data, where new releases are tested before they go live.
- DataStar schemaA star schema is a way of organizing data for analysis in which one central fact table holds measurable events, such as sales, and links to dimension tables that describe them, such as date, product and customer.
- DataStreaming dataStreaming data is information that is generated continuously and processed as it arrives, record by record or in small batches, instead of being collected and loaded on a schedule.
- E-commerceSubscription commerceSubscription commerce is a business model in which customers pay on a recurring schedule, such as monthly or yearly, to receive products or services automatically.
- AISynthetic dataSynthetic data is artificially generated data that mimics the patterns and statistical properties of real data without containing actual records about real people or transactions.
T
- EngineeringTechnical debtTechnical debt is the future cost of shortcuts taken in software today, such as quick fixes, outdated libraries or missing tests.
- AITemperature (AI)Temperature is a setting that controls how much randomness a language model uses when choosing each next word.
- Business appsThree-way matchingThree-way matching is an accounts payable control that compares a supplier invoice against the purchase order and the goods receipt before payment is approved.
- DeliveryTime and materialsTime and materials (T&M) is a pricing model in which the client pays for the actual hours worked at agreed rates, plus direct costs such as licenses or infrastructure.
- AITokens (AI)A token is a small unit of text, such as a whole word, part of a word or a punctuation mark, that a language model reads and writes.
- AITransformer modelA transformer model is a neural network design that processes text or other data by weighing how each part of the input relates to every other part, using a mechanism called attention.
U
- DesignUI designUI design (user interface design) is the craft of designing the visual and interactive layer of a digital product, including layout, typography, color, buttons, forms and states.
- DeliveryUnit testingUnit testing is the practice of writing small automated tests that check individual pieces of code, such as a single function or class, in isolation from the rest of the system.
- DesignUsability testingUsability testing is a method of evaluating a product by watching real or representative users try to complete specific tasks with it, such as placing an order or finding a document.
- DeliveryUser acceptance testing (UAT)User acceptance testing is the final testing stage, where real users check that a system supports their actual work before it goes live.
- DesignUser experience (UX) designUser experience design is the process of making products easy, efficient and pleasant to use.
- DesignUser journey mapA user journey map is a visual timeline of the steps a person goes through to reach a goal with a business, such as buying a product or onboarding to a service, along with their actions, thoughts and feelings at each step.
- DesignUser personaA user persona is a short, research-based profile of a typical user group, describing their goals, tasks, frustrations and context.
- DesignUser researchUser research is the practice of studying the people who use or will use a product, through interviews, observation, surveys and analytics, to understand their needs, behaviors and pain points.
V
- AIVector databaseA vector database stores embeddings and quickly finds the ones most similar to a query.
- EngineeringVersion controlVersion control is a system that records every change to a set of files over time, so teams can see who changed what, work in parallel on separate branches and restore earlier versions.
W
- DesignWeb accessibility (WCAG)Web accessibility is the practice of building websites and apps that people with disabilities can use, including those who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation or captions.
- EngineeringWebhookA webhook is a message one system sends to another automatically when something happens, such as a payment succeeding or a form being submitted.
- DesignWireframeA wireframe is a simple, low-detail layout of a screen that shows structure, content and key actions without final colors or images.
- E-commerceWooCommerceWooCommerce is a free, open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress that turns a WordPress site into an online store.
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