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Product Management vocabulary · Requirements & User Stories

Spec

Meaning in product management, with examples

/spek/nounCore term

In product management, spec means: Short for specification: a document that describes in detail how a feature should look and behave, so that designers and engineers can build it correctly.

In Turkish: şartname, tanım dokümanı, spesifikasyon

How it is used

Informal and very common: write a spec, the spec says, it's not in the spec, build to spec. In some companies a spec is the same as a PRD; in others the PRD explains the why and the technical spec, written by engineers, explains the how.

Example sentences

  1. The spec doesn't mention what happens when the file is larger than 10 MB.

  2. I'll update the spec with the new error messages after today's review.

Common collocations

  • write a spec
  • technical spec
  • update the spec
  • build to spec
  • spec review
  • PRDShort for product requirements document: a document that explains what a feature or product should do, for whom and why, so the whole team works from the same plan.
  • requirementSomething a product or feature must do, or a condition it must meet, written down so that the team agrees on what to build.
  • edge caseAn unusual situation that happens only at the extreme limits of normal use, such as an empty list, a very long name or a lost connection during payment.
  • acceptance criteriaThe specific conditions a user story must meet before the team and the product owner accept it as finished and working correctly.
  • user storyA short description of a feature written from the user's point of view, usually in the form “As a [type of user], I want [goal] so that [benefit].”

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Requirements & User Stories

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