Product management glossary
Technical debt
Definition: Technical debt is the future cost of shortcuts taken in software, such as quick fixes or outdated designs, that make the code harder and slower to change later.
Some debt is a sensible trade-off to ship sooner. Left unmanaged, it slows every future change and increases bugs. Product managers need to make room for paying it down alongside new features.
Making technical work visible in the backlog and on the roadmap, with the reason it matters, helps stakeholders understand why it competes with features.