---
title: "Product Design Glossary in Plain Words | Utkarsh Panwar"
description: "Design system, activation rate, design debt, time to value and more: product design terms defined in plain words with real SaaS examples."
url: https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary
author: Utkarsh Dhairya Panwar
updated: 2026-10-08
---

# Glossary

Product design terms in plain words, each with an example from real work.

- [What is design debt?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/design-debt): The cost of every shortcut, paid by your users.
- [What is a design engineer?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/design-engineer): The job title that means three different jobs.
- [What is a design system?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/design-system): One set of rules for every screen you ship.
- [What are design tokens?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/design-tokens): Name the value once, use it everywhere.
- [What is interaction design?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/interaction-design): What happens after you tap, and why.
- [What is a user flow?](https://www.utkarshdesign.com/glossary/user-flow): Every step and branch between a goal and done.

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Utkarsh Dhairya Panwar, Founding Product Designer and Design Engineer (IIT Roorkee; Founding Designer at CodeAnt AI, YC W24). Email: work@utkarshdesign.com · Book a call: https://cal.com/utkarsh-design/30min · Hire: https://www.utkarshdesign.com/hire · About: https://www.utkarshdesign.com/llms.txt