Originally written in French. Translated by AI — the meaning has been preserved, not the prose.
Short definition
An observed divergence between what the product does and what it should do, recorded in the card of the object concerned, apart from the description of reality.
Full definition
The word commonly serves to designate any difference between two measurements or two documents.
In the product description worked on here, it has a restricted sense and a fixed place: it carries judgment, it is deduced from no source, and it never modifies the body of the card — which describes reality as it is in the code and is regenerated. When all is well, nothing is written: a card with no gap signals a compliant object.
Five natures, each with a destination: defect, the product contradicts an expectation written somewhere, which becomes a bug to work through; missing item, what is expected doesn't exist, which becomes a backlog item; inconsistency, two parts of the product don't say the same thing, which becomes debt to arbitrate; irritant, the product does what was planned but it is badly done, which becomes design debt; wish, a desired extension outside any current expectation, which becomes an opportunity.
Each gap carries an identifier, its nature, what it concerns, the expectation, the concrete consequence for someone, a status — to be worked through, confirmed, accepted, resolved, rejected — and its date. Resolved or rejected, it stays in the card.
Usage in the field
It comes into play at the output of a description exercise: the gaps are the working material it produces, and they are what feeds bug work, the backlog and debt arbitrations. The word also circulates between support, development and product, each using it without the distinction of nature.
Synonyms and variants
Divergence, non-conformity — the second belongs to audit vocabulary and presupposes an enforceable standard, which isn't always the case here.
Not to be confused with
- Defect — a particular case of gap: the product contradicts a written expectation. The four other natures aren't defects.
- Incident — an event that occurred in production, with its reproduction steps and its screenshots. A gap describes a structural divergence; the incident's detail stays in the tracking tool.
- Pain — what the user feels, with no distinction between a defect and an absent capability.
- Ontology — a description of what the domain is made of; it describes reality alone, the gaps living in a separate block.
Examples
"A link to the attachment is missing from the order, as the customer has; consequence: impossible to attach a signed purchase order; nature: missing item; status: confirmed." Or, for a gap disproved: a divergence recorded on the description of a link type, found on checking to be inaccurate, kept in the card with the mention "rejected" and its reason.
Ambiguities / debates
The border between irritant and missing item depends on what is considered expected, and therefore on the point of view — the same observation can be design debt for the team and a missing feature for the customer.