Products don’t just ship features.
They ship commitments.
This page describes how systems fail at the product layer when early language, positioning, or structure quietly limits what can still be explored.
Product velocity often improves right before flexibility disappears.
Roadmaps fill.
Alignment increases.
Delivery accelerates.
But optionality collapses.
At this layer, failure shows up as:
Narrative debt and premature hardening dominate here.
Language becomes an interface.
Interfaces become constraints.
Product rigidity surfaces downstream as:
If product language remains provisional and positioning evolves with learning, narrative debt has not yet formed.
Even if progress feels slower.
The most expensive product constraints aren’t technical.
They’re semantic.