fonctionnalité

Fonctionnalité is a French noun that denotes the set of capabilities that a system, device, or process provides to users. Etymologically, it combines fonction (function) with the suffix -alité, analogous to English words such as functionality or feature. In everyday French, it is commonly used to describe what a product can do rather than how it does it.

In technology and product development, fonctionnalité designates a specific capability or service offered by a software or hardware product. It is often discussed in user-facing terms such as la fonctionnalité de recherche or la fonctionnalité de collaboration en temps réel, and can be evaluated in terms of usefulness, performance, and reliability. The term is distinct from utilité (usefulness) and ergonomie (usability), though these concepts intersect in practice.

Features are commonly categorized as core versus optional, or as visible features versus underlying capabilities. Product teams use the concept of fonctionnalité when describing requirements, creating roadmaps, and defining acceptance criteria. In agile workflows, a fonctionnalité may be implemented as a set of tasks or user stories, sometimes framed as minimum viable functionality for a minimum viable product (MVP).

Cross-linguistically, the English equivalents are feature or functionality. In French-language contexts, fonctionnalité remains the standard term, while fonction can refer to a function in programming or mathematics. The term is widely used in documentation, marketing, and technical discourse to convey what a product can do.