Product Vision

Visionary leader like Musk and Jobs have famously been at the forefront of their product creations. Both understands the value of creating a compelling vision to inspire both customers and employees alike to bring the grand vision they have to life. In this article I would like to focus on this important piece of artifact in product management - the Product Vision.

Definition

Product Vision defines the ultimate reason and the overarching goal for creating the product in the first place. In another words, a product vision represents the core essence of its product or product line, the north star that will guide the product team in the whole product planning and development process.

The diagram below to illustrate where product vision sits in relation to the product strategy and the product roadmap.

In short, the product vision defines what a winning product should look like.The product strategy spell out how that winning product will achieve success. Lastly, the product roadmap plans the directions and steps that the product team needs to take to create the winning product described in the product vision.

Constructing product vision

A product vision should capture key information such as who the customers are, what they need, and what is the go-to-market plan. It captures the essence of what the product team aims to achieve, the opportunities available, the Unique Selling Points (UPS) or key differentiators.

For example, Google’s vision “To provide access to the world’s information in one click” captures what they aim to achieve, and their UPS. Another example would be LinkedIn’s vision, “To create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.” shows who the customer/users are (every member of the global workforce), what the product aim to achieve (to create economic opportunities).

Scrum.org’s provides a valuable template on how to write a product vision. Although not every element is required, it is a good starting point to create a compelling product vision,

Image: Product vision template, scrum.org

Here is an example in Crossing the Chasm of how product manager can use the product vision template to create a product vision for Microsoft Surface Pro,

“For the business user who needs to be productive in the office and on the go, the Surface is a convertible tablet that is easy to carry and gives you full computing productivity no matter where you are. Unlike laptops, Surface serves your on-the-go needs without having to carry an extra device.”

Why is Product Vision Important?

Kickstarting Product Development

When it comes to creating a ground-breaking product, getting started can often prove to be a difficult endeavour. Your product vision is your product's baseline, and without a strong starting point it will be hard to create the product that your team has envisioned. The product vision guide the creation of the product strategy, which subsequently guide the creation of product roadmap. Hence it is vital to lay the foundation properly by constructing a comprehensive product vision.

The Product development’s North Star

Just as the North Star acts as a beacon to help mankind locate the True North, product vision guides the product team and the wider business to achieve success by developing a winning product. Working on a product without a complete product vision is like walking into the street with your eyes closed.

Creating and managing a successful product requires a lot of time and energy. In order to be fully committed, you have to be convinced that what you are doing is right and have a clear vision of where to take your product. The product vision serves as a compass for every action taken to enhance the product. For example it is very useful to guide the assessment of product features, if adding a feature will not help your product achieve its vision, then the value of that feature should be diminished.

Dictates how to realise the company’s mission and purpose.

Company mission describe the outcome the organisation sets out to achieve and it’s purpose aligns that outcome with a reason to exist. However, these things still don’t tell us what the company produces in the real world. For example, Disney’s famous “Make People Happy” mission says nothing about the theme parks, unique content and merchandise they create and distribute.

This is where product vision comes into play, it connects dream to reality and provides the answer to how the company will generate value to its customer, i.e. how it will realise it’s mission. In Jim Collins’ book Good To Great. “Companies need a mountain to climb, as Collins put it. This is true, but what mountain you end up climbing, and why you climb it are not the same thing. Furthermore, how you climb it is very important. The distinctions are subtle and yet entirely game-changing in their application.” Visionary leader like Musk and Jobs starts with describing the company level vision and then knuckling down at the product level, to design or code that critical element that brings the grand vision to life.

Tips on constructing compelling Product Vision

Be aspirational

“If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you,” and “Your vision should be such that it pulls both your employees and customers.” Both were Steve Job’s quotes on product vision.

A product vision focused on creating a benefit for others can create a particularly deep motivation and a lasting inspiration. It can also be said that when people believe that they are creating something meaningful and beneficial, they are more motivated. As such, product vision should include the beneficial change the product should create for others and for your business

Distinguish product vision and product strategy

It is important to remember the distinction between product vision and product strategy. The product vision should not be a plan that shows how to reach your goal. Clearly distinguishing the two allow product manager to change product strategy while staying grounded in the vision. (This is called to pivot in Lean Startup.)

For example, lets assume that the product vision is to help like-minded singles above 50s to connect, and the initial product strategy is to create a messaging app that allows the people above 50s to match against each other and connect. If that does not generate result, then the initial strategy could be pivoted, e.g. to create a social club with different events that members can sign up to instead; and that could still fulfill the product vision.

Adapt product vision as needed

Developing an awesome product vision is rather complex. It's not predictable, nor easy, nor something you do 'first time right'. Some of the most successful Products (of recent years) like Facebook, Post-it and Netflix started out with a totally different purpose (vision) in mind. Only because the original purpose failed and the companies adapted their vision, they have now become some of the most successful companies of our time. So don't be afraid to change direction.

Harmonise product vision with the wider business

A product vision should be linked to the company’s mission and vision. It is not uncommon for the product vision to adopt the company’s vision, especially if the product is the company. However, it is important to ensure that there are no conflict between the two.

The other way around also counts, during the course of building the product, the business might realise that the company mission and vision no longer fits and needs a pivot. In this instance it is important to find out whether it is company mission/vision or product vision that needs to pivot.

In addition to that, the product vision needs to be mapped with your company's core values and skills. Not every company is in the best position to create every product and solve every problem. It is important to choose the problems that you can solve and you cannot.

Keep vision short and clear

Since product vision convey the ultimate reason why a product is built, it should be easy to communicate and to understand. The vision should be short and sweet, but at the same time, able to provide clarity to everyone. Other artifacts including a product strategy, a business model, a product backlog, and a marketing plan can provide the necessary details.

Own the vision

Most successful product manager are very passionate about their product vision. As compared to product manager who were mainly executing the product roadmap based on someone else’s vision. It is not always the case, but a product manager should be motivated by the vision, and it is easier to get motivated and passionate when the product manager own the vision.

Have customers in mind

It's important to approach the product vision with your customer needs in the forefront of your focus. This is because the product is ultimately being developed for the customer and users. While being passionate about the product vision is important, product manager should be aware that they are building the product for someone else. To put it differently, the product manager’s idea might not always be the best idea, and it is important to get end user feedback to validate vision.

Collaborate

An inspiring product vision would not be of any value if the people involved in making the product a success don’t buy into it. The product vision must be shared, i.e. everyone must have the same vision in order to leverage the vision as the product’s true north, to create alignment, and to facilitate effective collaboration. Without a shared vision, people follow their own goals, making it much harder to achieve product success.

A great way to create a shared product vision is to employ a collaborative visioning workshop. Rather than formulating a product vision and then selling it to key stakeholders, product manager can create it together with key stakeholder. In the workshop, the product manager can use the product idea as an initial springboard and ask the workshop attendees to capture their motivation for working on the product. Then everyone can compare the different visions, look for common ground, and combine the different goals into a final product vision that everybody agrees with.