The product vision is an integral part of the product strategy.
A good product vision rallies a group of people around a common goal. As such, the product vision needs to be front and centre on the minds of everyone who has an involvement in developing it.
Creating a Product Vision
The sweet spot for the length that a vision spans is 2 - 4 years, any shorter than that then the vision is too difficult to achieve in the timespan and any longer than that then it becomes hard to accurately forecast and predict the market needs that far ahead.
All too often, product visions end up as buzzwordy, corporate nonsense that don't resonate with anyone, such as "To continually foster world-class solutions, as well as to quickly create principle-centred sources to meet our customer's needs". To avoid this, a good vision needs to be:
- Focused - having a concise vision statement that makes it crystal clear who the target customer segment is and what the top value proposition is. Your business model will help define these factors as the business model outlines all possible customers and the value propositions you provide to them (more info on business models can be found below), however you can't be all things to all people, so you select your most import target customers and value propositions to outline in your vision.
- Inspiring and emotive - stirs up emotions in colleagues.
- Created in collaboration - the vision should have input from the wider business to further inspire and ensure they feel bought-in and take ownership of it
- Ambitious - not something you can easily achieve within 6 months, it should be big, audacious and challenging
- Practical - not buzzwordy or vague. Written in words people use even when they're not wearing a tie.
- Aligned - the vision must be aligned with the overarching business goals
- User-centric - focus on the value you aim to provide to users
- Visible - ensuring that the vision is well communicated, understood and adhered to at all times by everyone involved in the product.