Creating a product vision is an important part of the product management workflow, and this can be best done by collaborating with an established digital product design company.
A strong vision statement helps your team align around key objectives and end goals. It also provides a North star that makes sure your team continues moving in the right direction when new features require prioritization or different roadblocks appear.
This article should be useful for any PM, regardless of their experience level or company size. Anyone can find it difficult to write a good vision statement, and many PMs struggle with the same things time and again.
So, here are some tips on creating a product vision that stays with you and your team throughout the development process!
What Is A Product Vision?
If your company is looking to bring a new product to the market, you must first develop a clear picture of what that product will look like once it’s ready for launch.
A product vision statement helps with exactly that—it’s a concise explanation of your product, not just what it does or how it works.
A strong product vision statement will set the tone for every decision you make about the final version of your new product.
Steps On Creating a Product Vision
What Do Your Customers Want?
This might sound like a no-brainer, but it’s really important! Your product exists to solve a problem that your target audience is facing, and knowing what your customers want is a good place to start.
What problem does your product solve? What problem do people have that your product will solve?
Your product vision should include the problem that your product solves. It should include the solution your product provides to this problem.
Suppose your goal is to provide basic hand hygiene information to nurses and you want your product to do this by providing a hand hygiene app.
In that case, your product vision can be something like: “We want to provide basic hand hygiene information to nurses by creating a hand hygiene app.”
Market research will be necessary if you are creating a new product. You need to get to the ground and see people’s problems and how you can solve them. This is going to be very useful in deciding which path your product is going to take.
On the other hand, if you want to refresh the vision of an existing product, the best way to start this process is by speaking to your customers and marketing team. Doing this will teach you about areas that are doing great and where you can improve.
Analyze Your Findings
Once you’ve gathered all the data, you can start to analyze it. This is where you distill your insights and begin forming a product vision.
Try to describe what you learned about your customers. Example for Opportunity: “Our customers are looking for a more convenient way to buy groceries.”
Customers – “Our customers are younger adults who live in the suburbs. They have kids, lots of disposable income, and are willing to spend on convenience but don’t want to spend a fortune. They don’t have time to shop for groceries every week, so they prefer to order online to have things delivered right to their door.’’
This will help you identify patterns and draw conclusions representative of your findings as a whole.
Finally, write down a short sentence summarizing your findings. This will help you condense your analysis into one sentence that you can use as a foundation for your vision statement.
Share With Your Team and Analyze
Now that you have a clear picture of what your customers want, share your findings with your team.
Your team needs to be on the same page as you and have a clear picture of the product and where it is going.
Have one-on-one meetings with your team members and start a discussion about your findings. This way, you’ll ensure you’re all on the same page and have a strong foundation for moving forward.
When you’re done, document your findings in a place your team members can reference later on.
You can use a digital whiteboard tool to visually map your vision statement and have everyone participate in the brainstorming process. And as a team, you can agree on one vision for your product that everyone agrees with and is best for your product.
Why is a Strong Vision So Important?
A product vision statement should describe what you want your product to become. This means that it’s more than a mission statement – it’s a future state.
A strong vision statement links back to your company’s core values. If a core value is creating an innovative product that changes how people do things, then the product vision should have something to do with that.
A clear vision statement helps your team stay aligned with the company’s values and drives them toward a common purpose. It also provides a path that ensures your team continues moving in the right direction.
Conclusion
Now you know how to create a product vision, but remember that it will likely change and evolve over time.
At different points during the development process, you should revisit your product vision and ensure that it still makes sense and is consistent with your core values.
Your product vision should be SMART – it should be achievable, specific, relevant, measurable, and time-bound.
It should reflect your core values and solve the biggest problem that your product is trying to solve. It should include a user-focused approach and be consistent with your brand.
