Here’s How to Create a Meaningful Product Vision

Here is how to create a meaningful product vision. Read on to learn more.

What Is Product Vision, Anyway?

Product vision is a shared understanding of how a product fits into the market and how it will fulfill customer needs. It is the primary source of guidance for what a product should be.

The product vision is the foundation of your product development. It’s what guides your team as they build, launch and iterate.

If you’re building something new, it helps you stay focused as you make decisions and prioritize your activities. 

At the same time, it’s flexible enough to allow for uncertainty and change.

In short: It’s the ideal product that you are working towards, but never quite achieve.

How to Create a Product Vision and Make It Meaningful

If you’re responsible for creating a product vision for your team, here’s how to do it.

Employ a Shared Vision to Everyone

The most important thing you can do is to make sure the vision is communicated to everyone on the team. 

Make sure that everyone knows what it is, what it means, and how it will be used by the team.

Using shared language helps you get on the same page with your team and ensures that they understand what you want to build. It’s easy to fall into jargon or use terms that only describe one part of the product. 

This can lead to misunderstandings and confusion. You can avoid this by using a common language for product development.

Use a Visual Aid

When it comes time to present a product vision, you have many options for how to do so. You can use a simple PowerPoint slide deck. 

It’s easy for everyone on the team to understand and it’s a great tool for ongoing discussion and development. 

The slide deck has three slides: 

The first shows the goal of our product and where it fits in with other similar products in the market. 

The second shows how our product will help people handle different tasks they need to accomplish.

And the third is a high-level view of how we will accomplish these goals.

Think Big

Product vision is about the ideal product you are working towards. It’s easy to get too focused on the details and fail to see the bigger picture. 

Try to put yourself in the shoes of your customers and think about why they need this product. What tasks do they need to accomplish? How can you make it easier for them? 

If you don’t do this, it’s easy to get sucked into the weeds and lose sight of what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the tactical details, but they aren’t important if they don’t serve your vision.

Clarify Your Team Goals

In addition to clarifying your vision, it’s also important to clarify your team goals. 

Your goal is to build a product that fits your shared vision, but different people on your team might have different goals for their work. 

Everyone must know what their goal is because you don’t want people working in different directions. 

They should all be working towards a common goal, even if the tactics and approaches differ. 

Don’t think of these as separate goals, but as complementary paths for reaching the overall goal of the product vision.