2 Simple Activities to Create a Meaningful Product Vision
Use one of the two simple activities we introduce in this article to create a Meaningful Product Vision with your team.
It is not uncommon for a project leader to spend time selling the value of their project to stakeholders, team members, and leadership. However, getting buy-in and commitment from the people you need to make your product successful can take careful thought and effort.
A product vision is a simplified message that communicates the power and impact of your product in a way that someone who knows nothing about it can instantly understand why they should care.
To connect with your users, you must first evoke an emotional response. When you do that, you can design, build, and sell your product to the people who need it most. You can create a meaningful product vision by working with stakeholders to help set your team up for success.
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“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
The value of an inspirational product vision
A good product vision sets a clear direction for teams to follow and aspire to meet. They can feel aspirational or even out of reach, but in the end, the vision articulates clearly what a team will focus on, in what time frame they hope to drive impact or change, and in what time frame they hope to drive impact and change.
When applied correctly in a business, a product vision acts as a "north star" to guide the organization and its people.
A compelling vision provides a sense of purpose in how the product creates value.
A thoughtful vision clarifies how individuals contribute their skills to the project's success.
An aspirational vision guides decision-making.
Activity # 1: Simon Sinek's Golden Circle
The Golden Circle is a model by Simon Sinek used to create a strong product vision. The model starts with the middle of the circle, the WHY, and works its way out.
Starting with WHY is the path to building something remarkable. At its heart, success is about solving problems and understanding why those problems exist in the first place. Then, you make something that lasts by creating your foundation on why this product matters to your customers' lives.
WHY
Consider that businesses exist for different reasons—your "WHY" sets your business apart and gives customers and employees a reason to support it.
HOW
Now use the middle ring to capture "HOW" you will develop a strategy to achieve the "WHY." Next, identify processes or systems that support your business and set you apart from competitors.
WHAT
Lastly, the products or services your company provides are vital to the "WHAT" of your Golden Circle. Finally, the outer-most ring highlights the products and services that make you competitive.
When your vision "WHY" transcends profitability, customers and employees will have a deeper connection with it. Therefore, you should display your Golden Circle vision somewhere everyone can see it to drive engagement and success.
When to use the Golden Circle Framework?
If you are starting with a blank canvas, have not had an entire project team discussion, or feel the team is confused or disconnected on the project deliverables and vision, try starting with WHY using Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework.
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Activity #2: Microsoft's Two-step Product Framework
Microsoft provides a simple framework for creating a vision that defines the target user or customer, the problem they're trying to solve, and the desired outcome. In addition, this framework helps people to consider the product’s impact on the business.
Step 1. Describe your users and the impact you hope to make.
For… [TARGET USER]
Who needs… [USER NEED]
The… [PRODUCT/SERVICE NAME]
Will provide… [KEY BENEFIT]
Step 2. Describe how your product compares to the competition.
Unlike… [COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE]
Our product will… [YOUR PRODUCT’S NORTH STAR]
"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 total computing productivity no matter where you are. Unlike laptops, the Surface serves on-the-go needs without having to take an extra device." - Microsoft Surface’s product vision statement.
When to use the Microsoft 2-step Framework?
If you have gathered a lot of user insights and feel you have enough input from users and stakeholders, gather a few key members from the project team and try out the Microsoft 2-step Framework.
Free Templates for in-person, remote, and hybrid meetings.
Free Digital Jamboard Template
Prepare a Brilliant Product Vision Session
We are passionate about throwing compelling workshops that inspire attendees to participate. The goal is to deliver creative, collaborative, and iterative sessions that unite diverse viewpoints and multi-disciplinary teams.
Rember, facilitating discussions is more art than science, so finding your rhythm can take time and practice. Nevertheless, our top recommendations are to ensure you get the most out of your product vision session.
Ask the Right Questions
A vision statement aims to help you define your long-term goals and serve as a guidepost for your team and business decision-making. You want to make sure you're thinking about the correct problems and defining your goals in a way that will drive your business forward. As Sinek points out, asking simple questions is usually the easier way to solve a complex problem.
Do we all clearly understand our product strategy?
What prevents us from having clarity?
How is an investment in the product connected to business performance?
How are we measuring the relationship between product and financial results?
Do your Homework
Understand your customers, learn about your competitors, and gather relevant information about your local market. Research can is the foundation for developing your vision statement. You should understand who your customer is, their problems, and their unmet needs. You should also know how to solve their problems and offer better value to them.
Market research is how Product leaders collect information about user needs. Competitive analysis is a subset of market research. When you study your competition, you use market research techniques to apprehend what your competition is doing today and gain insight into their plans.
Invite the Right People
Involving your team to encourage inclusion throughout the process can help ensure your vision is achievable. In fact, including your team will result in buy-in and help promote a sense of ownership: check out our meeting planning and productivity guide for tips on inviting the right people to your session.
Make sure you get to know your participants' backgrounds before the meeting. Set up an informal chat, look through LinkedIn, or send personal messages ahead of time.
Deconstruct Hierarchy
A vision should inspire a team to "make it happen" by overcoming challenges and charging toward success. Don't worry about titles or who the boss is. To help the team be more imaginative and feel safe to share ideas, coach the senior participants to step off their soapboxes and listen more than they speak. Meetings often have different types of attendees.
Some feel like it is a break from the day-to-day.
Others may feel they are too busy to attend.
A few may feel like they have all the answers.
Everyone should adopt an explorer mindset and be open to the ideas, themes, and activities you will work on together.
Choose the Right Format
Each format will only work for some. Adapt your technique to fit the format.
In-person Teams
Print pdf activity templates and bring everyone a pen. If you cannot print or want to save paper, use a whiteboard or large chart paper to sketch the activity templates onto a large surface where everyone can add to the worksheet.
Hybrid Teams
The trick with hybrid is to level the playing field and ensure everyone is equipped with the same tools to contribute openly. A session is successful when everyone feels heard and can participate the same way as those in the room or on the phone. Conversely, a disengaging session occurs when one side of the conversation (usually the in-person group) dominates and has an advantage when sharing or receiving information (imagine an impromptu whiteboard moment that phone attendees cannot see).
Use the digital whiteboard links to access the collaborative templates. Using pens and markers, use Google images and other features to copy and paste photos to make activities more interactive and visual. Ask participants who plan to attend in person to bring their laptops so they can join the virtual whiteboard too. If that isn't possible, assign a scribe with a laptop to take notes for the in-person group.
Remote Teams
Use the digital whiteboard links to access the collaborative templates. Using pens and markers, use Google images and other features to copy and paste photos to make activities more interactive and visual.
Reflect on your Product Vision
Revisit your product vision throughout your project. Treat it like a team member and check in on it occasionally. Keep it alive and fresh in the minds of the people bringing it to life. Change it when you learn something new or the direction of the business changes.
Consider a regular strategic product review of your vision to ensure you stay aligned with your users' needs.
Have we learned anything new from our users that might impact the vision?
Are we using the vision to guide our project decisions and next steps?
What steps have we taken to turn our vision into reality?
Are our efforts paying off?
Do we need to pivot?
Do we have the right people and skills to carry out our vision?
Who can fill gaps or sponsor more resources?
What challenges or risks are we facing? Do we need to make any trade-offs?
Good luck on your journey to create a Meaningful Product Vision! Need help? You can always connect with us to learn more about our curated workshop for product design.
