

This could be a mission statement, tenets, or principles. In our free book Product Roadmaps, we quote Airbnb’s director of product management, Ian McAllister, explaining why having a product vision is so important: “Clearly explain why your product exists and your approach to running it.

With a shared vision, everyone always has a true north to refer back to, which can help remind them of why they’re doing what they’re doing. This can help align the various groups and departments across your company that will be working on your product. It will help you align teams and stakeholders across the company.įinally, a product vision statement can also add value by making it easier for your team to clearly articulate the high-level goal driving your product’s development. Think of your product vision statement as a compass that you can consult whenever your team is faced with conflicting priorities or lack of direction. It improves your strategic decision-making throughout the development process.Īnother reason a product vision can aid in your development is that it can help you more quickly and easily identify initiatives worth pursuing. Then, you can translate that roadmap’s strategic overview into a tactical development plan.ĭrafting a vision statement should be your team’s first step in starting any new product’s journey-and it always should come before you begin working on the product roadmap. In other words, you begin with a high-level vision statement, then translate that vision into a strategic guide and action plan-the product roadmap.

It helps you develop a better product roadmap.Ĭreating a vision allows your team to take a top-down approach to your product’s development. How would that product team know where to focus its resources, which features to prioritize, which markets to target? On what strategic basis would they make decisions and set priorities? 1. To understand the importance of having a vision statement, consider how difficult it would be to develop a strategically sound product without one. As an example, Google’s vision statement is to “provide access to the world’s information in one click.” Why is Product Vision Important? Your vision statement should also answer the question of why you are creating a product and what your company hopes to accomplish with it in the future. The statement should serve as a guide and reminder to all stakeholders involved in a product’s development (the product team, development, the executive staff, marketing, etc.) about the shared objective they’re trying to achieve with this product. Vision statements are aspirational and communicate concisely where the product hopes to go and what it hopes to achieve in the long term. A product vision, or product vision statement, describes the overarching long-term mission of your product.
