How to Write a Product Vision Statement
Learn to write a great statement that is clear, concise, and aspirational
A product vision is a concise statement that describes the product’s purpose, direction, and long-term goals. It acts like a principle that helps the product team stay focused on the most important things and make decisions that will lead to success.
By the end of this article, you’ll be able to -
Understand why is a product vision important
Tips to write your product’s vision
Common mistakes to avoid
Draft a clear vision statement with 2 practical templates
The product vision should be drafted as early as possible in the product development process, usually after the market analysis so that you know which problems are worth solving.
It is important to have a clear vision for the product before you start working on any specific features or functionality. Here are some reasons why it is important to draft the product vision:
It helps to align the team and stakeholders around a common goal.
It provides a framework for making decisions about the product.
It helps to communicate the value of the product to customers and potential investors.
A good product vision should be something that the product team can rally behind and that will motivate them to do their best work. It should be -
Clear, concise, and inspiring
Realistic and achievable
Ambitious and aspirational
Here are some tips for creating a good product vision:
Who are you building your product for? What are their needs and wants? What are their pain points? Once you understand your target customer, you can start to think about how your product can solve their problems and meet their needs.
What will the world look like in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? How will technology change? How will customer needs and wants change? Your product vision should be aspirational and should think about the future.
Product visions of some top companies:
Amazon: "To be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices."
Netflix: "To become the best global entertainment distribution service, licensing entertainment content around the world and creating a market where content creators can find a global audience."
Google: "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
Do not rush into drafting the vision without a clear understanding of the problem you are trying to solve. If you don't know what problem your product is addressing, then how can you hope to create a solution that is valuable to customers?
Another common mistake is to make the product vision too vague or abstract. A good product vision should be specific and actionable. It should be something that the product team can use to make decisions about the product and to communicate the value of the product to customers and stakeholders.
It's also important to be realistic with your product vision. If you set your sights too high, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. It's better to start with a smaller, more achievable vision that you can build on over time.
Focus on the customer. Your product vision should be about the customer's needs and wants, not about your own goals or ambitions. The best product visions are ones that are customer-centric and that are designed to solve real-world problems.
It’s a good idea to follow a product vision template to understand the goals you are trying to set for yourself and your team. Here are two sample templates I like to go by -
Template 1:
This product is for______ [who] who need ______ [problem].
This product will ____ [list the feature highlights/benefits],
Compared to today where ____ [current state]
Template 2:
This product is for [target customer]
Who _____ [statement of need or opportunity].
This product is a ____ [product category] that provides____ [key benefit/reason to buy].
It will ____[feature], and ____ [ how users get benefitted].
Start by thinking about the problem that you are trying to solve. What is the customer need that your product is addressing?
Once you understand the problem, think about the ideal solution. What would be the perfect product to solve this problem?
Now, try to distill your ideal solution into a concise statement. This is your product vision.
Make sure your statement communicates the unique value proposition of your product. Alright, that’s it for now. Take care!