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What is a product vision, and why does it matter?

A product vision defines the shared direction and purpose for a team, aligning efforts and ensuring everyone understands the goals and their role in achieving them.

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The essence of a Product is ‘The Vision’

“What is a product vision and why does it matter?”  🌟

This is a question I’ve been asked countless times.  And as with many important questions, the answer is both simple and intricate.

Let me share my perspective.

Journey Without a Destination

Allow me to set the scene for a moment.  Imagine gathering a bunch of people, all set to embark on a mission, all prepped and excited, but here’s the twist: no one knows the destination.

Sounds chaotic, right?

This scenario isn’t just limited to casual meet-ups.  Even in a business setting, you’re in for chaos if there’s no vision for your product.  Whether it’s something as casual as a pub crawl or as monumental as shaping a new business product, the lack of a clear vision often leads to disorder.

Simply put, if there’s no vision, there’s no shared understanding of where we’re headed.

Chaos of Multiple Directions

There are consequences of having no Direction, as you could imagine.

Without a vision, individuals will naturally follow their own paths.  Their expertise and skills, as valuable as they may be, could potentially move in directions opposite to what you envisioned.

This misalignment isn’t just unproductive.  It can be counterproductive and antagonistic to your goals.

Defining a Successful Product Vision

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all blueprint for a product vision.  🌐 

A product vision is not just a fancy statement or a goal.

I believe a successful product vision resonates when everyone involved with the product clearly comprehends the direction, understands the ‘why,’ and recognises how their daily contributions fuel the collective journey toward success.  💡 

Why Do We Need a Product Vision?

Why is a product vision non-negotiable?

 A product vision isn’t just about direction; it’s about alignment, cohesion, and purpose.  It’s about ensuring everyone on board knows the destination and sees their role in getting there.  It’s the anchor that keeps all efforts grounded and purposeful.

It’s the heartbeat that keeps the product alive and thriving.

For those wanting a deep dive into building and understanding effective product visions, I encourage you to check out our Agile and Scrum courses.

Let’s embark on this journey of discovery and alignment together.

That’s a great question. What is a product vision and why does it matter?

If you were getting together with a bunch of people and you were gonna go do something and nobody has any clue what it is you want to do, they have no clue where they’re going.

Why would you think they would all be able to organise together to go in the same direction?

Whether you’re organising a pub crawl or you’re organising your business around the product, if there’s no vision, there’s no understanding of everybody involved in where we’re going and why.

Then there’s no way for those people to focus their skills and knowledge and capability to help you move in that direction. Right?

They’re all going to come up with their own story of which direction they want to go and they’re going to leverage their skills, knowledge and expertise in going in that direction, and it might not be— it may be antagonistic to the direction that you want to take things.

So really, a product vision— I don’t think there’s any one thing that is a product vision, but I would define a successful product vision as everybody working on or with the product understands where we’re going, why and how the things that they’re doing every day contribute towards that overall success.

That’s a product vision and that’s why we need one.

Thanks for watching the video. If you enjoyed it, please like, follow and subscribe. I always reply to comments, and if you want to have a chat about this or anything else— agile, scrum or DevOps— then please book a coffee with me through Naked Agility.

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