Clear Vision for Roadmaps

Part 7 - Successful Roadmaps Series

Product Vision sets the context stated as a mission, vision, or purpose. The Product Vision is like a lighthouse on a foggy night, guiding you towards success. But how do you actually achieve that vision? Enter roadmaps! Let's explore the importance of having a product vision and how roadmaps can help achieve it.

A product vision is like being on a treasure hunt. You have a map that shows you where to dig for gold, but without proper planning and execution, you might end up with a handful of rocks instead. That's where roadmaps come in handy! They provide the steps needed to turn your vision into reality.

Creating a vision statement can be compared to building sandcastles at the beach. You start with an idea of what you want to build, but without proper planning and materials, your castle might crumble before it even takes shape. Roadmaps are like shovels and buckets; they provide the tools needed for successful product development.

Building a vision statement is like planting seeds in a garden. You have an idea of what you want to grow, but without proper care and attention, your plants may not thrive as expected. Roadmaps are like watering cans; they provide the necessary resources needed for successful growth.

Tips for Building a Vision Statement

1. Make it bold and innovative. Move beyond what is expected to create en excitement for a brighter future. If the vision isn’t inspiring, the team won’t be inspired either.

2. Make your vision clear. Take out the buzzwords and acronyms. Keep it direct and to the point in a meaningful way. Clearly state “this is what we need.” It’s easy to just let a stakeholder or business colleague tell you they can’t create a vision because you haven’t developed anything yet. That’s putting the horse before the cart and a cop out. Rebuilding over and over is expensive, but using modeling tools for prototyping can be helpful in designing a vision more quickly.

3. Walk me through it. Walk stakeholders and business colleagues through the process. How will it feel? What steps are involved? What happens when things go wrong? You should not be reliant on your software or cloud solution to give you this direction. It’s your product not theirs.

4. Know your customers well. Customer pay your salary and keep the lights on so keeping them in the fore front is the best approach. When customer are diverging into an unexpected direction, you will ne able to know by keeping in close contact. It is very easy to just ignore customers to focus on the fire fighting for the day, but that will leave you out of the loop and flat footed when a tectonic market change occurs.

5. Develop a broad vision. Internal and external people each have a unique perspective of your product. They all use it differently. Going more broadly across the organization allows you to see you product from a 360 degree perspective that will give you a more complete understanding of the expectations and needs of the product.

6. Use a value statement. Value statements are short one paragraph less than 200 words on why your product exists (its purpose), the customers it serves, and expectations of the product. We will talk more about creating a value statement in a future article in this series.

In conclusion, having a clear product vision is crucial for successful development within any organization.