Creating a Vision and Strategy
A vision without a strategy is just a dream. A strategy without a vision is mere drudgery. But a vision with a strategy? That’s the magic potion for success.
Imagine embarking on an adventurous sea trip. Your ship is top-notch, the crew is enthusiastic, and the winds are in your favor. Yet, without a map, there’s a good chance you might end up on some deserted island, becoming best friends with a volleyball named Wilson. In product, your vision and strategy is that map. It helps you sail smoothly, avoid storms, and, most importantly, reach the destination.
Remember this: A vision without a strategy is just a dream. A strategy without a vision is a mere chore. But a vision with a strategy? That’s the magic potion for success.
Think of every iconic product out there. The iPhone didn’t just happen. Spotify wasn’t a stroke of luck. They began as visions, as dreams in someone’s mind. Those dreams then transformed into strategies, which further refined into action plans.
Vision Statement: Dreaming Big, But Not Too Vague
A vision statement is the north star for your product. While a vision is intended to be aspirational, it’s not a wild dream. Instead, it’s a mix of understanding the market, your users’ desires, and your company’s DNA.
Imagine the long-term journey of your product and think of the impact it might have in 5, 10, or even 15 years. how it can change lives and maybe even parts of the world.
Your vision should shine with positivity, instead of just fixing problems, aim to light up the possibilities. Words are powerful. For example, instead of “Eliminating digital illiteracy,” go for “Empowering everyone with digital expertise.” Let your vision paint a clear picture. It should be so vivid that anyone who hears it can almost see that a brighter future unfolds before their eyes.
Instead of “Eliminating digital illiteracy,” go for “Empowering everyone with digital prowess.”
After creating your vision, share it. Get feedback from colleagues or friends. Sometimes, a fresh set of eyes can add just the right touch to make your vision truly shine.
Let your vision paint a clear picture. It should be so vivid that anyone who hears it can almost see that a brighter future unfolds before their eyes.
After crafting your vision, share it. Get feedback from colleagues or friends. Sometimes, a fresh set of eyes can add just the right touch to make your vision truly shine.
How to get started with your product’s vision
The post-it exercise
Get your team together and hand out post-it notes. Ask each member to write down what they envision for the product in the future. Stick these on a wall, look for common themes, and start creating your vision from these collective aspirations.
The “why” ladder
Ask “why?” five times in succession to go deeper into the core purpose of your product. Each answer should lead you further down the rabbit hole, helping you find the true essence of your product’s existence.
Vision mad libs
Use a fill-in-the-blank approach.
For example: “In [X years], we envision a world where [specific outcome] because [reason/cause].”
Templates
Template 1: “[Product/Company] envisions a world where [specific outcome], empowering [specific group] to [specific action].”
Template 2: “Our dream is a [specific landscape] where [specific action/outcome], driven by [product’s key feature/quality].”
Template 3: “By [X year], [Product/Company] aims to [specific transformation], making [specific benefit] accessible to all.”
Mission statement: How to reach the vision
If a single word were to capture your product’s soul, what would it be?
When it comes to the mission statement, it’s the day-to-day nature of what you’re aiming to achieve, aligning your product’s direction and purpose. Think of it as the route you’ve planned on your GPS, guiding you to the end destination — your vision.
Start by asking yourself, “What do we do every single day that gets us closer to our vision?” Is it creating a great user experience? Is it innovating constantly? Or is it building connections within a community?
Your mission should include the core functionalities and values of your product. While the vision paints a picture of the future, the mission gives direction and color to your daily activities.
A powerful way to frame the mission is by pinpointing the essence of your product. If a single word were to capture your product’s soul, what would it be? For a social networking app, maybe it’s “connectivity.” Go deeper into that essence. If connectivity is the heart, how does your app ensure it beats? Perhaps, it’s by creating digital spaces where interactions are as warm as sharing a cup of tea in person.
During this process, however, it’s tempting to clog your mission statement with buzzwords, but authenticity is what makes your mission statement effective. Let’s consider an app that’s a bridge between local farmers and cityscapes. The mission should focus on the authentic journey: “We’re drawing the urban and rural worlds closer, one tech-powered handshake at a time.”
If you ever find yourself blocked in indecision, use the 5-whys method. Ask yourself why your product exists. Then ask ‘why’ again to your answer, and repeat until you’ve asked ‘why’ five times. This process helps you drill down to the very core of your product’s existence and can illuminate your mission.
For example:
Why are we building this fitness app? To help people exercise.
Why? To improve their health.
Why? So they can live longer and feel better.
Why? Because everyone deserves to enjoy a quality life.
Why? Because life’s moments are precious and should be maximized.
From this, a mission might emerge:
“Maximizing life’s moments by fostering better health through exercise.”
Template for a Mission Statement:
“We [what your product does] by [how it does it] to [benefit for users/customers].”
Remember, while a vision is your ‘why’, the mission is your ‘how’. Both should be in harmony, singing a tune that everyone involved in the product — be it your team or your customers — can hum along to.
Setting goals & targets
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Your goals should be in sync with your vision, mission, and strategy.
Start with your vision. Every aspect of that vision can create several goals. For example, if your vision is to “Empower every artist to monetize their art,” a goal could be, “Enable 1000 artists to make their first sale on our platform in the next year.”
Then ground yourself with your mission. While your vision is your dream, your mission is your day-to-day reality. It’s what you’re doing now to reach that vision. Reflect on your mission’s key elements. Suppose it’s “offering artists the most intuitive tools to showcase their art.” In that case, a possible goal might be, “Introduce three new tool features based on user feedback in the next quarter.”
Template: “[Action] + [Specific feature/tool or improvement] + [Tangible benefit or result].”
Example: “Develop a drag-and-drop tool feature, ensuring artists can set up their portfolio in under 10 minutes.”
Strategies & Tactics: The Game Plan & Playbook
Think of strategies as the broad themes of your narrative. They set the direction and tone for your product. Strategies are informed directly by your vision, mission, and goals.
To create your strategy, imagine narrating a story. Begin by thinking of the ending — where your vision sets the scene. So, if your vision is to “Empower every artist to monetize their art,” your strategy might involve creating an online marketplace, collaborating with galleries, or offering digital workshops.
A good strategy is like a brief, memorable story, so short and clear that you could even write it on a napkin: “Work with top online art sites” or “Open an impressive shop for artists.”
Once you have these big ideas in place, it’s time to go deeper with tactics. Think of tactics as the step-by-step actions for your strategies.
An easy template to frame your tactics could be: “To support our strategy of [Big Idea], we’ll do [specific action] targeting [specific group of people] by [a certain date].”
For example, “To back our plan of joining hands with online art platforms, we aim to connect with sites like DeviantArt by the end of the year.”
A helpful exercise is to put potential tactics on sticky notes. As you place them and shuffle around, you’ll begin to identify what’s urgent, what aligns well, and what might need reconsideration.
But remember, while your vision and mission serve as guiding stars, strategies and tactics should have some flexibility. Getting feedback and staying informed will often lead to changes in your approach. The end goal is to have strategies that provide direction and tactics that fuel your forward motion, giving shape to your product’s journey.
Metrics/KPIs: The Scoreboard of Your Game
Metrics and KPIs are the scoreboard of your product’s journey. They give you clarity on where you stand concerning your goals.
Now, before diving into the numbers, pause to think. Why are you measuring? Say, if you’re all about changing online education and are focusing on interactive lessons, it makes sense to see how many students are completing your courses. It tells you if they find them engaging.
So, the “why” leads you to the “what” — in this case, the “Course Completion Rate.”
It’s also about perspective. A goal like reaching 1 million users sounds impressive but the depth lies in understanding the “why” behind this number. If building a big community is the goal, explore metrics like “Active Community Discussions” or “User Posts,” alongside “New Sign-Ups.” It’s all about ensuring that the numbers you track adds meaningful value and isn’t just for show.
Remember to set metrics that are clear, pertinent, and bounded by time, similar to the SMART criteria you’d apply when setting goals. For example, if “Monthly Active Users” is your metric, it should tie back to your overarching strategy, and it’s crucial to keep the monitoring consistent, say, monthly.
However, don’t get distracted by vanity numbers. Loads of website visits sounds great at a party but doesn’t add much value if it doesn’t lead to meaningful user actions, like registrations or sales.
To make sense of all this, try the Metric Matrix method. Sketch out four areas on paper — Relevance, Ease of Measurement, Impact, and Timeliness. Place your potential metrics within these spaces. It’s a good way to visualize what truly matters against what’s secondary.
Linking it all together
Before laying the first brick, architects sketch a blueprint. Your product vision, mission, and goals form that blueprint. Whether you’re doodling on a napkin or making a mind-map on your tablet, a visual representation can serve as a quick reference, aligning your thoughts.
Start with your vision in the center, branch out to missions, which further branches out to goals, strategies, and tactics. You’ll soon have a mind-map that shows the flow and connection of each element.
Now, while it’s tempting to dive straight into the end, remember the importance of taking one step at a time! Prioritize strategies that can be achieved in the short term but have a significant impact on your long-term goals. Rank strategies by ease of implementation and potential impact. Start with those that are easy to implement but have a high impact.
Once you’ve decided on a strategy, get into the details. Every strategy needs actionable steps. Break them down into smaller tasks. The more granular, the better! For example, if your strategy involves “improving user experience,” break it down to specifics like “redesign checkout flow” or “reduce app load time.”
With your plan in hand, it’s time to match tasks to timelines. Think about when you want to start each task and when you hope to finish. Digital organizers like Trello or Asana can help keep track of what’s up next and what’s already done, making sure everyone knows their roles.
However, all said and done, be prepared for surprises. If a certain path seems blocked, find another. It’s okay to reevaluate and adjust. Collect often, reflect on what’s working and what’s not. After all, the journey to success is all about navigating, adjusting, and moving forward with new energy. By the end of it all, you will have a clear and actionable path to your vision.
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