Not all product visions need to be similar to that of building a ‘metaverse’.
An approach to set product vision
Today’s post is not about infrequent products; rather, it’s related to general product management. Here are my musings on creating a good product vision:
I rarely come across a good product vision; it is also hard to set a good product vision. This blog will give you an insight on how to create an effective and inspiring product vision.
The most spoken-about characteristic of a vision is that it is long-term and aspirational, and provides a sense of direction. True. However, why should it always be long-term? Why should it always be aspirational? Imagine leading a life in which you are continuously pursuing an aspirational future in which the goal post keeps moving farther away, as you proceed towards it. It will be exhausting to chase a moving goal post. I propose a different approach to creating a product vision – one that should be time-bound, measurable, and based on the risk-taking capacity of the company or product at that point in time.
A good vision can be related to the extension, expansion, or exploration of your product. You should choose your product vision based on the business context, time, and resources available.
'Extension' is making the next best version of your product. Extension-based visions are short-term (attainable within two years or so) and realistic. Everyone can easily understand and appreciate the nuts and bolts of this type of vision. Trip Advisors’ vision of 'Trip Planning' was an extension of its existing marketplace model.
'Expansion' is broadening operations into an adjacent area, driven by a compelling foresight of success. This type of vision is medium-term (attainable in five years or so), and can be easily visualized. However, the future of such a vision is moderately uncertain. Asana’s vision of enabling their clients to organize their work better, so as to improve their personnel’s productivity, is related to expansion.
'Exploration' is moving and creating an unknown. It is an attempt of betting on a future that doesn't exist, with a lot of open questions. The best analogy for exploration is that of navigating using a compass; you know that you are headed in a certain direction, but you don’t know the exact destination. Exploratory visions are long-term and cannot be easily understood by all people. It takes energy, effort, and coalition to achieve such a vision. The attainment of the vision is highly uncertain. Facebook’s vision of building a metaverse is an example of an exploratory vision.
In simple terms – extension is something that is plausible; expansion is related to probability, while exploration is related to possibility.
How to decide on what type of vision to choose?
As mentioned before, you must decide whether you want your vision to be related to extension, expansion, or exploration, based on the time available, resources available, and business context.
Exploratory visions are tiring to achieve and take a lot of effort. They are for dreamers who are aspiring to develop something new or reinvent the world. Exploration is a game of resilience. So, pursue it only if you have the time, energy, and resource to back you up. Exploratory vision is usually how a product comes to life when a founder imagines the possibility of changing the world for the better.
Extension-based visions could be taken up after the achievement of an exploratory vision. Pursuance of an extension-based vision can provide a breathing space after a long run of exploration. It is best suited when the team is drained after years of pursuing an exploratory vision. Extension is a game of optimization and organization. You may choose to pursue an extension-based vision when you have tailwinds playing against you. I have described some major tailwind factors in the coming lines.
You can take up an expansion-based vision if you have been on an extension mode for quite some time and now require a step change. Expansion-based visions help you to break away from incremental thinking and progress towards the next big leap. Expansion is also a readying phase that prepares your organization for an exploration phase, once you have moved on from an extension phase.
As you can see, not all visions are equal and they shouldn't be too. The factors that determine the formulation of a vision are:
Tailwind factors:
Product assets: LinkedIn stores the career-related data of most working individuals. These are its product assets. It could leverage these assets to pursue a vision related to economic graph, as it is well-placed to do so.
Product capabilities: Quora has the capability to create user-generated content. It could leverage this capability to pursue a vision related to knowledge graph, as it is well-placed to do so.
Tech trends: What are the megatrends that are shaping the future? Which of these megatrends could benefit your product?
Headwind factors:
Technological capacity: How capable is your tech stack? Do you have escape velocity to move against your tech legacy?
Time, capital, and patience: How much time do you have? How much capital can you deploy? Do you have best-in-class resources? What level of patience does your product org have?
Risk-taking ability: Have you been taking product risks (not business risks) consistently? Does your product org have the muscle to manage risks?
Guardrails and quick tests
When formulating a vision, it is important to adhere to some basic guardrails to ensure that you are on the right path.
Guardrail #1 – The vision must be customer-focused: This is a no-brainer and yet I come across visions that are very company-focused. For instance, the product vision of a business may be, ‘we will win or lead in a particular market’. Mapping customer outcome as the end-state of your product is a great way to set your vision. Rajesh Nerlikar and Ben Foster are doing a great job in imparting vision-led product management through Prodify. It is more inspiring and compelling when you focus on customer benefits as opposed to that of your business.
Guardrail #2 – There must be clarity around business outcomes and vision should be within the bounds of company direction: The vision, while being customer-focused, must have clarity around the ‘so what’ for the business. It is also important to check if the product vision is aligned with the company’s long-term direction.
Guardrail #3 – The vision must be specific and measurable: Most vision statements are abstract and hard to measure. The problem with an abstract vision is that it is subject to various interpretations. It is also hard to measure. In contrast, when a vision can be articulated in a way that is specific and measurable, it becomes timeless. The vision of TurboTax is, ‘Taxes are done’, and not, ‘to do taxes’. So, TurboTax wants to create a future wherein the taxes are already done for its customers. It aims to achieve its vision by reducing its customers’ current time spent on doing taxes from four hours to just 15 mins.
After setting a vision by adhering to the guardrail guidelines given above, you can run the following tests to ensure that your vision is strong.
Quick test#1 – Vision creates a strategic moat: The vision must provide a distinctive advantage over competition and build an asset or capability that acts as a strategic moat.
Quick test#2 – Passes the inspire test: The vision should pass the inspire test with the newest junior product persons (must be simple enough for someone to understand even if they are new to the organization) and the oldest engineering folks in the block (to check the extent of feasibility).
Quick test #3 – Passes the visualization test: When the vision is stated orally, the listener must be able to visualize it; if not, it needs to be refined further. Further, all employees and stakeholders must have a similar mental model around the vision.
Who should create the vision?
Creating a vision is an acquired skill that one needs to build right from the junior level of being a product person. The reason for the prevalence of poor, uninspiring product visions is that this is not something one can do fluently as soon as they reach the echelons in the organizational hierarchy. Therefore, I recommend product persons to create visions for their respective features or products right from the early stage of their careers.
Make the vision inclusive
If the product is operating in multiple markets, the vision should be inclusive in the sense that it must be applicable to all the markets.
Similarly, if you are operating in a multi-sided marketplace, endeavor to make the vision inclusive for all stakeholders.
In summary, choose the type of your vision wisely – it could be related to extension, expansion, or exploration, based on your needs and resources. Start creating visions irrespective of how junior you are, as it is a muscle to be built over a period of time.