How can a product manager set a clear vision for their product?

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As a product manager, you are responsible for setting the vision for your product and ensuring that it is executed successfully. A clear product vision is essential for aligning your team and stakeholders, and it should be the foundation of your product strategy. Here are some key components of a strong product vision.?

1. A clear understanding of your users and their needs: Before you can establish a clear vision for your product, you must first gain a deep understanding of who will be using it. This involves conducting user research, such as interviews, surveys and usability tests. Through this research, you will be able to identify user pain points and unmet needs. This understanding is critical for setting a vision that is user-centric and focused on solving real problems.

“We develop products for clients and customers, so product managers have to talk to customers to know how they can improve the product. They learn what is helpful for users, what is not working and what can be improved.”

— Priyank Ahuja is a product lead at Accenture and holds over 14 years of experience in product management. He earned his MBA from the Indian School of Business.?

2. A defined target market: Once you understand your users, you can start to define your target market. This is the group of users that you believe will benefit most from your product. When defining your target market, it's important to consider factors like demographics, psychographics and buying behavior. This will help you create a more specific vision for your product.

3. A unique value proposition: Your product's unique value proposition (UVP) is the key differentiator that sets it apart from other products in the market. It should be clear, concise and compelling, and it should convey your product’s unmatched value to your target audience.?

4. A long-term roadmap: Product managers often create roadmaps to help teams stay aligned with the vision and goals established for a product from the start. This should include key milestones and deliverables. An ideal roadmap should also be flexible enough to evolve alongside your product.?

“The key to creating alignment on the next set of roadmap items is to align on a clear strategy, which details: a) who is our customer? b) what problems do they have? c) which ones are we best suited to solve? Why? d) which solutions are promising? Why? e) how should we prioritize?”

— Julie Zhuo is the co-founder of data analytics company Sundial. She was previously the VP of product design at Facebook for four years, and holds over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. She earned her master’s in computer science from Stanford University.?

Explore more

• Product Management Tips : A LinkedIn Learning course by Cole Mercer
• Product Management Guide: How to develop a Product Vision? by Robbin Schuurman for The Value Maximizers
• How to Create a Meaningful Product Vision by Shauna Ward for MURAL

How this article was made: This article is a beta test. It was created by having an AI generate an initial answer to a question. The response was then fact checked, corrected, and amended by editor Felicia Hou . Any errors or additions? Please let us know in the comments.