What makes the product vision significant, and how does it connect to janitors?

I'm writing this article because I've noticed that in our busy daily routines, we frequently forget the reasons behind our actions and the significance they hold.

It's important for a product manager to motivate people at a certain point, prioritize tasks, and fight ambiguity. So I think it's super important for PMs to have a clear understanding of a company vision, and know how to define or redefine one, if needed.

When working on creating the product we must be clear about the reason why we're doing this, what is the ultimate reason for the product we're crafting.

For this, we have a product vision.

The vision serves to inspire everyone in the company and creates a shared purpose. With vision, you can align all the people towards a common goal.

Here are 3 important functions of the vision.

?? Prioritization and knowing who we are

First of all, it helps to prioritize the decisions and the company toward a common goal. It helps to make the right choice when making a decision. For example when there's a new idea or when a new market arises - you will always be able to contrast this new idea if it's not aligned with the vision. You can simply discard the idea or new opportunity that does not correspond to your company's vision.

?? Scalability

The robust vision is a tool, that can be used on a day-to-day basis and communicate and remind us what the product actually does.

Let's look at the example. When you think for example of an EdTech company Coursera, what comes to mind first? Probably, you'd say that it's online courses, and you can get a certificate for that for a relatively good price. When you actually look at Coursera's vision, you'll see:

We envision a world where anyone, anywhere has the power to transform their life through learning.

It's good because it's:

? ambitious

? dreamy

? scalable.

And it corresponds to a good price that you might thought of.

Alignment.

It helps to align people's micro-goals and motivate and inspire them.

There is a well-known story that President John F. Kennedy (JFK) visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1962 and encountered a janitor working there. In the story, JFK asked the janitor what his role was at NASA, and the janitor replied:

"I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

Not sure of its historical accuracy ??, but the story highlights perfectly the significance of a united and motivated workforce in pursuing a big vision, such as the monumental task of sending a human to the moon.

How to define a product vision?

Creating a shared and good product vision is not a simple task.

You'll need to gather many people in one room or a Zoom call to actually achieve a good product vision.

Understand your users, ofc.

Here are we going again about this.??

To create your product vision, first figure out who your users are and what they need from your product. Imagine different ways they'd use it and what issues they are dealing with. Once you really understand your users, creating features that solve their problems becomes much simpler.

Choose Important Features.

With a clear view of your customers, it's time to prioritize features. Decide which ones matter the most and ensure they're part of your product vision.

Define the Basics.

After sorting out crucial features, define the core functions of your product.

What makes it stand out? This clarity makes it easier to enhance existing features and add new ones.

Define UX and Visual identity.

Once you've locked in the core functionality, consider design and user experience. How should the product look? How do you want customers to interact with it? These details guide you in creating a polished product that meets customer expectations.

Set Long-Term Goals, aka it's not a sprint but a marathon. ??????

Lastly, establish the big goals for your product. What's the end game?

How will you measure success? Knowing these long-term objectives helps you stay on track while building and meeting customer demands.

Important to mention that tech companies should review their product vision every 3-5 years. For device-centric companies, the period could be longer, as it's harder to apply changes with the hardware involved.

Eventually, the vision dictates how to act and affects the strategy a great deal. But it's the other topic.

Hope you find this article useful, and here's a cat for you. ??