Product vision or product strategy?

In this video, you will hear 5 product managers give their definitions of a product vision and discuss the differences between a product vision and a strategy.

Vision or strategy?

Though they might seem similar at first, a product vision is not the same thing as a strategy. In fact, they are completely different.

A product vision is short, punchy, and aspirational – it is a statement of your ideal final destination or goal.

A product strategy is a much more detailed plan that describes how you will actually reach that goal. It should cover how you will get there, your users, the needs you are meeting, the value of your product and things that make it stand out. It might include the relative importance of different aspects of your service, set out the context you’re working in, and some decision-making principles.

You can learn more about this in the article ‘Vision vs Strategy’ by Marty Cagan, who we met earlier.

Used together, a clear product vision and a realistic product strategy will help you to prioritise your tasks and build a roadmap or backlog. You will become very familiar with these terms when working either as or with a product manager. We will cover them in more detail in Week 3, but we will briefly introduce them now.

Roadmaps, delivery plans and backlogs

A roadmap is a constantly evolving, high-level visual summary of the product that shows stakeholders how you’re working to create value for users through the product lifecycle.

A roadmap shows intent, not commitment, and it will always change. One of the Mind the Product conference founders, Janna Bastow, describes a roadmap as ‘a prototype for your product strategy.’ Janna also created the concept of the Now-Next-Later roadmap as a more flexible alternative to a timeline, which may focus more on specific deadlines and limit the agility of your team.

Timelines and deadlines are important, especially as part of your delivery plan. Roadmaps and delivery plans are very different tools, but both are essential for product teams. A roadmap focuses on outcomes or goals, whereas a delivery plan focuses on deadlines – you can think of the difference as the roadmap showing a destination and the delivery plan being the route.

A roadmap should not simply list features or track your project. It is a communication tool that demonstrates the milestones and goals you intend the product to reach on the journey towards fulfilling the product vision. It shows what is happening Now (the thing currently being worked on); Next (next on the list); and Later (longer term plans).

Your roadmap is a living document, which means that it is constantly being revised and updated. It should be socialised, or shared, with all members of the team and your various stakeholders, so that everyone knows what’s going on at all times.

A backlog is a list of tasks – essentially a to-do list, normally prioritised by a product manager. It contains user stories, epics and various operational tasks that the team use to define and manage their work.

A roadmap is strategic, long-term, and shows the big picture of the objectives and direction of the product. The backlog is tactical, short-term, and detailed, focusing on the specifics of implementation.

Roadmaps and backlogs are essential tools used for specific purposes, so it is important to keep them distinct. If the roadmap focuses too much on detail, it can be difficult to clearly communicate the high-level strategy. In the same way, if the backlog is too long-term, your team might be overwhelmed by how much there is to do and be unable to focus on their short-term priorities.

As a product manager, it is your responsibility to effectively manage both of these tools. Doing so will keep your team focused on the most urgent and relevant tasks and clearly communicate the overall strategy of your product to your external stakeholders.