The Product Vision

The product vision is a really strategic means that clarify to the team why they are working, what they are working on and what key constraints they must work within. The vision is often detailed in a “Project Charter” document. As an advice to get an “effective” charter, write it down with the whole team in a collaborative workshop with the project sponsor and product owner present. If the team members who will work on the product are not in the office, let’s get them together for the workshop in order to create a “one team” culture (it’ll be good also as a team building exercise). If we get someone onboard after the vision has been created, let’s provide him/her a complete “training” using the project charter as a guide to help him/her understand the drivers behind the work being undertaken. Typical contents of the project charter include: Problem/opportunity description Why should we deliver this project? What’s the value for our organization? How does the project align with the organization’s strategic goals? What are we trying to deliver? – let’s provide a high level solution description Key features of the product that we’re going to deliver Assumptions – where appropriate – and constraints Scope – what’s included and above all what’s excluded from our responsibility? Key timelines to deliver Budget and cost-benefit analysis Subordinated and/or related projects – let’s provide the key milestones of our project for alignment with those projects Risks with mitigation actions – where appropriate There are some techniques that can be used to organize the “collaborative workshop” that will produce the product vision. A few are listed below: