Product Vision, Strategy & Roadmap - What Are the Differences?
The product vision, strategy and roadmap are the key elements of every product release. Through them, it is possible to define the product aims, plan a way to achieve them, present your target and keep your stakeholders and clients on board. These three concepts are linked together like elements of a machine – each of them has a different purpose and use, but they are only truly effective when combined. In this article, we will focus on the differences between the product vision, strategy and roadmap and explain how you should use them to plan your product development effectively.
Table of contents
What is product vision?
The product vision is the long-term aim of your product. It should not be purely financial or measurable – the purpose of a product vision is to establish an inspirational goal focused on user experience. It is not supposed to answer questions such as, ‘How will my app sell,’ but rather, ‘How will my app change the lives of its users?’
Starting app development requires a product vision statement. Only then will you be able to follow up with a product strategy and roadmap. Yet, the product vision also needs to be flexible. With the development of your application and the implementation of product strategies, the vision might change. In such cases, you will need to redefine your product vision and adjust your tactics to match the new goal.
What is Boldare’s take on product vision? Our experience has taught us a valuable lesson: when embarking on a digital product development project, our focus is not solely on the product itself. Instead, we prioritize discussing the product vision. Why? Well, before diving into the exciting creation phase, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of what we’re building and the reasons behind it. This enables us to establish a shared product development strategy and proceed with confidence in crafting the actual product.
What is product strategy?
Product strategy revolves around product vision. It is the road to it. You can outline your product strategy by answering several questions, as suggested by Edward B. Roberts and Marc H. Meyer:
- What are the basic needs or user functions that the product will satisfy?
- What are the groups of customers that share these needs or functional requirements and to whom the product will be sold?
- What technology will be used to build the product, and what is the source of that technology?
- What distribution mechanisms will be employed to bring the successfully developed product to the marketplace?’
These questions underline the fact that product strategy does not only refer to product development, but also to aspects such as marketing and sales. Bear in mind that product strategy is more than just providing these answers. It is setting up tactics and milestones based on these questions with the purpose of reaching the level determined by the product vision.
Measuring the execution of a product strategy can be done through various metrics and indicators. KPIs and OKRs are good tools to start and easy to adopt and we often suggest them to our clients. You can read about them in one of our other articles: KPIs vs. OKRs - choose your approach for measuring success in your business.
What is a product roadmap?
A product roadmap is a visual representation of the product strategy and vision. It should contain the goals for the product, describe the strategy in detail, and provide guidelines for executing the strategy with periodic milestones. The information should be both business-related, and technical. A product roadmap is best summarized as answering the questions: What are you building and why?
A product roadmap is usually represented as a chart, graph, table or a literal map of steps in the strategy. Depending on the role of the product roadmap, it might be created in different formats and focus on various information. Your product roadmaps should be created with the recipient in mind – a roadmap for stakeholders would need to contain more business information, while a roadmap for your product users should address customer needs and thus new features.
Product vision, roadmap and strategy - all at once?
At Boldare we realize how important it is to combine these three concepts to plan a successful product. Yet, we know that it can be overwhelming. Especially if the new product or feature is crucial for the business and stakeholders are putting pressure on the development process, expecting rapid ROI. That’s understandable, but at the same time we know that starting a long adventure without a plan can cause more trouble than fun.
That’s why we have created roles exclusively focused on ensuring that new products will achieve their business goals:
- the New Product Guide
- and Product Strategist.
Product vision vs. strategy vs. roadmap – what is the difference?
There are several clear differences between the product vision, strategy and roadmap. They are used together yet for different purposes. Let’s look at a detailed comparison.
Why are the product vision, strategy and roadmap so important?
Imagine going on an international road trip with your friends. You would need to plan your final destination, your hotel stops and encourage your companions to go with you by showing them your plan. You would not be able to complete such a journey if any of these elements was missing.
Product development is such a road trip. It requires an aim – the product vision. It cannot achieve that aim without planning the route – the product strategy. Finally, it needs to get stakeholders and product users on board – the roadmap. If any of these elements is missing, the whole project might simply fail.
Final thoughts
The product vision, strategy and roadmap are the crucial elements of product development. Each of them serves a different purpose, yet all three of them need to be implemented in order to achieve the best results. Initially, you should come up with a product vision – it will define the product strategy, which later will be presented in the form of a roadmap.
Sources:
https://airfocus.com/glossary/what-is-product-vision/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4lHDAJhqdI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJpxA-NFgK8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPwRprJNt8E
Robert, Edward & Meyer, Marc & Management, Sloan. (1991). Product strategy and corporate success. 19.
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