The Product Vision Sprint: 5 Days to a Tangible Product Vision
Update: Since the positive response to this article and the sprint format, we’ve launched Productvisionsprint.com which will be kept updated with the latest on the process, vision stories, sprint training & more.
80 to over 100 hours per week to “change the world” is what Elon Musk wrote in a 2018 tweet, referring to what was considered a standard working week at the time Tesla was ramping up production of its Model 3 sedans.
You’ve got to think….what was driving those employees to get out of bed each morning and slog out 15 hours a day, week after week? The pay? I’m sure it helped a bit. Fear of punishment? Doubtful. You see, tech-skilled workers (as with most non-routine jobs that demand creativity and problem-solving) are motivated by more than 20th-century carrot-and-stick incentives. As outlined by Dan Pink in his landmark book Drive, what really moves us are three core drives — autonomy, mastery and purpose.
In fact, in a 2021 report by ProductPlan, the #1 most cited hope for the new year was “Clearer Purpose”, superseding even a higher salary and larger PM team. This desire for purpose was also reflected in the biggest challenge for PMs — “Getting consensus on product direction”.
“At the high end of the labor market, people make decisions based on other things: whether they get to work with great people, grow their strengths, and accomplish something meaningful. Those are the differentiators.”
— Dan Pink, Atlassian interview
By painting a picture of a world that had transitioned to sustainable energy, Musk was giving his employees a unified sense of meaning, reinforcing what sits at the centre of providing purpose — a clear and compelling vision.
All top product leaders know the importance that vision plays in the success of a product. Often described as the ‘North Star’ or ‘flag in the sand’ from which strategy and tactics flow from and build towards, Product Vision keeps leadership in sync with the front-line who in turn look to the vision for motivation and decision-making.
Product guru Marty Cagan lays out some key guidelines for Product Vision including:
- The Product Vision should be done by the Head of Product, Founder or CEO — for the purposes of this article, we’ll refer to this as the Product Leader.
- The vision should “apply to as much of our organization as possible, until the point where this becomes meaningless.” — ie. it’s rarely a single product team.
- The vision should have a timeframe of 2–5 years out for software companies and 5–10 years for device companies.
“When done well, the product vision is one of our most effective recruiting tools, and it serves to motivate the people on your teams to come to work every day.”
— Marty Cagan, ‘Inspired’.
It’s super powerful. Well… it can be, as Cagan states — when done well. But, spoiler alert — it’s often not.
Product vision is broken
In our work at Hidden Innovation helping product teams boost their design practices and capabilities, we were noticing a recurring theme— Product Vision was often something overlooked and underrated, given far less little time and attention than it so clearly deserved, and with it, product teams were missing out on a tremendous opportunity.
Sometimes the Product Vision was something spoken by a visionary leader, but unseen. Sometimes it was seen, but in the form of an uninspiring canvas, board or statement. Or worse of all, sometimes there was just no Product Vision at all. Although not apparent until further down the track, cracks would often show in the form of misalignment, disengagement, employee turnover, lack of focus and clarity and inability to attract top talent.
In search of a better way, we began researching, scouring every resource we could get our hands on related to creating a compelling product vision that we could use to help our clients. What we quickly found was that although there appeared to be plenty of information on the theory behind what made for a strong product vision, there remained a gap between practice. We began to ask the question:
How could a Product Leader action that knowledge into an inspiring, directional and motivating Product Vision?
Since you’ve clicked on this article, we’re assuming that you may be a Product Leader (or perhaps, a PM aspiring to become one) seeking to find an answer to that very question.
What makes for a compelling product vision?
As Ken Blanchard and Jesse Lyn Stoner suggest in Full Steam Ahead!, there are two aspects in creating a compelling vision:
- Content: what the vision says.
- Process: how the vision is created, communicated and lived.
Both aspects are described as being equally important, which really resonated with us as we had seen first-hand the outcome of neglecting process, however on top of this we’ve added a third important aspect:
- Medium
Starting with Content, Process and Medium as our core pillars, we set out to compile a list of key must-have traits for what we believed made for a compelling product vision, based on our research and own experiences.
The content
- Paints a picture of a better place — the vision isn’t the product strategy, and shouldn’t be how you’re going to get there, rather it’s the impact that the product will have on the world in 3–5 years time.
- Experience focused — confusingly, the product vision shouldn’t be focused on the details of the product or tech, but rather the experience you wish to create for customers/users and how their lives will have improved having used your product.
- Research-based — for the vision to be realistic, it needs to be grounded in real-world insights about the customer, industry/market trends and business constraints.
- Tells a story— one that starts with a problem you are solving, and ends with the picture of a better place.
- Shared —as inspiring as visionary founders are, in the end, everyone on the team needs to share the vision for it to be effective.
The process
- Collaborative— the process for crafting the vision should not happen by the Product Leader alone, but rather should ensure that team members and key stakeholders feel ownership and inclusion in the process.
- Creative— the vision cannot be created in a 2-hour whiteboarding session, it should follow a creative process of divergent and convergent creative thinking and making.
- Tangible — the process should be hands-on, not passive.
The medium
- Visual — something highly visual that bridges barriers, can be shared around, displayed and connected with on an emotional level.
Despite discovering useful techniques and exercises and experimenting with workshop formats, templates and canvases, we weren’t finding a process that ticked all our must-haves whilst also taking into consideration the constraints on the product leader — primarily limited time to spend on crafting the vision, and access to key stakeholders. As product designers we saw this as a ripe opportunity, and framed as a design challenge we asked:
🤔 How might we empower product leaders with a fast, repeatable process for crafting a compelling product vision?
Enter, the Product Vision Sprint ⚡
At Hidden, the GV Design Sprint is a key tool in our product innovation arsenal. Although it is not a one-size-fits-all approach by any means, one cannot ignore the power of its collaborative, hands-on format. It really ticked our must-have boxes for Vision Process, and we felt it provided a great foundation.
Bringing together the core principles of the Design Sprint with our backgrounds across design, product innovation and filmmaking, we began working on a new format that we hoped would make tangible visioning accessible to all product leaders — not just the creatives and visionaries.
After exploration, testing and iteration, we arrived at the Product Vision Sprint — a 5-day period of workshopping, making and testing. Those familiar with popular product frameworks will recognise many of the activities in the sprint, including inspiration and pieces from the Design Sprint, Amazon’s Working Backwards, Value Proposition Design, Storytelling/filmmaking and Design Thinking.
We have also been heavily influenced by the works of Marty Cagan and Ken Blanchard.
So, what does it look like?
Like the GV Design Sprint, the power of the Product Vision Sprint is not just in its ability to reach a tangible output in a short timeframe, but in the experience of participating in the sprint itself — time-boxed periods of collaborating and ‘working alone’, designed to give each person in the room ownership over the final outcome in an environment that is a creative, fresh change to usual brainstorming session or Zoom meeting.
⚖️ The two-sided vision
The Vision Content that results at the end of the sprint is made up of two parts— the Stated Vision and the Tangible Vision (kudos to Kyle Murphy’s excellent Hudl case study from which we borrowed these terms).
The Stated Vision is a short statement that articulates the product’s purpose and the picture of a better future it hopes to help create. Although an important piece for aligning the key stakeholders, the vision statement by itself does not go far enough. Unfortunately, a vision statement is where many organisations end.
People are visual creatures that are moved by stories, which is where the Tangible Vision — a story-led visual representation of the Stated Vision — comes into its own. The choice of visual medium is entirely subjective, some ideas include comics, posters, film, animations. But in the case of the Product Vision Sprint, we have chosen the storyboard for its low barrier to entry/high emotional impact, inspired in part by Airbnb’s ‘Snow White’ story of how it hired a Pixar artist to help bring their vision to life.
By itself, the storyboard is a powerful storytelling tool, but it is also the perfect springboard for teams that wish to take their vision to the next level of fidelity, including vision videos and visiontypes.
Think of the stated vision as the elevator pitch for the vision — you want to be at the point where when an employee hears the stated vision, they immediately visualise the tangible vision.
Ok, now to the meaty stuff.
✏️ Prep (1–2 weeks pre-sprint)
Like any Sprint, the Product Vision Sprint requires adequate planning and preparation on the part of the Product Leader in order to ensure the best outcomes. Remember, for a vision to be grounded in reality it is absolutely critical that it be based on real-world insights — not assumptions.
2–3 weeks before the sprint commences, the Product Leader should start gathering relevant material that will play a role in shaping the vision and building empathy with customers:
- Company vision, mission and values: for larger multi-product companies these may exist. If that is the case, then the product vision must align with the broader company vision. Generally, for single-product organisations the product vision and the company vision are one and the same.
- Customer research artefacts, such as personas, quotes, and journey maps. Whatever they are they should be based on research, not assumptions.
- Research into any relevant market, industry and tech trends that may shape the vision in the next 3–5 years.
- Choose and schedule in the Core Leadership Group crucial for shaping and accepting the vision for the two half-day workshops on the Monday and Tuesday, and for testing on Thursday — normally in this group are the Founder/CEO, the Head of Technology, the Head of Design, and the Head of Marketing, as well as a few other key influencers.
- Take a team survey: it’s important that all members contribute to the vision in some way in order for it to be shared — not just the stakeholders calling the shots. This can be as simple as a survey sent out with a few questions (inspired by Claire Lew’s original list):
What change in the world do you hope this product will bring about?What makes you proud/will make you proud to work on this product?What’s the most rewarding part of what you get to do?
📅 Monday— Explore the Now
The first half of Monday and Tuesday of the Sprint is spent in group workshops with the key stakeholders identified earlier. We chose to spread the workshops across two days to provide mental separation between the Current State to the Future State.
We also find that morning is when most people are at their most creative, and in giving leaders the afternoon to address admin and pressing work their full attention can be commanded during the workshops.
Although the group workshops are not intended to end with the completed vision itself, it ensures that all voices are heard. The goals of the workshops are to:
- Promote inclusivity: giving stakeholders direct input into the visioning process ensures the final outcome is shared, not something created in isolation and imposed upon the product team.
- Build empathy: get the team in the headspace of the customer, rather than thinking about features. What are the pains and gains of our customer/s? What is their ultimate intersecting need with our product? What is the most important benefit our product delivers them?
- Explore the problem space: what problem is our product solving? Is the customer currently able to solve their problem in other ways? What does that experience look like?
- Think forward: What changes will impact the vision in 3–5 years? In our industry? Market? Technology? The world?
- Think bigger: what is the product’s significant purpose that will motivate team members on a deeper, intrinsic level? What impact will our product have on affecting positive change in the world, or reducing negative change? How might our product be remembered by our grandkids’ generation? What mark will we leave?
The first day is all about the current state — where are we now, and why is it important that our product exists.
☀️ Morning (Core Group Workshop)
Day 1 kicks off with a half-day workshop with key senior leadership and other team members that identified as being essential for the direction of the vision. The Product Leader will lead the workshop, with the assistance of another facilitator such as a Designer who will take notes and assist in the group activities.
During the workshop, the team will complete:
- Customer pains & gains mapping — the primary customer your product serves (this may be more than one. For example, platform products with buyer and seller).
- Problem statement
- ☕ Coffee
- Product value proposition
- Trends & constraints
☕ Afternoon (Product Leader + Designer)
After the workshop, the Product Leader will create a map of the Current State Experience — this includes what the customer is Doing, Thinking and Feeling starting with their becoming aware of the need and ending on the whole weight of the problem.
For existing products, the current state experience could be how customers are currently using the product. For example, a logistics SaaS company that has been losing customers and talent to startups has recognised the need to reinvigorate their product and team, starting with establishing a clear vision for the future. The current experience, in this case, should be based on real-world insights of a current customer journey with their product, including the pains they are experiencing.
For new products that do not yet exist, the current state experience could be how customers are currently fulfilling their need, and the problem they experience that your product helps to solve.
💡 It can be a good idea to enlist the help of a designer here given their familiarity and skills with mapping exercises.
📅 Day 2 — Future State
☀️ Morning (Core Group workshop)
Day 2 is all about the Future State, and the morning is spent on the second group workshop. At the end of the workshop, the Product Leader will have the inputs they need to create the working draft for the Stated Vision, and prototype storyboard for the Tangible Vision.
During the workshop, the group will complete:
- Vision Primer exercise
- ☕ Coffee
- Ideal experience mapping
During the Vision Primer exercise, the team will delve deeper into the underlying purpose of the product — including its impact in the world and legacy. The output of this exercise will lay the foundation for the Stated Vision.
After breaking for coffee, the Product Leader will present the completed Current State Experience map from the previous day. Then, using the Current State map as a starting point for the steps of the experience, the team will work individually to write their own idealised journeys before showcasing them in front of the group in a ‘Post the Path’ style exercise which is heat mapped using voting dots.
At the end of the exercise, the Product Leader will have various possible journey moments with which to weave the story for the Tangible Vision.
☕ Afternoon (Product Leader + optional 1 or 2)
Armed with the artefacts from the workshop, the Product Leader can move on to drafting the Stated Vision. Since it is the Product Leader that must be the Product Vision’s ultimate champion, it is important that they own this part of the process. However, we find this stage is almost always richer when done in pairs/groups of three — for example, a Product Design Lead and Dev Lead. What’s important to note is that this process shouldn’t be tackled via a committee in a large group workshop (like in the morning).
Using our vision statement template, the Product Leader first works on creating drafts of the Stated Vision. A few versions of the Stated Vision are likely to be produced — this is a good thing, as they will both be used during the testing day.
Time to get some rest - the next day will be creatively demanding!
📅 Day 3 - The Story
Day 3 is dedicated to the Tangible Vision, and by the end of the day (or night 😬) you will have both draft Stated and Tangible Visions, ready for the next day of testing.
☀️ Morning (Product Leader)
Using the output from the Ideal Future State experience mapping exercise, the Product Leader will create a script featuring:
- The story protagonist — the customer detailed in the workshop on Day 1
- No more than 12 scenes, each one detailing time & place, what is happening, body language, expression, as well as optional camera angles and shot types.
☕ Afternoon (Product Leader & optional Designer)
From the script, the Product Leader creates a low-fidelity storyboard. Depending on the confidence of the Product Leader, this can either be done alone or with the assistance of a designer/illustrator, however, what is key is that this is kept low-fidelity for the purposes of testing with stakeholders — not to be a final piece of work. Just as the initial wireframes of a product are rough and quick, so too should the first pass of the storyboard.
We’ve found that drawing each frame on 3x5 post-its provides for a more modular, tactile experience as opposed to drawing directly onto a whiteboard or on a single page. It allows frames to be replaced, drawn over, moved around, and is also more collaborative in case you are working with a designer. Having this level of flexibility is particularly handy when experimenting with shot types and camera angles.
💡 As an alternative to sketching, photos can also be used whereby the Product Leader arranges photos taken on a phone into a storyboard. This technique can be particularly useful for experimenting with camera angles and shot types.
📅 Day 4— Testing and iteration
Once the Product Leader has drafted the Stated Vision and storyboard, it comes time to validate through testing.
Full Steam Ahead! again lays out some excellent questions to ask to evaluate whether the vision is compelling, some of which we have adapted specifically for Product Vision:
Does it help you identify priorities for the product?Does it help you understand how your activities add value?Does it create a clear picture of what you intend to accomplish?Is it clear how you can make a contribution?
Another technique we found particularly useful is the ‘Get out of Bed-ometer’ from James Chudley, where team members are asked to rate how motivated they felt by the vision. A nice, relatable way to gauge how motivating a vision is.
☀️ Morning (Product Leader + Product Team members)
As a way to sense-check the Vision, book a meeting room and print out the storyboard/display on a monitor along with the Stated Vision. Then, invite team members to stop by and provide their feedback, paying particular attention to their ‘Get out of Bed-ometer’ response.
☕ Afternoon (Product Leader + Senior Leaders)
Invite each key leader to view the progress of the Vision and provide feedback. 1:1 presentations are preferred for their ability to garner honest, unbiased feedback, however if this is not practical then consider arranging smaller groups of two or three. These meetings should be arranged during the Prep stage, to avoid scheduling conflicts and keep the process on course.
📅 Day 5— Polish & share
So, you made it through the Testing day, and are now ready to move onto the final stage of the Sprint —polishing the final Product Vision.
But first of all, we should stress — although the Product Vision Sprint can be done in five days at a minimum, sometimes one day of testing and iteration is simply not realistic. One day might suit smaller teams like startups, but those in larger organisations (or dealing with many strong opinions!) may find that more rounds of iteration and testing are required before being able to move onto the Polish & Share stage. The Product Vision will need to be enduring, so do what works for your team — don’t jump to the end for the sake of adhering to the format or five-day schedule.
Ok — so, assuming you have now reached the point where there is common acceptance on the direction of the vision through the low-fidelity storyboard and you feel that you have a compelling Stated and Tangible Vision, it comes time to take the storyboard to the next level of fidelity.
Options here include working with a member of your team with illustration skills or engaging a professional storyboard artist or illustrator to take the storyboard to the next level.
After the sprint — evangelise
🙌 You made it through! With the Product Vision is set, it’s time to kick back and let it do its magic…. Not so fast.
“Too often people create a vision and then put it away thinking it’s a one-time activity, now let’s get back to business. One of the primary roles of a leader is to keep the vision alive.” — Full Steam Ahead!
Now begins the endless stage of vision evangelism. As the Product Leader, it is the responsibility of the Product Leader to be the Product Vision’s greatest advocate, ensuring it is constantly drummed into the hearts and minds of everyone in the team until it becomes second nature.
Luckily, having a visual artefact in the form of a storyboard makes communicating this vision much easier. But make no mistake, the vision must be constantly reinforced, and there is no greater champion of the Product Vision than the Product Leader.
Although this is where soft-skills of the Product Leader come into play, there are some tips for promoting the vision including:
- Printing the storyboards and displaying them in a prominent central location, similar to what Airbnb and Hudl have done. Airbnb’s storyboard frames are portable, in that they can be picked up individually and taken to meetings to better illustrate how a concept relates to the bigger picture. Brilliant.
- Integrating the Product Vision into your employee onboarding material and hiring process
- Creating a ‘Vision hub’ on an internal intranet/Confluence
- Fleshing the storyboard out into a vision video
We’d love to build on this list — if you have any stories or tips to share, let us know in the comments.
It’s also important to — in the words of Jeff Bezos —
“Be stubborn on your product vision, but flexible on the details.”
Whilst the Product Leader will continue to evangelize the vision, it normally doesn’t change — especially if it has been built on a strong foundation of real-world insights. How that vision is realized, on the other hand, should change — via product discovery and strategy.
Wrapping up
Just as the GV Design Sprint is no silver-bullet to innovation, neither is the Product Vision Sprint for vision. There is no one single right approach to Product Vision, however, if you are a Product Leader looking to bridge the gap between the why and how with a product vision that goes beyond a dry one-liner, then the Product Vision Sprint is an excellent place to start. And because you can expect to come out the other end with a persuasive visual piece to show stakeholders and sponsors in as little as five days, it makes it a much easier sell to the bean-counters.
Thoughts?
🙏 Thanks for taking the time to learn about the Product Vision Sprint. We hope you found this new approach to Product Vision valuable, and that you might be able to put it into practice.
💬 Interested in more info or looking to run a sprint? Head to productvisionsprint.com for more info
⭐ Special thanks to Marty Cagan for his feedback into this article.
