5 steps to crafting a Visiontype that clearly communicates your product vision
In the last edition of Product Leader Insider, I wrote about the blueprint for developing an effective product vision and explained why it is such a high-leverage artifact. But product vision is such an important and deep topic that it deserves more than one letter. So today, I'll do a deep dive into my favorite method to develop a product vision: A Visiontype.
Level setting: Characteristics of a strong product vision
A product vision is a narrative about how your product transforms your customers' world and reshapes their experience over the next 5-10 years. Different time horizons work for different companies, but keep in mind that this is a long-term artifact that should rarely, if ever, change.
A strong product vision is:
Aspirational – It sets a bold, ambitious goal.
Detailed – It defines the broad strokes of the solution you intend to build.
Opinionated – It presents a clear perspective on how to solve the problem.
User-centric – It emphasizes the benefits for the end user.
Story-driven – It tells the story of your customer and illustrates how your product reshapes their world.
In a nutshell: A strong product vision helps you guide your team, attract top talent, and clearly communicate where your product is headed to customers and investors.
What is a Visiontype
A Visiontype is exactly what its name suggests: a prototype for the vision. The core difference between a visiontype and a prototype is that a visiontype is future-facing, less detailed, and designed to depict the user experience at a high level, typically highlighting the core problems it aims to solve.
The best Visiontypes tell a story by weaving together the context of users’ lives, how the product integrates into their experience, and what it empowers them to do. My favorite format is a video. With AI, creating one is easier than ever, which is why I always encourage my clients to use this approach.
Since a video is worth more than a thousand words, here are a few of my favorites:
How to create a Visiontype
The visiontype is the final product but a lot of work must happen before reaching the fun part—creating it. Here’s a breakdown of the steps I guide my clients through to craft inspiring and actionable visions:
1) Write the vision narrative
Every movie has a storyline, and this is where you put pen to paper to craft the story of how your users’ lives will change with the product you’re building. The focus is on the user—the product simply enables them to experience the future they envision.
2) Create a user journey
Map out your customer's journey and decide on the “frame” in which you’ll tell the story. Common frames include a day, week, or year in the life of your customer, and many product visions blend these. The user journey helps ensure consistency in the experience and highlights any gaps you may have missed in the narrative.
3) Design studio of what is possible
Brainstorm the future of your product and sketch out this experience. This exercise works best as a cross-functional leadership team effort and should involve the designer responsible for creating the vision prototype.
4) Design the Visiontype
Take the user journey and all the ideas from the brainstorming session to create the Visiontype—just as you would a prototype.
5) Make the video
Bring it all together. Stitch the narrative, user journey, and vision prototype into a compelling video that tells the story of how your product will transform the world in the next 3, 5, or even 10 years.
Putting your Visiontype to work
The best companies I’ve worked for and coached use their Visiontype constantly. A great Visiontype provides leaders with perspective and helps maintain a bird’s-eye view—especially when teams get lost in the details (which, as we all know, happens all the time). Strong visions also drive strategy by painting a clear picture of what the company aims to achieve.
Here are 5 core ways in which you should leverage your Visiontype:
Recruitment
Send your Visiontype to top talent to show, rather than tell, what they’re joining—and inspire them to choose your company.
Onboarding
Share your Visiontype with new employees to immerse them in the company’s future and direction. Use it to highlight where the company is focused right now and how they can contribute.
Sales
Share your Visiontype with prospective and existing customers to illustrate what they’re investing in—especially powerful for B2B and long-term relationships.
Inspiration
Show your Visiontype in company meetings to consistently remind people of the future they’re building and to elevate their perspective from individual tasks to the bigger picture.
Guidance
Leverage your Visiontype to clearly articulate which problems the company plans to solve—and which it won’t—to provide focus and strategic direction.
After my last newsletter, so many of you shared how excited you were to develop your product vision. That got me thinking—why not turn the blueprint I use with my clients into something you can use, too?
Now, you can get the blueprint and get my guidance on how to put it to work in your company to make the most of your Visiontype.