The Collaborative Product vision activity encourages the team to work together for defining the product vision. The result of this activity is a shared product vision written by the whole team, thus, bringing the team together from the early stages, such as defining the vision.
Running the activity
1. Write the product vision template on the whiteboard (or a common canvas)
For (target customer)
Who (statement of the need or opportunity)
The (product name) is a (product category)
That (key benefit, compelling reason to buy)
Unlike (primary competitive alternative)
Our product (statement of primary differentiation)
2. Divide the team into smaller groups (two or three people recommended)
3. Ask each group to fill some of the blankets for the product vision template
sample collaborative product vision canvas – distributing the blankets
The photo above shows this activity being executed for four smaller groups. Each group was identified by a number (from 1 to 4). Small yellow post-its (with the group number) assigns blankets to the groups. Each group was given a different post-it color (photo below).
sample collaborative product vision – filling the blankets4. Collect the result for all groups. This should form a single sentence (this sentence might be disjoint and repetitive).
5. Rewrite the whole sentence. Everyone should be actively involved on it. Especially because everyone wrote some part of it.
sample collaborative product vision – rewrite
I first read about the product vision statement on Geoffrey Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm.
Everyone on the team should be able to explain the product vision in one sentence. The ultimate test for it is when a team member is asked about it on the elevator: So, what is your product about? (The product vision template is also known as the elevator pitch: meaning anyone on the team should be able to say it in a few seconds).
>> Find more inception activities here.
