By Korrect in Product Management — Nov 3, 2022

How to Distinguish Between Your Product Roadmap, Product Strategy, and Product Vision

Launching a product with a 100% success rate is really challenging. Businesses must implement an unrivaled strategy that is in line with the organization's goals. All departments, including product development, marketing, and sales, should collaborate to achieve a common goal. The first step in a product launch is to define a clear product vision, which gives rise to a product roadmap and product strategy to achieve the same vision.

Product Vision

Product developers or inventors always have a vision for their mission except for serendipities. A product vision determines its effects, significance or ultimate goal. A product vision conveys a high level of the purpose of its existence.

A great product vision that will surely be significant should be customer-centric. It is crucial to consider customers’ interests and requirements while defining a product vision. In other words, a product vision is a long-term goal that provides the solution to your customers.

Attributes of a Product Vision

Customer-Centric

A customer-centric product vision helps in achieving business goals. If your product fails in the market, you need to rework the product vision by considering your customers. This approach determines the product market fit.

Attainable Vision

Create a product vision that is attainable. Begin with a low-level vision and build a team and resources to help you achieve it. Increase the level of your product vision gradually. To achieve a great vision, you must first get to the root of it.

Bring Uniqueness

Create a product vision that clearly explains how it differs from others. Something in your product vision should persuade customers to choose it.

A product vision must resonate with your team for a successful achievement. A meaningful and beneficial product vision is better than a self-centric vision.

Product Strategy

Product strategy is planning to achieve a product vision. A product strategy defines the complete process of how to achieve a product vision more efficiently. It focuses on the specific resources and target market. It guides a team to achieve a product vision and makes the product launch beneficial for the company. It is a narrower concept than the product vision as it is based on specific aspects rather than a holistic approach.

Features of Product Strategy

Target Customers

A product strategy should consider the requirements of the target audience. Customer feedback management helps in creating a customer-centric strategy.

Target Problems

Considering the kinds of problems, a product management team strives to deliver.

The Way to Address Problems

Planning of addressing problems through product development.

Focussing on Business Goals

It includes planning the best ways to achieve business goals through product development and product launch.

After establishing the product vision and defining the target market, the product strategy serves as the foundation for the business plan to achieve both the product vision and the organization's goals. A product strategy is a purposeful approach that considers various aspects of the product and efforts to achieve its vision.

Product Roadmap

A product roadmap is a visual summary or a guide that involves the steps you need to achieve the product vision by following a product strategy. The product roadmap puts the product vision and strategy in action. The product roadmap communicates the product vision in a practical way to achieve the organization’s goals.