How To Create a Product Vision Statement? Examples & Template

In ever-changing markets, clear product vision is key. With one powerful sentence, you can stay focused on your long-term goals, make strategic product decisions, and differentiate your product from competitors.

In this blog post, we'll talk about the importance of a product vision statement and provide a product vision template along with examples of effective vision statements. 

_{What Is Product Vision?}

Establishing product vision is an essential step in the product development journey. Your product vision is a statement that conveys the big mission of your product. What is the purpose of your product? How can it improve the customers’ lives? Why and how is it better than its competitors? Your product vision statement should answer these questions.

Product vision statements should include or allude to your target audience, unique selling proposition, and differentiating factors. Therefore, it requires a bunch of research and a validated product idea. To make market research easier and more efficient, you can use Essense to analyze competitor feedback and uncover your competitors' key strengths and weaknesses.

_{The Importance of a Product Vision Statement}

A product vision statement is important for several reasons:

_{Guides decision-making}

A clear product vision statement is a North Star for the team. It can guide decision-making by providing a clear shared understanding of the ultimate purpose of the product. When faced with choices or trade-offs, product vision can help teams prioritize actions that align with the long-term vision of the product. 

_{Sets direction}

A product vision statement sets the direction for product development. It can help teams define the features, functionalities, and improvements that are most relevant to achieving the vision. This ensures that development efforts are focused on what truly matters. 

_{Differentiates the product}

An effective vision statement should communicate the unique value the product brings to the customers and clarify what makes it special. This will help set the product apart from competitors right away. In saturated markets where products can easily blend together, differentiation is crucial. 

_{Communicates to stakeholders}

It shouldn’t take ten sentences to describe the purpose of your product. With a product vision statement, businesses can communicate the essence of the product to stakeholders in a clear and concise way. Crafting a memorable product vision statement can guarantee that your employees, customers, and partners stay invested in your product. 

_{What Makes a Great Product Vision Statement?}

Here are some characteristics of an effective product vision statement:

_Clarity

The vision statement should be clear and concise so that it’s easy to understand for both internal teams and external stakeholders. In one sentence, it should communicate the product's purpose and value without ambiguity.

_Inspiration

It is common for product vision statements to be, well, a bit of a stretch. Product vision should be aspirational in a way that motivates the team to work towards a shared goal and inspires customers to engage with the product and identify with it. With that being said, your vision should be rooted in reality and align with the company's capabilities, resources, and expertise.

_{Alignment with Values}

Before you start working on your product vision template, make sure your product has clear core values and mission. Your vision should be aligned with your values, reflect the purpose of the organization, and indicate how the product contributes to it. 

_{Long-Term Focus}

A product vision statement should have a long-term perspective, looking beyond immediate goals and trends. Ideally, it should remain relevant and inspiring regardless of changes in the market and serve as a guide for product development. 

_{Customer-Centricity}

A great vision statement places the customer at the center. It should clearly communicate how the product addresses customer needs, pain points, and desires. The statement should emphasize the impact the product aims to make on users' lives.

Product Vision Template

You can follow this template to craft your product vision statement: 

1. Product name

2. Target audience

Specify the primary group of people or businesses that your product aims to serve.

3. Product category

Describe the general category your product belongs to.

4. Unique value proposition

Highlight the unique feature or benefit that sets your product apart from others in the same category. 

5. Alternative solution

Mention any existing solutions or methods that your target audience might currently use to address the same problem.

6. Key differentiators

List the specific features, attributes, or advantages that make your product stand out from alternatives. These can include technological innovations, design elements, pricing strategies, etc.

7. Core benefit

State the primary benefit or outcome that users will achieve by using your product. Your core benefit should be aligned with your unique value proposition.

_{Product Vision Examples}

Here are some examples of effective product vision statements:

_Amazon 

"To be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online." 

Amazon's vision statement highlights its dedication to customer satisfaction. It emphasizes the vastness and variety of product offerings and implies a high degree of personalization. In practice, this vision is reflected in Amazon's customer-focused strategies such as fast shipping, extensive product selection, and personalized recommendations.

_Microsoft 

"A computer on every desk and in every home." 

Microsoft's original vision statement, coined by Bill Gates, clearly set the direction for the company's growth. It expressed the main goal of Microsoft, which is the widespread adoption of personal computers, in one short sentence. Although the market changed drastically over the years, Microsoft stayed focused on accessibility and affordability.

_Slack 

"To make work life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive." 

In its mission statement, Slack focuses on the pain points of work communication and productivity. It empathizes with them and promises simplicity, pleasant user experience, and enhanced productivity, which is something every business can benefit from. 

_Canva

"Empowering the world to design."

From the vision statement, it’s clear that Canva’s mission is to make graphic design accessible to everyone. Canva achieves that with a user-friendly interface, affordable pricing, and tools that allow people with little design expertise to create visually appealing content.