Describe a destination, not only a purpose
⏱ Untimed topicAtawodi distinguishes vision from mission. A mission describes why the work exists, while a vision helps people picture the future they are trying to reach. A clear destination gives a team more direction than simply being good at its current activity.
Balance ambition with attainability
⏱ Untimed topicShe wants a vision to be exciting and ambitious while still feeling within reach. It should be grounded in a real user problem and look beyond today's limitations. This does not mean ignore constraints when executing; the future picture should help identify what needs to change to get there.
Use a story to make the future concrete
⏱ Untimed topicAtawodi describes several ways to express a vision, including a narrative, a headline or a visual mockup. The form is a means of making the proposed world understandable. A product manager does not have to wait for a perfect polished artifact before starting to communicate the idea.
Follow empathize, create and evangelize
⏱ Untimed topicHer process begins with understanding the customer and problem, moves to describing the world after the problem is solved, and continues with communicating that world. Producing the vision is only the middle step. Repeated explanation and patience are part of making it useful.
Use your own product from the beginning
⏱ Untimed topicShe notices that people can become familiar with a product's ongoing use while missing its first-run experience. Going through onboarding again can reveal that gap. Using other products can also help a team articulate what it likes and what makes an experience work, without replacing actual user research.
Keep a living list of important problems
⏱ Untimed topicAtawodi asks PMs to maintain a top-ten list of problems people should know about and revise it over time. The list can include qualitative issues, numbers and technical debt. Keeping it current creates a shared starting point for strategy rather than relying on scattered recollections.
Bring stakeholders into the problem framing
⏱ Untimed topicShe asks partner teams to rank the problems they think matter, then combines their perspectives into a consolidated list. This gives marketing, support, research and other groups a way to contribute before the solution is chosen. The product leader still needs to synthesize the input, not simply collect a larger wishlist.
