What Exactly is a Product Strategy?
A product strategy is arguably the key element in product management planning. But what is it really about? What should it include? Do you need one for your product? How do you create a successful strategy and keep it updated? These are the questions we’ll cover in this article.
What Information Should a Product Strategy Provide?
Think of the product strategy as a high-level game plan. It should help you achieve your vision by answering these four key questions:
1. Who is the product for? Identify your users and customers.
2. Why do people need it? Pinpoint the problem it solves or the benefit it provides.
3. What makes your product unique? Highlight its distinct features and how it stands out from competitors.
4. What are the business goals? Explain the benefits your product brings to your company.
For example, if you want to create a product that encourages healthier eating habits, you might target middle-aged men with busy schedules who tend to have unhealthy lifestyles. The product could help reduce their risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Suppose the product is a mobile app. Its standout features might include tracking sugar intake, analyzing eating habits, offering personalized recommendations, and integrating with popular smart scales. The business benefit might be creating a new revenue stream or enhancing the company’s brand.
To capture your product strategy, consider using a product vision board. This tool helps outline both the vision and the strategy of your product.
How Does the Strategy Relate to the Vision and Roadmap?
Your product strategy links the vision of your product to its roadmap. Essentially, it outlines how you plan to turn your vision into a successful product. It also provides essential input for an actionable product roadmap. This roadmap then offers the context needed to discover the right product details and include them in the product backlog.
Do You Need a Strategy for Your Product?
Without a product strategy, explaining how your product creates value becomes challenging. You’ll struggle to develop a realistic product roadmap and pinpoint the necessary product details. For instance, how can you accurately identify user stories if you’re unsure who your users are and why they need your product? Moreover, selecting the right key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your product’s success would be difficult without a solid strategy. Thus, every product should have a strategy. If yours doesn’t, creating one using tools like a product vision board is advisable.
How Can You Create a Strategy Likely to Result in a Successful Product?
Having an initial product strategy is crucial, but to make it successful, you should test and adapt it continuously. Start with an initial strategy and iteratively validate and refine it. This iterative process involves four steps:
1. Identify the biggest risk in your product strategy. This represents the main uncertainty you need to address to make prudent strategic decisions.
2. Choose the right method to address the risk. This could be direct observation or user interviews.
3. Implement the method and gather data. Conduct user interviews and capture the insights.
4. Evaluate the data and decide the next steps. Based on the insights, decide whether to persevere with minor tweaks, pivot to a new direction, or stop and look for a new idea.
How Do You Keep the Product Strategy Relevant and Up to Date?
Your product strategy shouldn’t be static. It should evolve as new technologies emerge, competitors change, or user needs shift. Regularly reviewing and updating your strategy is crucial. Consider these factors:
1. Performance: Are you meeting your KPIs?
2. Trends: Are there any new technological, regulatory, or social changes affecting your product?
3. Competition: Are competitors launching new products or features?
4. Company: Has there been a significant change in your company’s strategy or key personnel?
By regularly reassessing these areas, you can ensure your product strategy remains relevant and effective.