Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Craft a Vision that Actually Gets Shipped
This video is featured in the UX vision playlist.
Summary
In this talk, Catt Small shares a practical process for crafting a product vision that drives real decisions. You’ll learn how to identify the right moment for vision work, anchor future-state thinking in user and business realities, efficiently validate directional concepts, and translate long-term direction into roadmap-ready milestones. Let’s create vision artifacts that increase confidence, align teams, and shape strategy!
Key Insights
-
•
A product vision is a strategic illustration of the desired customer experience that guides team alignment and motivates progress.
-
•
Visions often fail when high-fidelity visuals mask weak or incomplete ideas without a clear core thesis.
-
•
Early and active involvement of product managers is critical to create visions grounded in real business strategy and attain cross-team buy-in.
-
•
Visions with timelines too far in the future (5-10 years) disconnect teams and fail to inform immediate roadmaps; 1-2 years is usually optimal.
-
•
A vision must include a documented work-back plan that outlines actionable steps to integrate the vision into the product roadmap and delivery.
-
•
Starting the vision work in text form, focusing on the narrative and goals before any visual design, leads to stronger foundational ideas.
-
•
AI tools speed up prototyping but don’t replace the need for a purposeful and strategic vision to guide what is built.
-
•
Internal visions (for teams and leadership) differ from external ones aimed at customers and require different presentation styles and content.
-
•
Validation with user research and assessing what customers are willing to pay for ensures the vision aligns with real market opportunities.
-
•
Sharing draft outlines and involving peers throughout the vision process prevents surprises and builds organizational advocacy and momentum.
Notable Quotes
"Visions capture held knowledge that a team has maybe not been able to yet take action on."
"You can spend a lot of time building a really cool concept that no one will care about because it’s not possible, it’s not feasible, it’s not grounded."
"If the ideas aren’t fully baked or there’s no real core thesis, then you’ve kind of missed the point."
"Move thoughtfully and purposefully is better than move fast and break things, especially in large companies with millions of users."
"If you can’t see how this artifact is going to be a reference that is constantly pointed to, maybe you shouldn’t make it."
"The vision really does say This is where we could be in the future and that emotional component is really important."
"Early involvement of product helps you frame the problem better and co-create a solution that others will buy into."
"If there’s no plan or no handoff after the vision, then the vision feels like an artifact that has no legs."
"Creating different formats of the vision for different stakeholders improves resonance and adoption."
"Visioning can be an antidote to a top-down reactive organization by proposing stable, aligned direction upfront."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"I had to ask what wind forms were, which was pretty humbling."
Nova Wehman-BrownWe've Never Done This Before
June 4, 2019
"Done is better than perfect. You can always refine afterwards."
Tiffany ChengDesigning in a Pandemic: Integrating Speed and Rigor
June 9, 2022
"It’s a great time to be a designer to make data-driven design decisions that impact beyond just pixels."
William Newton Jenny ChangHow to Lead With Data, and Without Data
June 7, 2023
"It can be so tiring to be the only one constantly saying this has to be done differently."
Denise Jacobs Nancy Douyon Renee Reid Lisa WelchmanInteractive Keynote: Social Change by Design
January 8, 2024
"Sometimes you’re too early. Don’t fear. File this away and keep your powder dry."
Sam LadnerHow Research Can Drive Strategic Foresight
March 9, 2022
"What is it like to be a new kid on an old block?"
Lada GorlenkoTheme 1: Intro
January 8, 2024
"Watch your language; terms like 'that's so lame' can be exclusionary or offensive."
Reginé GilbertAsking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
June 10, 2022
"When you introduce dissonance, people listen only to catch your mistakes, so you have to be precise like tweezers."
Christian MadsbjergInfluencing Strategy
March 31, 2020
"Concept validation helps us spend time building useful things before making them work well."
Jen CardelloStandardizing Product Merits for Leaders, Designers, and Everyone
June 15, 2018
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What does the acquisition of User Interviews by UserTesting mean for participants and research ops teams?
How can measuring team behaviors instead of just results improve trust and performance in design ops?
What metadata should be included in research reports to support future search and AI interrogation?