Four Elements of Vision

A compelling product vision must be lofty, realistic, tech-agnostic, and problem-grounded

Ebi Atawodi
Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)

Four Elements of Vision

"It needs to be lofty, it has to be realistic, it has to be devoid of any tech or limitations of today, and it has to be grounded in a very clear and potent problem. User problem." - Ebi Atawodi

What It Is

Every product manager, regardless of level, needs a vision for their work. A vision is not a mission (the purpose/why) - it's a picture of the destination. It's like a pilot describing Miami as the destination, painting an image of what you'll experience when you arrive.

A compelling vision has four essential elements that work together. When these elements combine around a problem people care about, you have a vision that can align teams and inspire action.

How It Works

1. Lofty The vision must be something that almost scares you in an exciting way. When you think about achieving it, you should feel "Damn, if we did that..." It should get you out of bed every morning motivated.

2. Realistic and Attainable While lofty, the vision cannot feel so pie-in-the-sky that it seems out of reach. Most people need to feel the goal is within reach to commit to it. The balance between lofty and realistic is where the magic happens.

3. Devoid of Tech/Current Limitations The vision exists in a vacuum from today's constraints. The whole point of time-traveling five years out is to come back and say "here's what we need to fix to get there" or "here's what we need to put in place now." Today's limitations may not be tomorrow's.

4. Grounded in a User Problem The vision must be anchored in a clear, potent problem that people are excited about solving. Without this grounding, even a beautiful vision lacks purpose.

How to Apply It

  1. Start with the problem - What user problem are you solving? Make sure it's something that matters and excites people.

  2. Paint the destination picture - Describe what the world looks like when the problem is solved. Use concrete imagery people can visualize (e.g., "a world without parking lots because cars are always moving").

  3. Check the lofty test - Does it scare you a little? Does it make you think "if we could do that..."?

  4. Check the attainable test - Can people see a path to getting there? Does it feel impossible or just very ambitious?

  5. Remove current constraints - Strip away today's technical limitations. What would you build if anything was possible?

  6. Validate against the problem - Does your vision actually solve the user problem you started with?

When to Use It

  • When developing a 3-5 year product vision
  • When evaluating whether your current vision is strong enough
  • When helping junior PMs understand what makes a good vision
  • When presenting to leadership and needing to inspire confidence
  • When recruiting and wanting to attract top talent with your direction

Examples

Uber's Vision: A world with continuous trips where cars don't need to stop, eliminating the need for parking. Cities could reclaim 25% of their space currently used for parking - converting it to homes, restaurants, gardens.

Tesla's Vision: Create a beautiful electric car that will eventually be accessible to everyone - proving that sustainability and desirability can coexist.

Source

  • Guest: Ebi Atawodi
  • Episode: "Crafting a compelling product vision | Ebi Atawodi (YouTube, Netflix, Uber)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:06:13) - Four elements of a compelling vision
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

  • Vision-Mission Framework - Distinguishes between purpose (mission) and destination (vision)
  • Empathize-Create-Evangelize - Complete process for vision development
  • Working Backwards / PR-FAQ - Another approach to future-state thinking
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