Cheat Sheet

The long version of this lives in How to Write a Product Vision, which walks all five steps start to finish. This is that same process compressed onto one page, for once you've done it a few times and just need the reminder.

If you haven't read the pages before this one, this won't be of much help. A cheat sheet is a memory aid, not a shortcut. Read those first, write a real vision, then keep this nearby for the next time.

The five steps:

1. Get close. Understand one real customer. Answer: who are they, what's the deep problem, what does their world look like solved?
2. Think big, then face the obstacles. Dream the two-to-five-year destination, then list the real things in the way.
3. Draft it. One or two sentences. Lead with the customer and the change, never features. Write three versions, keep the one that moves you.
4. Check it. Clarity test (do people picture the same place?), what-it's-NOT (no features, no numbers, no mission slogan), differentiated (could a competitor claim it?), and the Cagan principles.
5. Test and refine. Share it, watch for the spark, refine, then start evangelizing.

The drafting scaffold:

[The customer] will [the change in their world],
so they can [the deeper benefit, the why].

The checks, quick version:

• Would a room full of people all picture the same destination?
• Did I keep out every feature, number, and generic mission slogan?
• Could a competitor put their name on it? If so, it's not differentiated enough.
• Does it hold up against Cagan's principles of a great vision?

If your draft survives all four, you have a vision worth sharing.