Any successful project or product needs a clear vision, thoughtful strategy, and detailed roadmap. But what exactly is the difference between these three critical elements? It’s important to understand the unique purpose each serves.
Defining Vision, Strategy, and Roadmaps
Let’s start with concise definitions of the terms:
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Vision – An aspirational view of the desired future state. Where you want to be.
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Strategy – The high-level plan to achieve the vision The broad approach you’ll take
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Roadmap – A tactical schedule of activities needed to execute the strategy. The step-by-step game plan
Another way to think of it is:
- Vision is the “what”
- Strategy is the “how”
- Roadmap is the “when”
The vision aligns people around a shared goal. The strategy rallies them around broad objectives to get there. And the roadmap lays out the incremental work required on a timeline.
Why You Need All Three
Having ONLY a vision, strategy, or roadmap is insufficient. Here’s why you need all three in concert:
Vision alone – A vision without a strategy or roadmap is just a pipe dream. It’s unclear how you’ll get there.
Strategy alone – A strategy without a vision or roadmap lacks purpose. You’re strategic about something, but what exactly?
Roadmap alone – A roadmap without vision or strategy is just a schedule of disjointed activities. There’s no connectivity.
When anchored to a vision and strategy though, roadmaps become incredibly powerful planning tools. They connect tactical activities back to broader goals.
Building a Strategic Roadmap
A step-by-step process for developing an aligned strategic roadmap is:
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Define the vision – Where do we want to go? What does that look like?
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Craft the strategy – What are the key initiatives or objectives to get us there?
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Identify milestones – What are the major markers of progress towards the objectives?
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Map tactical activities – What incremental work is needed to hit each milestone?
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Set timeframes – What is the cadence and sequence of work needed?
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Visualize the roadmap – How can we depict the activities in a compelling graphic?
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Communicate and execute – Share the roadmap and collaborate cross-functionally to implement the plan.
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Refine as you go – Review progress regularly. Make adjustments as new learnings emerge.
This creates alignment at every level – from overall vision down to task details. Everyone understands how their work ladders up to big-picture goals.
Key Differences Between Vision, Strategy, and Roadmaps
Drilling deeper into how vision, strategy, and roadmaps differ:
| | Vision | Strategy | Roadmap
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Keep Product Strategy changes to a minimum
One way you know youâre operating a strategic level? Things arenât actually changing very often.âProduct Vision specifies the What and Why of the product, while Product Strategy elaborates how to realize the vision with a specific approach, and provides a roadmap showing a timeline for executing the strategy. Product vision is the guiding North Star, and does not change much, if at all,â says Satish Thatte of VersionOne. âOnce the product strategy is prepared, it may undergo adjustments and refinements over a period of time, but not too frequently.âUnlike the vision and the strategy, product roadmaps will change somewhat frequently as market intelligence comes in, users request new capabilities and technical considerations are factored in. As the roadmap is a tactical plan, these changes should be welcomed (as long as itâs not for the release your engineering team is already working on), as it shows youâre being responsive to the changing dynamics of your industry.
So what do they look like?
There are no absolutes on the perfect format for a product vision, product strategy, or product roadmap, but here are some general guidelines:
Your vision should max out at one to two sentences â just enough to clearly and concisely convey your high-level purpose. This should be aspirational, not just descriptive.âThe vision statement is not an opportunity to use creative, colorful language to describe the operations or activities of the organization,â says Shaun Spearmon of Kotter International. âIt should describe the resultant experience or outcome. Too many organizations get caught up explaining how they work. Instead, focus on the subsequent outcomes after the work is done.âHere are a few examples of great vision statements:
- LinkedIn: âTo connect the worldâs professionals to make them more productive and successful.â
- Warby Parker: âOffer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses.â
- Amazon: âOur vision is to be earthâs most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.â
You should be proud of your vision statement and happy â not embarrassed â to share it with customers. It should resonate with you and your fellow employees and not just sound good to investors.[Tweet “Your companys vision statement should be something youâre proud to share with the public.”]âI find that a vision focused on creating a benefit for others provides a particularly deep motivation and a lasting inspiration. It guides me when I am feeling doubtful much more than a money- or self-centric vision can,â says Roman Pichler of Pichler Consulting. âI find that people excel because they believe that they are doing something meaningful and beneficial.â
Product strategies should be a little more specific than the vision, but not so specific that youâre delving into the details of implementation.Your product strategy should cover the fundamentals:
- Who are we trying to serve?
- What problem(s) are we trying to address?
- How are we planning to address the problem(s)?
- How are we going to monetize our product?
Youâve now defined a target market, created a value proposition, and laid the groundwork for a business plan. You can certainly be a little more specific, but trying to nail down the details at this level can create assumptions that lead your product roadmaps and product releases down narrowly-defined paths that may limit your options and miss opportunities in the future.[Tweet ” Your product strategy should be more specific than your product vision, but light on details.”]âWhen we are building products, we have a threshold of knowledge. We cannot start on Day 1 and exactly plan to reach our vision. There are too many unknowns and variables,â says Melissa Perri of ProdUXLabs. âInstead, we set goals along the way, then remove obstacles through experimentation until we reach our vision.â
Weâve written plenty about product roadmaps at UserVoice, so instead of recreating the wheel here I will direct you to a couple of our favorites on this subject:
In the context of this piece, the fundamental idea to grasp is that roadmaps are tactical. Theyâre a set of plans and instructions that get you close to achieving the goals laid out in your product strategy. Theyâre the only of these three items that should dictate specific behavior or tasks.
Vision vs Strategy vs Roadmap vs OKRs – Putting Them Together
What is the difference between vision and strategy?
In other words, vision is your view of the future. Strategy explains the approach you will take to realize that future state. And a roadmap is the more tactical plan for what you will do to get there (and when you will arrive), informed by the vision and strategy. Now, some people use the words “vision” and “strategy” interchangeably.
What is the difference between a strategy and a roadmap?
A strategy is clear, actionable, measurable and flexible. Though roadmaps have more details, measuring the success of your strategies can help you when determining new ones for new projects or products. Roadmaps, the most detailed of the three, requires additional information like goals, ownership features, durations and releases.
What makes a good strategic product roadmap?
A good strategic product roadmap reflects your vision and strategy and it also guides the execution of the strategy, it aligns internal stakeholders, communicates short and long-term progress of development, and seamlessly shares the product strategy with external stakeholders.
Should your product strategy be more specific than your product vision?
[Tweet ” Your product strategy should be more specific than your product vision, but light on details.”]“When we are building products, we have a threshold of knowledge. We cannot start on Day 1 and exactly plan to reach our vision. There are too many unknowns and variables,” says Melissa Perri of ProdUXLabs.
