Chapter 4: Vision Documents

Introduction

A vision is an idea. A vision document is used to show the final product or software to be created and the progression through the product/software development.

Many organizations hold the vision in a “vision document” that includes all the features of the product from the point of view of a stakeholder or a customer. This document is very helpful when it comes to capturing ideas and ensuring that all parties involved communicate clearly about those ideas. Depending on the size of the project, methodology, and organization, there are different types of templates offered for creating a vision document [1]. In all, a vision document includes clear, detailed information about use-cases, the problems that the technology will solve, the business opportunity for developing the technology, etc. In a business setting, an entrepreneur usually starts with an “idea” that can be developed through the vision and later becomes a product, application, service, etc. With software products, the idea or vision is developed and then the project team continues through its creation [1].
A vision document is used to represent the final product or software to be developed. It includes clear and detailed information about use-cases, problems to solve, and business opportunity.

A vision document can also explain the high-level scope and purpose of a program, product, or project. A clear statement of the problem, proposed solution, and the high-level features of a product help set up expectations and lower risks [1].

Vision Document Outline

In general, the contents of a vision document are discussed and divided into 11 sections [1]:

(1) Introduction

This section covers the overview of the entire document. The main purpose of this section is to identify the purpose and scope of the project. It also includes definitions, synonyms, abbreviations, and sometimes references.

(2) Positioning

This section describes possible business opportunities for the product or service and identifies the problem the project is trying to solve.

The product position statement gives an overall statement that summarizes the product’s intention in the marketplace. The following statements can be used as a model, providing specific project details based on the parenthetical phrases to replace the blanks.

For the _________ (target customer), who __________ (statement of the need or opportunity), the _________ (product name) is a __________ (product category) that __________ (statement of key benefit; that is, the compelling reason to buy). Unlike __________ (primary competitive alternative), our product __________ (statement of primary differentiation).

A product position statement gives the intent of the application to the concerned stakeholders and users.

(3) Stakeholder and User Description

Find key problems and factors affecting product decisions to make sure that the issue is addressed properly.This section identifies the key problems related to the users’ and stakeholders’ interests. The factors affecting product decisions are market demographics. The size and the growth of the market is considered because it is affected by possible users and the amount of money needed to meet the needs of the customers. A stakeholder summary, a user summary, detailed working user environment, user profile, stakeholder profiles, and key stakeholder or user needs should be included in this section.

(4) Product Overview

This section covers a high-level view of the product’s capabilities, and interfaces with other applications, systems, and structures. The product needs to be considered from a user viewpoint about other products and the user’s environment. The product’s roles and general assumptions and needs are discussed. The cost and pricing of the packaging might be useful here, depending on what kind of project it is and whether that level of detail is available at the time of preparing the vision document.

(5) Product Features

Remember: The vision document is read by a wide audience with variable technical expertise. Consider what you learned about the rhetorical situation (Chapter 1) to help you prepare this document.

This section briefly outlines the product features. Features are the high-level abilities of the system that deliver benefits to the users. Each feature is a requested service that usually needs a series of inputs to reach a satisfactory result. For example, a feature of a problem-tracking system might be the ability to offer trending reports. As the use-case model takes shape, this section would be updated to refer to the specific use-cases.

Maintaining clear details for audiences with varied technical expertise is ideal because the vision document is reviewed by a wide variety of involved individuals.

(6) Constraints

This section identifies the design constraints for the product/service. The constraints can be operational, regulatory requirements, or other needs.

(7) Quality ranges

This section defines optimum quality range conditions for robust performance.

(8) Priority

This section lists the priority of the system features. In some cases, the priorities will be determined by the client and production team or others involved in the project.

(9) Other Product Requirements

This section lists the applicable standards with which the product or service must comply. For example, federal or local legal and regulatory standards. The section also includes the system requirements, performance requirements, and environmental requirements as applicable.

(10) Documentation Installation

This section provides all the required documents to develop a successful application deployment. Release notes, read me files, links to online help, installation guides, labeling and packaging documentation, etc. would be included in this section.

(11) Appendix

This section lists all feature attributes.

While this list of 11 elements would help to create a robust vision document, there may be variations on the documents based on stakeholders needs, goals, and requirements. In all situations, it is best to consult your organization or team to determine which elements are necessary for the vision document you’re creating. Review the vision document elements specific to a business vision document by watching the video below. Again, be sure to consult your team or manager to determine which type of vision document and which elements are needed for your specific context.

Video 1. A description of the key elements in a business vision document, including goals, vision statements, processing diagrams, and validation [2].

Check your Understanding

The Necessity of a Clear Vision Document

Documenting the decisions made while conducting project work ensures that all stakeholders have clear, specific, and consistent information about the work. For example, If Team A can represent their core project ideas and high-level decisions in a short document, then other teams and supervisors (and even clients) can quickly understand the intentions of Team A and provide feedback. The more complex and involved a project is, the more important that short document becomes because complex projects have higher chances of miscommunication and heavy, costly mistakes [3].
Writing things down in a short document helps to communicate the intentions of complicated or complex work across a large organization.

It is important to adopt a vision statement as it guides the project planning and strategy. To prioritize financial and human resources most appropriately, use a vision document and ensure that all stakeholders have the information and decision-making opportunities they need to progress through the product or service development.

References

[1] IBM, “Vision Document”, Engineering Lifecycle Management, 2021, https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/elm/7.0.0?topic=requirements-vision-document [Accessed January 1, 2022].

[2] OutSystems, Business Vision: Vision Document, (Feb. 08, 2018). [Online Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVr2f5pyT6w. [Accessed on Nov. 09, 2021].

[3] S. Berkun, “Writing the Good Vision”, Making Things Happen, 2008, https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/making-things-happen/9780596517717/ch04.html [Accessed January 1, 2022].

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