Product Strategy
What is product strategy?
Product strategy is the high-level plan that defines where your product is going, who it’s for, and how it will win. It connects business goals to product direction and gives the team a shared “why” so they can make consistent decisions about what to build and what to skip.
Use it when: you need to align the team and stakeholders on direction and to give roadmaps and prioritisation a clear anchor. Revisit when the market, business, or user reality changes.
Copy/paste template
- Vision: Where we want the product to be in [timeframe]. One sentence.
- Who we serve: Target users/segments and why them.
- What we’re solving: Core problem or job we’re addressing (link to problem statement or value proposition).
- How we win: What makes us different and hard to copy (positioning, key differentiators).
- Success: How we’ll know we’re on track (outcomes or north-star metric).
Why product strategy matters
- Aligns the team on direction so prioritisation and roadmaps aren’t ad hoc.
- Gives a clear “why” for saying no to work that doesn’t fit.
- Connects product work to business goals so stakeholders see the link.
- Provides a stable reference when tactics and features change.
What a good product strategy includes
Checklist
- [ ] Clear vision – one or two sentences anyone can repeat.
- [ ] Defined audience – who we’re serving and why.
- [ ] Problem or job – what we’re solving or enabling.
- [ ] Differentiation – how we’re different from alternatives.
- [ ] Measurable success – outcomes or metrics we care about.
- [ ] Living – updated when context changes, not a one-off document.
Common formats
- One-pager: vision, audience, problem, differentiator, success. Fits on one page.
- Strategy on a page + narrative: one-pager plus a short narrative for deeper context.
- OKRs or outcome-based: strategy expressed as objectives and key results; product work ties to OKRs.
Examples
Example (the realistic one)
Vision: “In three years, we’re the tool small teams use to run projects without a project manager.” Who we serve: Small teams (5–20) who today use spreadsheets and chat. What we’re solving: Chaos and missed deadlines because work is scattered. How we win: Easiest setup and clearest status; we don’t try to replace Jira for big orgs. Success: Weekly active teams and retention; NPS by segment.
Common pitfalls
- Vague vision: “We’ll be the best in class.” → Do this instead: be specific about who, what, and when (even if approximate).
- Strategy as feature list: the “strategy” is a list of features. → Do this instead: strategy is direction and why; features are tactics that support it.
- Never updated: strategy from two years ago still on the wall. → Do this instead: review at least quarterly; update when market or business changes.
- No link to daily work: team can’t trace backlog items to strategy. → Do this instead: tie roadmap themes and prioritisation to strategy goals.
Product strategy vs. related concepts
- Strategy vs roadmap: roadmap is the “what and when”; strategy is the “why and where”. Roadmap should support strategy.
- Strategy vs vision: vision is the destination; strategy is the plan to get there (who, what we solve, how we win).
- Strategy vs tactics: tactics are the specific features and initiatives; strategy is the frame that guides which tactics to choose.
Related terms
- Product roadmap – the plan that executes strategy.
- Value proposition – the promise to users; part of “how we win”.
- Problem statement – the problem we’re solving; strategy should reference it.
- Feature prioritisation – prioritise work that supports strategy.
- Continuous discovery – learning that should inform strategy.
- Lean canvas – early-stage way to test strategy assumptions.
- Jobs to be done – clarifies the “job” and context strategy serves.
- Product manager – often owns or stewards product strategy.
Next step
If you don’t have a written strategy, draft the one-pager (vision, who, problem, how we win, success) and share it with the team. If you have one, check that your roadmap and next prioritisation round clearly support it.