18F/18f.gsa.gov

---
title: "Buying better digital products part 2: Setting the product vision and strategy"
authors:
- amy-wilson
- clara-tsao
tags:
- digital acquisition accelerator
- acquisition services
- presidential innovation fellows
- procurement
- training
- modern practices
excerpt: This is the second in a series of three blog posts that provide a step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop.
description: This is the second in a series of three blog posts that provide a step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop.
---
*This is the second post in a series of three that provide a
step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop. [The first was published on July 21.]({{ site.baseurl }}/2016/07/21/buying-better-digital-products-part-1-proto-personas-and-understanding-the-problem/)*

18F and the Presidential Innovation Fellows' [Digital Acquisition
Accelerator](https://pages.18f.gov/digitalaccelerator/) launched in
early June. Through this program, cross-functional teams from two
agencies — the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation — are learning to build two products each using modern
product management practices. During week two of the Accelerator, the
teams applied what they learned in an inception workshop to shape the
vision and strategy around their first products. This is the second of
three posts that provide a step-by-step guide to how we led the
inception workshop. Read more about proto personas and how teams broke
down their problem [in the first post]({{ site.baseurl }}/2016/07/21/buying-better-digital-products-part-1-proto-personas-and-understanding-the-problem/).

Day 2: Product vision and strategy
==================================

During the first day, we set the stage by creating a set of
proto-personas — a listing of assumptions we have about potential users
of the product. Because they’re assumptions, proto-personas are based on
hunches, not research. We spent the second half of the day working to
further understand the problem — to ensure we’re set up to build the
right solution. Note that to yield the best results in the workshop
below, we recommend you have a skilled facilitator lead the session to
avoid leadership by consensus.

If youre interested in facilitating on your own or want to see how we did it, [here is the presentation used in this inception workshop](https://github.com/18F/digitalaccelerator/blob/18f-pages/assets/workshop-day-two.pdf).

*“The vision should communicate the essence of the future product in a
concise manner and describe a shared goal that provides direction but is
broad enough to facilitate creativity.” - Roman Pichler*

Capturing assumptions and hypotheses
-------------------------------------

On the second day of the workshop, we set the product vision and
strategy and determined the minimum viable product for each team. The
goal was to have each team end the day with a detailed list of
assumptions about their future product.

Sitting in groups, participants wrote down everything they could about
the product on different colored sticky notes, referencing, if possible,
the source of their knowledge. Then, with the proto-personas from the
first day in mind, the teams wrote down more assumptions about their
product. As the sticky notes piled up, the teams clustered similar ideas
together and labeled those groups.

<figure>
    <img src="{{ site.baseurl }}/assets/blog/digital-acquisition-accelerator/combining-labeling.jpg" alt="A diagram of culstered post-its.">
    <figcaption>Example of combining and labeling clusters</figcaption>
</figure><br>

In this session, teams were taught terms such as a “product principle”
(a general statement of value a product embodies) and “product strategy”
(how all product principles fit together). They sorted the sticky notes
with each group according to these two terms.

Determining the minimum viable product
--------------------------------------

In the afternoon, the teams determined a minimum viable product (MVP)
for their project. An MVP is “that version of a new product which allows
a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about
customers with the least effort.”

To identify their MVP, teams first identified key features in their
products. A feature is a characteristic of a product or service that
helps boost its appeal to potential users. Each product feature was
listed on a sticky note, and the team prioritized the features by having
each person use dot stickers to vote for the features they thought were
the most important. From there, teams identified criteria for a
successful MVP including cost savings, user satisfaction, and
performance. Participants also identified challenges and risks for their
MVP.

A product in a box
------------------

At the end of the day, teams were each handed an empty box covered in
paper and asked to design their product as if they were selling it as a
shrink-wrapped box. Teams created a product name, graphic, bullet points
on the front, a detailed feature description on the back, and operating
requirements.

This exercise helped teams further define their product vision, which
answers the following:

-   Who are the people being served?
-   What is the statement of need or opportunity to fulfill your mission?
-   What is the product name and what is the product category?
-   What is the key benefit and/or the compelling reason to change?
-   How is this unlike an existing product?
-   What is the product’s primary differentiation?

In an environment where requirements change quickly, this focused
product vision helped teams remain focused on the critical aspects of
the product, even when details changed rapidly.

If youre interested in facilitating on your own or want to see how we did it, [here is the presentation used in this inception workshop](https://github.com/18F/digitalaccelerator/blob/18f-pages/assets/workshop-day-two.pdf).

*This is the second post in a series of three that provide a
step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop. The first went over [proto-personas and problem statements]({{ site.baseurl }}/2016/07/21/buying-better-digital-products-part-1-proto-personas-and-understanding-the-problem/). The next
post, we’ll go over mapping user stories and developing a minimum viable
product.*