This is the second blog I am doing for my Software Development Practices subject.

Visions statements are used to broadly state the goals and objectives of a project. Vision statements are distinct from mission statements in that they describe a vision for the future rather than focusing on the immediate.

There is a simple template you can fill out to help you focus your ideas into a vision statement. You need to answer these six sections:

  • For some audience...
    Who are the groups of people that your product is going to target?
    eg. PC gamers
  • Who have a problem...
    What seems to be the problem that these groups are having?
    eg. They do not have a real-time strategy game that allows large-scale strategy
  • Our product called x...
    What is the product's name and what category of solution does it lie in?
    eg. Supreme Commander is an RTS PC game
  • That solves the problem by...
    What is the main reason that would persuade these groups to use your solution?
    eg. It allows large-scale strategy games over huge maps with hundreds of units
  • Unlike...
    Who are your main competitors?
    eg. Company of Heroes
  • Our product is different because...
    How is your product better than your competitor's product?
    eg. Supreme Commander allows the player to focus on strategy rather than tactics

Once you’ve answered those questions, you can string your answers together and use some English grammar skills to make it sound smooth. To continue the example I used:

Supreme Commander is a real-time strategy game for PC gamers who want to play large-scale strategy games over huge maps with hundreds of units. Unlike Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander allows the player to focus on strategy rather than tactics.

You might want to see what a real-world company uses for a vision statement. McDonalds uses this:

McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.

All your projects should have a vision statement. When evaluating your solution you can always refer back to the vision statement and see if it matches your original vision.