We Just Made Your Product Strategy Even More Visual

Great products are often the result of having a breakthrough plan. Aha! makes it easy to define your strategy by setting product vision, goals, and initiatives for each product and product line. We believe that linking your plan all the way to your releases and features creates a “red thread of strategy.”

A great roadmap starts with a clear product vision and a canvas that explains how customer and market forces shape your product’s direction. That’s why you should define your strategy and keep it top-of-mind during the roadmapping process.

Our goal has always been to allow product teams to define their strategy using Aha! Now, your product strategy is even more visual. We just added a more beautiful design. We have also added new features that allow you to better communicate your strategy to key customers and colleagues.

In Aha! a strategy has three key parts that are related: the Vision, Goals, and Initiatives. The Vision section allows you to describe the technology, market, and other forces that are impacting your product. Goals describe quantifiable objectives. And Initiatives describe high level projects to help you realize your goals. These three can be linked together to show strategic relationships on your visual roadmap.

Vision Your product vision should enhance the overall company strategy, your outlook for the product, and where both are headed. A good vision is supported by details of who the customers are, what they need, and your go-to-market plan. It captures the essence of what you aim to achieve, the opportunities you have, and the threats that you face.

This is crucial information that your team must understand to develop and maintain a winning product. Whether you are using SWOT, a basic market assessment, or a business canvas planning approach, we provide a framework for you to create your strategy and visually share it with key folks in your organization.

Goals Your product goals should have a measurable end result that can be achieved within a fixed timeframe. Your objectives should represent the crucial accomplishments needed to make your vision a reality. They highlight what you hope to accomplish, and are often stepping stones to accelerating business growth and explaining bolder goals.

To add goals, go to the Strategy - Goals screen. If you haven’t entered a goal, Aha! will prompt you to do so. To add a new goal, simply click on + Add Goal. Enter the goal name, an optional description, and the success metric. Goals can also be linked to Initiatives, Releases, and Features. Ensure that you’re planning what matters by linking each of these to the goals that they drive.

Examples of Goals:

• Increase revenue by 30%

• Grow the number of customers by 10x

• Expand into 5 new countries

• Increase mobile adoption by 100%

• Reduce the number of support tickets

Initiatives Initiatives allow you to specify key work that must be completed to achieve your goals. Think of these efforts as high level projects that should be accomplished within a specified period of time — even if this is over a few months. You can also use the chart on the Initiatives screen to easily visualize the initiatives you are delivering by plotting the relative value and effort of each one.

To add initiatives, go to the Strategy - Initiatives screen. Aha! will prompt you to add an initiative if you haven’t already done so. To add a new initiative, simply click + Add Initiative. Enter the initiative name (and a description, if you wish).

Examples of Initiatives:

• Performance improvements

• UI Improvements

• Better reporting

• Language localization

• Mobilization

• Self serviceability improvements

• Better analytics

Initiatives can be linked to goals, parent initiatives, releases, and features. Rolling up initiatives enables your product team to focus on delivering a roadmap against product strategy. At the same time, this automatically rolls up the strategic importance to higher levels in the organization — all the way up to the company level.

A great roadmap starts with a clear product vision, and is executed by staying aligned through goals and initiatives. Now, your product strategy will beautifully communicate how your product will meet its business objectives.

Signup for a free Aha! trial — be happy It’s now easy to create brilliant product strategy. These features are available to all Aha! customers. If you are not already an Aha! customer, you may want to sign up for a free 30 day trial of Aha! now to see why over 10,000 users trust Aha! to set product strategy, create visual roadmaps, and prioritize releases and features.