Principle 1: Set your vision, mission and strategy

Vision

A vision describes what we want to achieve. It is a clear, concise and inspirational description of the desired long-term change resulting from your work.

The vision sets a North Star to give direction for you and your team. It should be memorable and inspiring.

When creating your product or service vision, think about:

where are we going?
what do we want to achieve in the future?
what kind of future do we envisage?

Your vision should describe an outcome, not a solution. The outcomes should be measurable. It should be stretching and aspirational, but achievable. It does not need to be overcomplicated. You should make sure the scope of your vision is not too broad.

Your vision should link to your strategy and mission statement. You should use the same vision across all phases, alongside your specific strategy and mission statement for each phase. Revisit your vision regularly.

Avoid setting your vision in isolation. You should test your vision with your users, team and stakeholders.

Mission

A mission is a clear, meaningful and motivational statement that describes what you're currently seeking to achieve and who it is for. You can use this as a guiding policy for decision making – does the work contribute to the mission?

Your mission is your elevator pitch - a brief speech outlining what it is you're doing. It should be easy for people to understand what you're hoping to achieve.

Your mission should include:

what do we do now?
who do we do it for?
what are we trying to accomplish to solve the problem?
what impact do we want to achieve?

You should make sure the scope of your mission is not too broad. You should also avoid having unrealistic goals, and wooly objectives which are not SMART.

Strategy

A product strategy describes how your team will realise your vision - this is the 'how'.

Your strategy should be based on the outcomes you plan to achieve. It should link to the bigger picture. When deciding your strategy - you should understand what will make the biggest difference. You should avoid having a definitive output - your strategy may change due to external factors.

Your strategy is not a description of what you plan to achieve by what dates - that is your delivery plan. It should cover the entire product lifecycle - not just the creation and development.

Your strategy should include how you'll measure success linked to the outcomes. You should also think about what needs to happen offline to help you be successful.

Considering the bigger picture

Know how your work fits within the overall goals of DfE, and the broader aims of digital government. Communicate to try and influence future strategies.

Understand the ecosystem of your work - what links to it and what sits near it. Find people who are working on similar services and learn from them.

Understand what standards you need to adhere to. You'll also need to understand constraints - both in terms of scope and policy, and technical choices.

Develop and maintain an understanding of the relevant economic, social, political, environmental and technological landscape.

Bring together the views, perspectives and diverse needs of your users and stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the space you are working in.