projectdoc Toolbox

Frame the vision for a project or iteration.

ID
project vision
Suite
Parent
Documentation Type
Categories
Tags
Since
9.0

Description

Frame the vision for your project or iteration. Log facts relevant for everyone on your team to envision the aim of your collective work.

 

Prior to version 9.0 this doctype has been named vision statement.

Properties

The document type project vision provides the following properties:

 

Please note that only information about specific properties is provided here. Common document property used by all document types are documented by Document Properties.

Head Note

Provide brief description of the vision, probably in less than three sentences.

For those who do not want to distinguish between the short description and the head note, this property per default points to the Short Description.

Type

The type provides a couple of predefined values.

project
The vision for the project and its main product.
subproject
The vision for a part of the project and its product.
iteration
The vision for an iteration. Similar to the goal for the iteration a team is working to accomplish.
other
The vision for some other type of venture.
 

You may also remove the macro value and replace it with a Name List Macro and its own type.

Sections

Elevator Statement

The elevator statement provides a brief, concise definition of the project's goal and value proposition.

An elevator pitch, elevator speech, or elevator statement is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization or event and its value proposition. 

Wikipedia

Gerard Meszaros suggests in From Concept to Product Backlog the following template to use:

For (target customers)
who are dissatisfied with (the current market alternatives),
our product is a (new product category)
that provides (key problem-solving capability).
Unlike (the product alternative)
we have assembled (key "whole product" features for our specific application).

On mindtools.com provides tips on Crafting an Elevator Pitch:

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you can use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use one to create interest in a project, idea, or product.

It needs to be succinct, while conveying important information.

To craft a great pitch, follow these steps.

  • Identify your goal.
  • Explain what you do.
  • Communicate your USP.
  • Engage with a question.
  • Put it all together.
  • Practice.

Try to keep a business card or other take-away item with you, which helps the other person remember you and your message. And cut out any information that doesn't absolutely need to be there.

Mind Tools. Crafting an Elevator Pitch

Description

Describe the objectives of the projects and list what problems the to-be-created system should solve.

The description

  • formulates the problem
  • addresses no solutions
  • mentions no technologies or techniques
  • is written in the language of the user of the system. 

Justification

Describe why this project has been initiated and why the objectives of this project are important for the enterprise.

Possibly this project substitutes a running system. In this case the deficiencies will be mentioned that need to be addressed by the new system. Also the well solved issues of the old system should be mentioned to prevent the new system fall behind the old system in particular aspects.

Context

Describe the context in which the system is used by its users form the user's perspective.

This includes:

  • who is using the system (see actors section)
  • how the system is used
  • which kind of interface does the system provide.

It may also mention other systems the new system is communicating with. 

You may want to provide a context diagram and reference or transclude it here.

Essential Stakeholders

List the essential (and initial) stakeholders. Stakeholders mentioned here are involved in the vision and/or the sponsoring of the project.

 

Use the Stakeholder Doctype to document the stakeholders of your project. Then either select on them using the Display List Macro or use the Tour Macro and enumerate the essential stakeholders.

Essential Actors

List the central actors of the system to be created.

 

Use the Role Doctype to document the roles of your project. Then either select on them using the Display List Macro or use the Tour Macro and enumerate the essential roles.

Essential Features

List the top (usually up to seven) features that are the building blocks and key features of the new system. Describe the features in present tense, since they already exist in the vision.

 

Use the Feature Doctype to document the features of your product. Then either select on them using the Display List Macro or use the Tour Macro and enumerate the most important features.

Subordinate Visions

In case you want to subdivide the vision in a number of visions. This will rarely be the case, but since most templates allow this form of partitioning, this doctype is no exception.

Notes

These are internal notes that are usually not exported and only visible to team members with write access.

But this is not a safe place to store sensible information. It is just a convenience for the reader to not be bothered with notes stored here for the authors for later use. The security level is about suppressing the representation by a CSS style. Therefore consider this as a convenience for the reader, not as a security tool.

 

The text of notes sections is also indexed.

References

For a document the references section contains pointers to resources that prove the statements of the document.

Often these proofs are not easily distinguishable from further information. In this case you may want to skip the reference section in favour for the resource list.

 

For further information please refer to References and Resources.

Resources

The resources section provides references to further information to the topic of the document.

This may be information on the internet provided by the resource or information in the team's information systems. Anything the reader of the resource might want to know, may be listed here.

 

For further information please refer to References and Resources.