Without a shared vision, development easily drifts off course. In this agile design blog series, we explore why a clear vision is a prerequisite for successful development, and how design helps turn direction into shared understanding and concrete action.
Imagine you’re dreaming: you’ve been brought in as a screenwriter for a major theatre production. Expectations are sky‑high. The show has been planned and marketed for years, ticket sales are booming, and opening night is just around the corner. The actors are already stepping onto the stage, asking for the script, but you suddenly realise you don’t even know whether you’re writing a comedy or a tragedy. Worse still, the director is nowhere to be found.
The audience begins to fill the seats. The curtain is about to rise. But who does what? The actors grow frustrated and start improvising. The set designers hastily build doors and windows on stage – at least the audience should have something to look at. You frantically write lines that are immediately put to use, but no one has any idea what kind of play this is becoming, or whether it will have a beginning, a middle, or an end.
Without a vision, software team is like a theatre group without a script
Without a vision, a software development team ends up in much the same situation as a theatre troupe already on stage, but without a script. Lines are delivered, but no one knows what story is being told. Direction and shared understanding are missing.
Without a vision, a backlog is nothing more than a collection of disconnected tasks. Vision gives those tasks meaning and guides prioritisation. A backlog should never be built without a clear vision, because the vision defines both the target state and the bigger picture into which the service fits.
A shared vision doesn’t emerge in a vacuum. Before a backlog can be created or an MVP defined, the team must pause to build a common understanding of what problem they are solving, and why. Vision work can be carried out as part of Sprint 0, which we discussed in more detail in the previous post of this blog series.
Once the shared direction has been clarified, the designer’s role becomes central in articulating the vision, shaping the MVP, and building the backlog. Next, we’ll look at how designers support software development teams in each of these phases.
Shared vision gives direction to the work
Creating a successful service requires a shared perspective and a great deal of collaboration. The designer helps the product owner and the team form a clear understanding of why the service is being developed and who it is for. The vision is translated into user needs, service promises, and goals that guide development. This gives direction to the work of the entire team.
These materials can also be created with the support of language models, while remembering that the most critical element is human interaction, where deeper understanding and commitment to a shared vision are formed.
In practice, vision building can be done either in a single workshop or as a series of workshops that progressively refine the goal. A one‑workshop approach works well when the organisation already has a rough sense of direction but needs shared language and validation. Participants come together to explore the value the service should create, the future changes being pursued, and the obstacles that must be removed to get there. The purpose is to create a first, clear draft of the vision. One that participants can already stand behind.
In a more extensive workshop series, the vision is built iteratively. First, background factors and current pain points are mapped out. Then the target state is refined, and finally a shared view of the desired future is shaped. Dialogue, visualisation, and joint prioritisation help participants examine the service from both user and organisational perspectives. The designer facilitates the process so that implicit assumptions are surfaced, conflicts can be addressed constructively, and the result is a vision that is clear, realistic, and inspiring. And, above all, one that the product owner and development team can rely on in their decision‑making.
First version confirms the direction is right
Alongside vision, rapid value creation is essential. Turning a vision into a fully realised service and deploying it takes time, and the vision itself will evolve along the way. Early value delivery keeps stakeholders engaged throughout the journey by providing tangible results along the way. Much like a play reveals itself to the audience line by line, scene by scene.
The designer helps the product owner clarify the MVP: the first version of the service that delivers value quickly while remaining aligned with the long‑term vision. In this way, every development step moves the product toward the goal defined in the overall vision.
Backlog turns vision into reality, one step at a time
So how do we make sure progress continues in the direction set by the vision, MVP by MVP? Every service concept needs a backlog to support it — a script for execution. When backlog creation begins, the designer becomes the product owner’s key partner. They help shape the backlog, write user stories, and apply stakeholder insights to prioritisation.
In addition, the designer co‑creates solutions with the technical team from the very beginning, ensuring the vision doesn’t remain an abstract idea but evolves into realistic, feasible steps.
The result is a backlog that is more than just a task list. It’s a shared plan for turning vision into reality. Working this way, the development team is like a theatre troupe that knows exactly what will happen on stage, and that the performance will be a success audiences want to return to again and again.
In our next blog post, we’ll dive deeper into the value of customer centricity and design collaboration from the product owner’s perspective.
Read also Tanja Florack’s blog: Start smart – how discovery and sprint 0 create a sustainable foundation for development
