# product-vision

Walks you through writing a future-state product vision that keeps a distributed team aligned and points the roadmap in one direction.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 376 installs · ★ 1434
- Author: RefoundAI
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-07-16
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/refoundai-product-vision

## What it does

The skill runs four steps. You define the destination, turn technical goals into an emotional metaphor or a strategic story, make the outcome concrete with prototypes or storyboards, then work backward from that ideal state into a multi-year roadmap. The principles come from Lenny's Podcast and newsletter episodes, and the frameworks include Column A vs. Column B, the 10-Star Experience, Three-Year Painted Picture, Amazon PRFAQ and Roman Pichler's Product Vision Board.

It also flags the usual failure modes. Teams plan from the resources they have instead of the state they want, or lean so hard on A/B testing that nascent opportunities stay invisible. Prompts in the skill push you toward questions like what feeling users should get, and what the world looks like ten years after the mission succeeds.

You need a local copy of the `RefoundAI/lenny-skills` repository and an agent that reads skill files. The full source lists live in `references/artifacts.md` and `references/guest-insights.md`, so without them some of the referenced material stays a stub.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill product-vision -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/product-vision/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill product-vision -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill product-vision -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install RefoundAI/lenny-skills product-vision
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill product-vision -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills --path skills/product-vision
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill product-vision -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/product-vision/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- articulate a future product state grounded in a real user problem
- translate technical goals into a metaphor the whole team can act on
- build a storyboard or prototype that shows stakeholders the intended experience
- turn an ideal future into a staged multi-year roadmap
- catch a team planning from today's resources instead of the target state

## Example prompts
- help me define a product vision, starting from the user problem
- turn our technical goals into a metaphor the team will remember
- work backward from this vision into a three-year roadmap

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 85ca51fd26a69231.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 85ca51fd26a69231
```text
---
name: product-vision
description: Help users define a compelling, qualitative description of a future state that aligns decentralized teams and motivates long-term innovation.
---

# Product Vision Creation

Design an aspirational future state that inspires teams and guides strategic decision-making.

Help the user with product vision creation using insights from 22 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

## How to Help

1. **Define the Destination** - Guide the user in articulating a lofty yet realistic future state grounded in a potent user problem.
2. **Craft the Narrative** - Help translate technical goals into an emotional metaphor or a strategic narrative that resonates with human psychology.
3. **Visualize the Outcome** - Advise on creating visual prototypes or storyboards that make the abstract vision concrete for stakeholders.
4. **Connect to Execution** - Facilitate the process of working backward from the ideal future to create a tactical multi-year roadmap.

## Core Principles

### Use Emotional Metaphors
Ami Vora: "If we all agree that the feeling of something should be, I'm sitting in Dolores Park with my friends on a sunny Saturday, then people will just naturally build something that feels more consistent."

Establish a shared emotional metaphor to guide decentralized teams toward consistent decision making without constant oversight.

### Ground Vision in Potent Problems
Ebi Atawodi: "So four things. So it has to be lofty, it has to be realistic, it has to be devoid of any tech or limitations of today, and it has to be grounded in a very clear and potent problem. User problem."

Ensure the vision is rooted in a clear and significant user problem that the team feels personally motivated to solve.

### Synthesize Across Functions
Mihika Kapoor: "You want to always ensure that there are research insights that help you feel what a user is feeling. You want to ensure that there are beautiful designs and prototypes that help communicate what this future world looks like, and you also want to root it in engineering and feasibility. And you want to be constantly, even in the vision phase, assuring that what you're marching after is something that is achievable and something that you can work towards."

A compelling vision must be a cross-functional blend of deep user empathy, technical feasibility, and visual storytelling.

### Balance Art with Science
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 85ca51fd26a69231

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