Vision and Scope Document

for

<Project>
Version 1.0 approved

Prepared by <author>

<organization>

<date created>

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.
Vision and Scope for <Project> Page ii

Table of Contents
Table of Contents................................................................................................................ii
Revision History..................................................................................................................ii
1. Business Requirements..................................................................................................1
1.1. Background............................................................................................................1
1.2. Business Problem or Opportunity..........................................................................1
1.3. Business Objectives................................................................................................1
1.4. Success Metrics......................................................................................................1
1.5. Vision Statement....................................................................................................1
1.6. Business Risks........................................................................................................2
1.7. Business Assumptions and Dependencies..............................................................2
2. Scope and Limitations...................................................................................................2
2.1. Major Features........................................................................................................2
2.2. Scope of Initial Release..........................................................................................2
2.3. Scope of Subsequent Releases...............................................................................2
2.4. Limitations and Exclusions....................................................................................3
3. Business Context...........................................................................................................3
3.1. Stakeholder Profiles...............................................................................................3
3.2. Project Priorities.....................................................................................................4
3.3. Deployment Considerations...................................................................................4

Revision History

Name Date Reason For Changes Version

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.
Vision and Scope for <Project> Page 1

1. Business Requirements
<The business requirements provide the foundation and reference for all detailed requirements
development. You may gather business requirements from the customer or development
organization’s senior management, an executive sponsor, a project visionary, product owner,
product manager, the marketing department, or other stakeholders who have a clear sense of
why the project is being undertaken and the ultimate value it will provide, both to the business
and to its customers.>

1.1. Background
<Summarize the rationale for the new product. Provide a general description of the history or
situation that leads to the recognition that this product should be built.>

1.2. Business Problem or Opportunity

<Describe the business problem that is being solved or the business opportunity that exists.
Describe the market in which a commercial product will be competing or the environment in
which an information system will be used. This may include a brief comparative evaluation of
existing products and potential solutions, indicating why the proposed product is attractive.
Identify the problems that cannot currently be solved without the product, and how the product
fits in with market trends or corporate strategic directions.

This is a good template for a problem statement:

Situation Describe the background, context, and environment.

Problem Describe the business problem (or problems) as you now understand it
Implication Describe the likely results if the problem isn’t solved.
Benefit State the business value of solving the problem.
Vision Describe what the desired future state would look like.>

1.3. Business Objectives

<Describe the important business objectives of the product in a way that is quantitative and
measurable. Focus on the value provided to the business, including estimates of revenue or
cost savings, return on investment analysis, or target release dates.>

1.4. Success Metrics

< Determine how success will be defined and measured for this product. Describe the factors
that are likely to have the greatest impact on achieving that success. Include things within the
organization’s control as well as external factors. Establish measurable criteria to assess
whether the business objectives have been met or whether the trends are moving in the desired
direction toward the goal.>

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.
Vision and Scope for <Project> Page 2

1.5. Vision Statement

<Write a concise vision statement that summarizes the purpose and intent of the new product
and describes what the world will be like when it includes the product. The vision statement
should reflect a balanced view that will satisfy the needs of diverse stakeholders as well as
those of the developing organization. The vision should be grounded in the realities of existing
or anticipated customer markets, enterprise architectures, organizational strategic directions,
and cost and resource limitations.

This is a good template for a vision statement:

For target customer

Who statement of the need or opportunity
The product name
Is product category
That major capabilities, key benefit, compelling reason to buy or use
Unlike primary competitive alternative, current system, current business process
Our product statement of primary differentiation and advantages of new product>

1.6. Business Risks

<Summarize the major business risks associated with developing this product, such as
marketplace competition, timing issues, user acceptance, implementation issues, or possible
negative impacts on the business. Estimate the severity of the risks and identify any risk
mitigation actions that could be taken.>

1.7. Business Assumptions and Dependencies

<Record any assumptions that were made when conceiving the project and preparing this
document. Note any major dependencies the project must rely upon for success, such as
specific technologies, third-party vendors, development partners, or other business
relationships.>

2. Scope and Limitations

<The project scope defines the concept and range of the proposed solution. It’s also helpful to
define what will not be included in the product. Clarifying the scope and limitations helps to
establish realistic expectations of the many stakeholders. It also provides a reference frame
against which proposed features and requirements changes can be evaluated. Proposed
requirements that are out of scope for the envisioned product must be rejected, unless they are
so beneficial that the scope should be enlarged to accommodate them (with accompanying
changes in budget, schedule, and/or resources).>

2.1. Major Features

<Include a numbered list of the major features of the new product, emphasizing those features
that distinguish it from previous or competing products. Specific user requirements and
functional requirements developed later may be traced back to these features.>

2.2. Scope of Initial Release

<Describe the intended major features that will be included in the initial release of the product.
Consider the benefits the product is intended to bring to the various customer communities, and

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.
Vision and Scope for <Project> Page 3

generally describe the product features and quality characteristics that will enable it to provide
those benefits. Avoid the temptation to include every possible feature that any potential
customer category might conceivably want some day. Focus on those features and product
characteristics that will provide the most value, at the most acceptable development cost, to the
broadest community. A feature tree or feature table is a useful way to represent this scope.>

2.3. Scope of Subsequent Releases

<If a staged evolution of the product is envisioned over time, indicate which major features will
be deferred to later releases.>

2.4. Limitations and Exclusions

<Identify any product features or characteristics that a stakeholder might anticipate, but which
are not planned to be included in the new product.>

3. Business Context
<This section summarizes some of the business issues around the project, including profiles of
major customer categories, assumptions that went into the project concept, and the
management priorities for the project.>

3.1. Stakeholder Profiles

<Stakeholders are individuals, groups, or organizations that are actively involved in a project,
are affected by its outcome, or can influence its outcome. The stakeholder profiles identify the
customers for this product and other stakeholders, and states their major interests in the
product. Characterize business-level customers, target market segments, and different user
classes, to reduce the likelihood of unexpected requirements surfacing later. For each category,
the profile includes the major value or benefits they will receive from the product, their likely
attitudes toward the product, major features and characteristics of interest, and any known
constraints that must be accommodated. Examples of stakeholder value include:

 improved productivity
 reduced errors and rework
 cost savings
 streamlined business processes
 automation of previously manual tasks
 ability to perform entirely new tasks or functions
 conformance to current standards or regulations
 improved usability or reduced frustration level compared to current applications

There are many ways to record stakeholder profiles. Here’s one template:>

Stakeholder Roles Interests Influence Needs Concerns

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.
Vision and Scope for <Project> Page 4

3.2. Project Priorities

<Describe the priorities among the project’s requirements, schedule, and budget. The table
below may be helpful in identifying the parameters around the project’s key drivers (top priority
objectives), constraints to work within, and dimensions that can be balanced against each other
to achieve the drivers within the known constraints. Examples:>

Dimension Driver Constraint Degree of Freedom

(state objective) (state limits) (state allowable range)
Schedule release 1.0 to be
available by 10/1,
release 1.1 by 12/1
Features 70-80% of high priority
features must be included in
release 1.0
Quality 90-95% of user acceptance
tests must pass for release
1.0, 95-98% for release 1.1
Staff maximum team size is
1 PO, 1 BA, 6
developers, 3 testers
Cost budget overrun up to 15%
acceptable without sponsor
review

3.3. Deployment Considerations

<Summarize the information and activities that are needed to ensure an effective deployment of
the solution into its operating environment. Describe the access that users will require to be able
to use the system, such as whether the users are distributed over multiple time zones or located
close to each other. If infrastructure changes are needed to support the software’s need for
capacity, network access, data storage, or data migration, describe those changes. Record any
information that will be needed by people who will be preparing training or modifying business
processes in conjunction with deployment of the new solution.>

Copyright © 2023 by Karl Wiegers and Seilevel Partners LP. Permission is granted to use and modify.