Discover how to create a solid product planning strategy. Learn the core principles of identifying product value propositions, planning product versions, and how to avoid common pitfalls in product management.

For product managers, about 80% of people don't actually know how to do product planning. In this article, I’d like to explore with you how to approach product planning. In my work, I’ve found that many product people don’t truly understand what product planning is.

This is often reflected when I ask them, "What will the next version be about?" They only pull requirements from user feedback and base the next version's features on how frequently those feedbacks appear.

While it’s true that when you're just starting out, it’s okay to design products based on user feedback frequency or the needs pointed out by leadership, we cannot assume that merely creating scattered features means we are doing product planning.

In the long run, focusing only on isolated features leads to products lacking a strategic development path. Especially when we’re tasked with larger functional modules, overseeing entire projects, or even taking responsibility for an entire product line, continuing to iterate on scattered features can make the product superficial and hard to be accepted by the market and users.

Over time, we risk becoming "tool makers." 🛠

So, let’s dive in today and explore how to do product planning effectively.

What is Product Planning?

Product planning is the strategy and steps taken to realize certain product functionalities within a specific timeframe. It’s not about scattered features but about a roadmap with linear relationships.

It’s derived from the combination of product positioning, current product status, and market trends. It reflects the product value that needs to be highlighted at the current stage, and the specific steps to achieve that value. It also helps determine the focus of the next phase of work and the resources required.

Let me clarify this with an example:

Let’s say I’m a product manager at Douyin (TikTok in China). Recently, I've noticed that there’s a lot of inappropriate content on the platform—things like borderline content, inflammatory remarks, and rumors—which is harmful to the overall ecosystem of Douyin’s content. So, I decide to plan for the next six months to build a healthier content ecosystem.

To achieve this, I’ll need to establish a more comprehensive video content review system, strengthen content review processes, and introduce a user feedback mechanism for complaints.

This is a simple example of product planning, where:

• "Six months" is the product planning cycle;

• "Building a healthier content ecosystem" is the value proposition of the product;

• "Strengthening video content review, establishing user feedback mechanisms" are the specific implementation strategies.

From these strategies, we break them down into specific steps, such as:

• Building a big data collection and analysis model for violating content.

• Adding a feature for users to report content by long-pressing.

• Designing an admin panel for manual content review.

In essence, product planning is a roadmap: the starting point is the value proposition of the product, and each point on the roadmap is a specific requirement that needs to be addressed.

How to Do Product Planning?

So, now that we understand what product planning is, how do we actually do it?

The key to product planning is finding the product value proposition, which is closely related to product positioning, current product status, strategic development, and business models.

1. Determine the Product Proposition

Product planning is about defining specific steps, but its core is determining the value proposition of the product. The product value proposition is found by identifying the main conflicts or challenges in the business.

These business conflicts are derived from the insights we gather in our daily work. Let me share a real example:

Our company currently offers an accounting tool for B2B merchants. The core value of the tool is to increase the merchants' accounting efficiency and ensure data accuracy. This is why merchants choose and buy our product.

However, after launching the product for over six months, we found that our new user conversion rate and retention rate for old users were far below expectations. We urgently needed to improve user retention and conversion, so our product could enter a phase of rapid growth.

To solve this, we focused on identifying why merchants were leaving. Through extensive user research, interviews, and data collection, we discovered that the core problem was that the product wasn’t improving efficiency as promised.

Therefore, our product proposition for that year became: Make the fastest accounting tool in the industry.

We then conducted another round of research to create a user experience roadmap and implemented strategies like onboarding guides, restructuring the accounting workflow, and importing accounting data to reduce manual input. After nearly a year of iteration, the product finally gained market recognition.

So, the core of product planning is identifying the main conflict the product is facing, deriving a value proposition, and iterating around that proposition.

If we don’t have these insights, we should go back to the users, dig deep into their most authentic, core needs, and focus our efforts on meeting them.

2. Plan Product Versions

Once we have a clear product proposition, we need to list the key steps required to implement it and break them down into each version.

Each of these steps must have a corresponding timeline and clear goals, so we ensure that every milestone can be achieved.

This crosses over into project management, but here I’m focusing on version planning.

In each version, there are many things to address, but we have limited resources, especially as we enter the growth or maturity phase. We not only receive user requests but also requests from marketing, operations, and other departments (e.g., adding advertising space).

Therefore, my personal approach to version planning is:

• Each version should focus on no more than two core needs (one product need and one business need) that are aligned with the product proposition and take more than a week to develop.

This ensures we can allocate enough resources to focus on solving the key problems in each version.

By focusing on fewer issues per version, I ensure we have the energy to pursue a seamless user experience and allow development and testing to complete their tasks properly.

Of course, this is just my personal standard based on several years of collaboration with the dev team. Each team should adjust this based on their own internal resources.

3. Find Common Ground, Respect Differences

After confirming the product proposition and version planning, it’s essential to get the internal team on the same page. Share the product proposition, expected outcomes, implementation plan, and required resources, especially with leadership and stakeholders, to reach a consensus.

The goal here is to secure enough resources, gain leadership support, and avoid interruptions during execution that could delay or even halt the project.

As the project progresses, you’ll also need to regularly report on progress and outcomes.

Getting Away from "Tool" Mode

In fact, doing product planning doesn’t require you to be in charge of a product line or project. You can start practicing and developing your planning skills from day one.

For example, when you work on smaller tasks, after gathering the requirements, try to think strategically:

• Why do we need to do this?

• What’s the broader, higher-level strategic importance for the product?

Then, think about it from the bottom up:

• Is there another way to address this requirement?

• Can this be split into smaller steps or multiple cycles?

Even a small task can be approached with a broader, long-term planning mindset.

Additionally, communicate more with colleagues and leadership to understand their thought processes.

By constantly practicing this, you’ll improve your insights and quickly advance. When you start handling larger projects or entire product lines, you’ll be much more prepared.

Final Thoughts

The core of product planning lies in identifying the main conflict of the product based on its positioning, current status, strategy, and business needs.

Then, abstract that conflict into a product proposition, and break it down into actionable tasks to determine the iteration pace and plan product versions.

Happy planning! 🚀