How to Write a Product One-Pager
Product documentation is incredibly important when figuring out where you should be investing your time as a Product Manager. There are so many problems to solve and ideas to try. It can be a bit overwhelming at times. Going beyond an idea and digging in a bit deeper can help you as a Product Manager really understand how addressing a customer's pain point can ultimately help you prioritize the right problem to solve and when to solve it.
What is a One-Pager?
A one-pager is intended to be a single page of information that will provide the necessary level of context to solve core issues our customers or business face. The one-pager really helps provide the necessary context around the “WHY”.
Why do they matter?
One-pagers are incredibly important because of a number of reasons. They require you to think beyond an idea. They ask you to think big picture and see how this idea or problem ties into the overachieving goals of the business or product strategy. The one-pager requires you to understand the outcome we expect to achieve. As product people, you shouldn’t care about just building a new “feature” you should care about solving a problem our customers have that will ultimately drive the business forward. The one-pager keeps you aligned to make sure this isn’t an afterthought.
Are one-pagers always right? The short answer is NO but that is ok. The one-pager is a starting point that will allow you in product discovery to test if this is really a problem worth pursuing. If you find out that your one-pager was wrong or that it isn’t worth addressing you just saved yourself and your organization a ton of wasted time. In most cases, your one-pager will be refined as you learn more in your discovery process. You’ll continue to craft a compelling case to solve your customer's problem.
Who can write a One-Pager?
It isn’t just the job of the Product Manager to create one-pagers. Anyone in the organization can create a one-pager. Identified a problem that our customers are having? Write a one-pager. Got an idea on something the product and engineering team should build? Write a one-pager. I could keep going here but I think you get the idea.
Stakeholders, sales, marketing, customer experience or anyone for that matter can and should write a one-pager. It requires a deeper level of thinking and creates accountability for those involved to ensure we really understand how our customers can benefit from this.
How to write one?
Let’s break down each section below to better understand what makes up a one-pager. You can download an example template at the end of the article.
Key Stakeholders:
These are the people in your business that are closest to the problem you intend to solve. They are the go-to resource for industry or business knowledge. You’ll work closely with these stakeholders through the entire process so understanding who they are upfront is critical.
Business Goal Alignment:
You most likely have annual or quarterly goals that you are working towards. This will continue to center the one-pager around the goal you intended to impact ensuring that what you intend to build is driving towards accomplishing your goals.
Why does this matter to our organization:
How does this help us achieve our product strategy and ultimately the organization's vision? This is where you should be providing the necessary context to give meaning to this idea beyond addressing a specific problem or building a solution. This also ensures that everything you build into your product aligns with the long-term strategy of your organization. Similar to business goal alignment, if it does not align or help you get closer to the vision, simply put, you shouldn’t be pursuing the idea.
Core Problem:
What customer problem are we solving? Understanding the pain point you intend to address and going beyond just an idea really opens up the possibilities for you as a Product Manager to build a solution that is feasible to build, viable to the business, and most importantly desirable to your customers.
Here is a template we use for the problem statement:
I am [Type of customer] that is trying to achieve [Outcome/Job] but I can’t… because [Problem/Blocker]. This makes me feel [Emotional Problem/Social Problem]
Outcome:
What is the bet or hypotheses we are making? This keeps you accountable for actually making an impact with what you end up building. Let’s be honest, ideas are cheap. Delivering on an outcome ensures that what you are investing in really does solve a need for the customer and drive your business forward.
Here is a template we use to come up with outcome statements:
We believe that [Solving this problem/building this feature/creating this experience] will achieve [This outcome]. We will know this is true when we see [this market feedback, quantitative measure of qualitative insight].
Constraints & Dependencies:
This includes dependencies on other teams, cost, release windows, or even platform versions. There are so many moving pieces in a product organization, sometimes you’ll be blocked by other initiatives or factors that are out of your control. Outlining these ahead of time will help you remove the blockers or navigate dependencies to ensure you can meet any commitments.
Appetite:
What is the overall appetite that we have for each phase of this project? This should help define how risky or expansive we want to be with our solution(s). This will help you set key milestones before the project begins. This will also keep the team in check when evaluating the feasibility of solutions.
Existing Alternatives:
What solutions are in the market today that solve this problem well? Often times someone in the real world has already addressed this problem. Outlining a few examples of alternate experiences will help when you enter the ideation space of the project.
Sketches (Optional):
Outline high-level wireframe to provide additional direction on structure and flow. This does not have to be pretty, these are back of the napkin type sketches. This can help with the intended experience that we want to validate to address the customer's pain point.
The great thing about a one-pager is you can adapt and adjust the information required that best fits your team's needs. Every organization is different but taking the time to understand “WHY” you are investing your time into solving a problem and how you plan to make the lives of your customers better is critical to any product manager's success.
