Writing a Product One-pager

Product strategy document

A product strategy document is a document that outlines the goals and objectives for a product, as well as the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve those goals. This document is also sometimes referred to as a product one-pager because the goal of this document is to communicate the strategy of the product in the most concise and succinct way possible. Most organizations have their own templates for writing product strategy documents, but these documents typically include information such as the target market, competitive landscape, and the key features and benefits of the product.

To write a product strategy document for an API product, we need to consider the following elements:

• Target market: Identify the specific industries and companies that would benefit from using the API. Use market research to identify the market segments and audiences that would be the best fit for our proposed product. Use top-down, bottom-up, or theory of value strategies for calculating the Total Addressable Market (TAM).

• Competitive landscape: Analyze the existing API offerings on the market and identify how our API differentiates itself. Use the SWOT analysis method to evaluate our product’s competitive position in the market. This is also our opportunity to highlight customer pain points that are currently unaddressed by existing products.

• Value proposition: Outline the key features and benefits of the API that will appeal to our target market and solve their specific problems. Dive into the details of how our solution delights customers and why customers would want to use our product.

• Monetization strategy: Determine how we will generate revenue from the API, such as through subscription fees or usage-based pricing. Having studied the competitive landscape and understanding the value that our product will deliver to customers, we can derive the right pricing strategy for our product offering.

• Go-to-market strategy: Outline the tactics that will be used to promote and sell the API, such as targeted marketing campaigns, partnerships, and developer outreach. Sales, marketing, and developer relations teams are our key stakeholders in establishing the go-to-market strategy. This is where the skills in stakeholder alignment will come in handy.

• Roadmap: Define the development, launch, and update plans for the API and its features. Partner with our engineering leads to define the scope of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and specify the included features. We can use the API maturity framework to establish the different phases of our product development and establish the estimated timeline for all the phases of our product launch.

• Metrics of success: Define how we will measure the success of the API, such as user engagement, revenue, and adoption rate. Use the framework for identifying the infrastructure needs to make sure we have the infrastructure scoped for our product. Use the product metrics and business metrics to establish KPIs for various phases of our product development journey.

The structure of this document might vary from organization to organization. We can also add sections to capture information that might be specific to our product and domain. It’s important to keep in mind that the product strategy document should be a living document and should be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect the changing market and customer needs. Let's look at an example of a product strategy document using this framework.

Sample strategy document

Imagine that we are the product manager proposing to build a new “Smart Traffic API” and we want to present this product idea to the leadership in our organization. Here is an example of what our product one-pager might look like.

Target market:

• Cities and municipalities looking to optimize traffic flow and reduce congestion.

• Transportation companies looking to improve route planning and delivery efficiency.

Competitive landscape:

• There are several existing traffic APIs on the market, but most are limited in scope and do not offer the level of granularity and real-time data that our API will provide.

Value proposition: 

• Our API provides real-time traffic data for major roads and highways, as well as detailed information on traffic incidents and road closures.

• Our API also offers advanced features such as predictive traffic analysis and route optimization for transportation companies.

• This will help cities and municipalities to make better-informed decisions about traffic management and transportation companies to optimize their routes, saving time and fuel costs.

Monetization strategy:

• We will offer a freemium model, where basic traffic data is available for free, but advanced features such as predictive analysis and route optimization will be offered on a subscription basis.

• We will also offer a pay-per-use pricing model for high-volume users.

Go-to-market strategy:

• We will target cities and municipalities through targeted online and offline advertising campaigns.

• We will also reach out to transportation companies through industry events and online marketing campaigns.

• We will also offer free trials and demo versions of the API to encourage usage and adoption.

Roadmap:

• Phase 1 (Q1): Development of the basic traffic data API.

• Phase 2 (Q2): Release of advanced features such as predictive traffic analysis and route optimization. 

• Phase 3 (Q3): Release of the API for international cities.

We could also present this information in a visual roadmap highlighting every activity on a timeline as shown in the following figure.