A county case-management Product Owner has been writing the Product Vision alone; caseworkers who will live in the product have not been asked. What should the Product Owner do?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Writing vision without caseworkers is like designing a firehouse kitchen without asking the crew what they grab at 2 a.m. They know the job. Invite them in — the Product Owner still owns the call, but the picture gets real.
Full Explanation
A county case-management Product Vision invented alone by the Product Owner without caseworkers who will live in the product risks solving the wrong job. Co-creating the vision with caseworkers and other key users grounds direction in real work, not vacuum strategy. Finishing the vision in isolation so caseworkers cannot dilute strategy with operational complaints treats user insight as noise rather than evidence. Outsourcing vision writing to the implementing vendor subordinates city outcomes to vendor narrative. Waiting until after the first release and then surveying slogan preference learns too late and confuses branding with vision. Exam caveat: involving users in shaping vision is expected advanced Product Ownership practice. Operational check: facilitate short co-creation sessions with caseworkers, draft outcome language they recognize, validate with other key users, then publish and use that vision to order the backlog before major build investment. Caseworkers co-creating county case-management vision reduces the risk of an elegant strategy that fails operational reality. Validate draft outcome language with users before major build investment and keep vendor narratives from owning the vision.