The document discusses the importance of creating a product narrative to provide clarity for a team working on a new product. It defines a narrative as a report of connected events presented through words and images. It then provides an example product narrative for an admissions process at a startup incubator. The example demonstrates how a narrative outlines each step from a user perspective with details to provide shared understanding for collaborative work. It is noted that creating a narrative helps avoid wasted time and arguments while its absence can lead to chaos. Common mistakes to avoid are making the narrative too rigid or hypothetical rather than focused on shipping improvements.

2. Build a Product
Narrative
Gautham

3. A narrativeis a report of connected events,
real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of
written or spoken words, and/or still or moving
images.

4. Narrative is just a natural
progression of things
• Thoughts
• Words (Narrative fits
in here)
• Action (Alpha launch)

5. Where are you now?
• You have finalised on an idea after ideation
• You know who your Target audience is
• You have surveyed your customers and talked to them
• You know what their problems are
• Some of your notions of how the product should be has
already been debunked

6. Why do you need a Product
Narrative?
• We are seeking C.L.A.R.I.T.Y; so that
we can act cohesively as a group and
produce very real results.

7. Let me lead with you an
example
• All of you have been through the Admission process at SV.CO, right?
Well, we have decided to alter it a little, and I’m about to give you a
sneak preview :-)
• I am gonna take you through a real product narrative on which the
engineering team of SV.CO is actually working on.

8. These are actual screenshots
from an internal product
narrative doc for ‘Admissions’
process
The process that you guys went through

9. The doc starts with clearly listing
all steps from a user perspective

10. The details harden, listing down of the details
that are to be collected about the applicant in
the beginning are discussed.

11. What happens after the details are entered?
Notice how the
product narrative
is collaborative

12. Details of the next steps
(Application Fee, in this case)

13. Let’s skip a few steps, what should the teams
see when they have cleared the coding task?

14. How should adding
co-founders happen?
What should happen
next?
What happens if they
fail the video task?
What happens if the
team clears?

15. How does having a robust
product narrative help?
• Clarity. Clarity. Clarity
• Time is not wasted
• Teamwork is meaningful, productive and fun.
• Everybody clearly knows what’s being built and most
importantly, what’s not being built

16. What can go wrong if you don’t
have a good product narrative?
• Major league chaos
• Serious wastage of time
• Misunderstanding and arguments among founders

17. What are some common mistakes teams
make while making a product narrative?
• Teams try to make it too rigid, too explanatory
• Every worst case scenario is imagined and corrective
action is tried to build in. Not a great practice. Ship and
improve. Ship and improve.
• Not making the product narrative construction a
collaborative effort.

18. First draft of every document
ever written sucks.
That’s okay. Just ship it.