Clarity in Product Definition: The Antidote to Lateral Drift
by Quasortech Labs
Hariharan Subramanian; July 24th, 2025
The Sliding Scale of Clarity: Why Product Definition Matters
In the lifecycle of any product - especially those emerging from innovative or evolving spaces - clarity around what the product actually does isn’t just helpful. It’s everything. A vague product vision can slowly derail even the most ambitious efforts, especially when real-world market demands start shaping what the product could be, rather than what it should be.
Let’s look at how this unfolds.
The Sliding Scale of Clarity
Imagine this broad product vision:
"We aim to make farmers' lives easier and more effective by building automated farm management systems."
Sounds inspiring, right? But its broadness is a double-edged sword.
With a vision this wide, almost anything - from crop monitoring and irrigation control to payroll automation - can sneak into scope. Before long, the product becomes a patchwork of loosely connected features, chasing every shiny opportunity and spiraling into complexity.
Now consider a more focused version:
“We aim to make farmers' lives easier by building an automated system that detects inconsistencies in electrical supply lines and sends alerts.”
Better. More defined. But still vulnerable.
It’s not hard to imagine a sales team eyeing adjacent markets - like manufacturing or infrastructure - where this kind of solution could also apply. Suddenly, you’re not building for farmers anymore. You’re selling across industries without the operational focus to support it.
Finally, the tightest version:
“We aim to make farmers' lives easier by building an automated system to detect voltage fluctuations, frequency variations, and abnormal current draw in electrical supply lines, and issue timely alerts.”
Now we’re talking. This version:
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Defines the user
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Defines the use case
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Defines the technical scope
This level of clarity creates a filter. A guidepost. It stops lateral sprawl before it starts, helping every function - product, sales, marketing, support - pull in the same direction.
Why Lateral Drift Happens
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Market pressure: Sales teams chase quick wins
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Lack of boundaries: Broad visions get interpreted freely
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Customer demands: One-off custom requests accumulate
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Undefined ICP: No clear profile of who the product is for
Without clarity, it becomes harder to say "no"—to features, to industries, to deals. And that can slowly unravel product cohesion.
Clarity as a Strategic Lever:
Clarity isn’t binary - it’s a spectrum. And where you land on that spectrum depends on your market, your leadership vision, and how fast you're willing to evolve. But one principle always holds:
The clearer the focus, the greater the alignment.
Saying “no” to tempting distractions is hard - especially under revenue pressure. But strategic clarity gives you permission to say no. It protects your product from becoming everything to everyone - and, in the process, nothing to anyone.
Comparing the Focus Levels:
Clarity isn’t binary - it’s a spectrum. And where you land on that spectrum depends on your market, your leadership vision, and how fast you're willing to evolve. But one principle always holds:
Clarity isn't about limitation. It's about intention.
The more deliberate your product definition, the more power you have to build something meaningful, aligned, and built to last.
In conclusion,
In fast-moving markets, vagueness gets exploited. If your product scope isn’t clear, sales will define it for you, based on deals they want to close. But when clarity is embedded from day one, it becomes your product’s best defense - and your team’s best asset.