What Is a Product Goal in Scrum?
The Scrum Guide defines the Product Goal as a future state of the product that serves as a planning target for the Scrum Team. It resides in the Product Backlog and provides transparency, with the Product Owner responsible for developing and explicitly communicating it.
Metaphor
A Product Goal is like the cover image on a jigsaw puzzle box. It shows the picture you’re trying to create, even though you’ll assemble it piece by piece.
In Scrum, the Product Goal guides the Product Backlog and helps the team align their work toward that future state.
Works Consulted
In addition to any sources cited above, the following works informed my thinking: (1)
1.
Wolpers S. Your Unfit Product Goal and the Product Goal Canvas — Making Your Scrum Work (28) [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2025 Sep 4]. Available from: https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/your-unfit-product-goal-and-product-goal-canvas-making-your-scrum-work-28