A product roadmap is a document that outlines the goals, features, and timeline for a product. It is used to communicate the product’s vision to stakeholders and to track progress over time.
A product roadmap is a high-level action plan that outlines the vision, direction, and progress of a product over time. It’s a strategic plan that defines a goal and includes the steps needed to reach
Components of Product Roadmap
- Vision and goals: What do you want the product to achieve?
- Themes or initiatives: These are high-level areas of focus that contribute to the product’s vision and goals. Themes help organize related features or user stories into broader categories.
- Features or user stories: These are the specific functionalities or customer-centric descriptions that represent the desired outcomes. Each feature or user story should be well-defined, measurable, and aligned with the product’s goals.
- Priorities: The roadmap helps prioritize features or user stories based on their importance and value. It enables the team to focus on delivering the most critical functionalities first while considering dependencies and constraints.
- Timeline or release schedule: The roadmap typically includes a timeline that shows when certain features or releases are expected. It helps stakeholders and customers understand the planned milestones and delivery dates.
The following are additional suggestions for creating a product roadmap:
- Include critical stakeholders in the roadmap creation process to ensure that the roadmap is aligned with the requirements of the product’s intended users.
- Maintain roadmap flexibility as a true Agile artifact that remains evolving document as necessary.
- Regularly communicate the roadmap to stakeholders to ensure their alignment with the vision and product’s progress.
Objectives of Product Roadmap
- Describe the vision and strategy
- Provide a guiding document for executing the strategy
- Get internal stakeholders in alignment
- Facilitate discussion of options and scenario planning
- Help communicate with external stakeholders, including customers
Who is responsible for the product roadmap?
Product roadmap creation should be a group effort, but the product management team should ultimately be responsible for their creation and maintenance.
Prioritization Tools
The most crucial question for the Product roadmap is what will remain and what will be eliminated. What is beneficial and what is not? Many tools can be used for this purpose;
MoSCoW
The MOSCOW method is an Agile prioritization technique. It categorizes requirements or features into four categories: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have.
- Must-haves are critical for product success and must be included in the current release.
- Should-haves are important but not critical and can be included if resources permit.
- Could-haves are desirable but not essential, and
- Won’t-haves are explicitly excluded from the release.
KANO Model
The Kano Model is a technique used to categorize customer requirements or features based on their impact on customer satisfaction. It classifies requirements into five categories: Must-be, One-dimensional, Attractive, Indifferent, and Reverse. It helps prioritize features by understanding their impact on customer satisfaction and guides product development decisions to deliver the most value to customers.
100 Point Method
The product roadmap is an essential communication and planning tool for Agile teams. It helps align stakeholders, facilitates decision-making, and provides a shared understanding of the product’s direction. However, it’s important to note that Agile emphasizes responding to change, so the roadmap should be viewed as a living document that can be adjusted as new information emerges or priorities shift.
