Product Roadmap (Part 1)

What is a Product Roadmap?

A product roadmap is a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product offering over time. It is a strategic document that can act as a guide and a plan for executing the strategy. It communicates the why and what behind the product that you are building.

The product roadmap typically illustrates the following key elements:

• Product strategy and goals

• What products and features will be built

• When those product features will be built

• Who is responsible for building those products and features

• “Themes” or high-level priorities

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Why is Product Roadmap important?

1. Aligning business strategy with product development

A successful product team needs to manage the complexities of producing or developing products at the right cost, with the right features, using the most suitable technology. Roadmap serves as a guide for the team during their journey, aligning the business strategy with product and technology decision.

In doing so, roadmap allows the team to recognise and act on events that require a change of direction. The creation of a risk roadmap (as part of the general product roadmap), allows product team to identify events or changes in conditions that signal a need to reevaluate and revisit the plan during the development journey.

Furthermore, roadmaps reveal gaps in product and technology plans. Areas where additional planning are needed to achieve the business objectives become immediately apparent, and that gap can be filled before they become problems in the future.

2. Planning and synergy

Roadmapping allows the product team to create a plan that integrates market and customer needs, product evolution, and the introduction of new technologies at the beginning of their development journey.

It also allows the product team to fully examine potential competitive strategies and ways to implement those strategies. Technology decisions are made as an integral part of the plan, not just an afterthought.

As roadmap incorporates an explicit element of time, it can help the team make sure that they will have the technologies and capabilities at the time they will be needed to carry out their strategy.

On a larger scale, sharing roadmaps allow strategic use of technology across product lines. Cross-roadmap reviews look across the plans of several product lines to find i) synergy and common needs, ii) capabilities that can be leveraged, or iii) development costs that can be shared.

3. Prioritisation of product features

Roadmaps prioritise investments based on key drivers such as customer needs, technology investments, cost allocation etc. The product team is prompted to identify, implement, develop, or acquire the most important things first, spending time and resources in the best way.

Business sponsors, product managers and key stakeholders can use product roadmaps to determine product positioning, i.e. to identify gaps and opportunities against competitors in the markets, and determine which area of focus might make the product more competitive over time.

Roadmap also helps product team set realistic targets. Recognising that a successful product strategy usually cannot be all things to all people, the product team can set objectives to lead, maintain parity, or lag competitors in specific areas.

By having multiple roadmaps in common format, portfolio decision makers or business sponsor are also better equipped to make the tradeoffs and choices that meet the business objectives.

4. Communication

Product roadmaps are very important for communication, both internally among key stakeholders and externally to customers.

Internally, product roadmaps allows the product team to communicate key product priorities with team member and development team in a succinct and effective way. It builds a common understanding and shared ownership of the plan, incorporating ideas and insights from team members representing the many functions involved in a successful development process.

In addition to that, the product roadmap also allows the product team to tells the wider corporate management and other internal stakeholders where the product line is headed. This allows the product team to i) get buy-in on features and key priorities, ii) receive feedback and consensus on the product trajectory and iii) communicate progress.

Externally, a product roadmap is important to communicate the business, technology and product plan to customers and suppliers. Roadmap provide customer information that they can use in their own planning. Product team can also use this opportunity to solicit customer’s reaction and guidance. With suppliers, the roadmap can act as a framework for partnership and direction setting.

In the second part of the article, we will examine some of the important tips of creating a effective and functional product roadmap.