Roadmap 101: What It Is, Why Your Product Needs It
In simple terms, a product roadmap is a document that outlines how you get from point A to point B. There are many ways to get from point to point – think about the number of routes you get on Google Maps, ultimately they all go to the same place. In our product teams, our job is about figuring out how to best get there.
However, what can get lost is why we use roadmaps – not only in terms of delivering our product and its value, but also how it is being used internally as a tool by your team.
Here is a list of the top five reasons for using roadmaps:
- Communicating Product Strategy
- Share the product story and overall positioning with your leadership team.
- Planning/Prioritizing Products and Features
- Selecting the core features that define your product’s application.
- Reaching Consensus on Product Direction
- Getting everyone on the same page maintains focus and builds morale.
- Communicating Milestones
- Open communication will keep team members informed of tasks that are in process and when they will be delivered.
- Managing Backlogs
- Keeping staff on track by tracking issues that are delaying product delivery.
That’s a lot to keep track of in one document – and when you are managing all of these expectations, it can be really hard to find the right system to use for your product roadmap.
In the end, your team is the most important resource and you should find a system that makes it easy for your team to track priorities.
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About the Video:
Speaker: Donna Boyer
About the speaker
About the host
Randhir Vieira is the VP of Product at Headspace - leading the product team to achieve the organization’s mission of improving health and happiness around the world. Prior to Headspace, Randhir was the Chief Customer Officer at Mindflash, a leading cloud-based Learning Management System. He was also the VP of Product and Customer Care at Eyefi - and Senior Product Director at Yahoo.