Product R-O-A-D-M-A-P

Just you stick with it!

A product roadmap can be a very useful tool. A product roadmap has its limitations. A product roadmap can be as vague as the two sentences I just wrote.

What is a product roadmap?

Most product roadmaps I have worked with are diagrams that show a product or a group of products over a period of 2-4 years. There is a timeline across the bottom, and product releases are shown as blocks. Each block has a release number. Each block may list key features or capabilities of the release.

Product roadmaps use can use colors, symbols, or overlays, to indicate releases that are available on certain platforms or for certain market segments.

This roadmap for a CRM system uses one color to show releases available to customers who use the hosted version of the product, and other to show releases available for installation inhouse.

This roadmap for a mobile news service shows a timeline with major events such as the Olympics and Elections.

Regardless of how much detail the roadmap shows, or what time period it covers, having a roadmap demonstrates that the company plans is looking at future market trends and is using the insights it has gained about the future to plan development of the product. This is an important point to make to customers, investors, and partners: When they make a commitment to using the product, they do so because of what they can do with the product today, and because they believe the product will be able to support them in the future, however uncertain that future is.

Go visit an open house some Sunday. Chances are that the selling agent will tell you how well this house will suit you in the months and years to come: You can improve the yard and hold outdoor parties on those long summer nights; you can add on and accommodate a growing family. Together, you explore the roadmap for the house.

Go shopping for gift for a newborn baby. In many countries, the nursery is decorated with items that lay out a roadmap for the child’s future. A measuring stick gives the child an idea of how tall they will be; pictures of athletes or artists open up views of activities the child can explore.

A shared vision for the future

A product roadmap presents a vision for the future of the product, in the context of the market

You may have a product allows HR managers of midsize companies to manage recruiting, benefits administration, and training. Your roadmap can show that in the future you plan to create a version that is geared to HR managers of small companies, or to HR Service providers who work for companies that are too small to have their own HR professional. Your roadmap shows you have looked at your target market and made decisions on where you think the market will grow. A very different roadmap can show that in the future you plan to add modules to your product that will support other corporate functions such as facilities management, corporate travel, and leasing. This roadmap shows that you have a different vision for the problems your product will solve.

Customers can use the roadmap to plan their business: “Next year we will be able to use automated reporting and alerts. That will make our customer service staff more efficient and we will be able to offer faster turnaround on subscription renewals and exceptions. “

Developers can use the roadmap to make design decisions: “We are building screens for deployment on mobile devices. Later this year these screens are supposed to be available in English, Spanish, and Chinese. So we are designing the labels and messages in such a way that they can be quickly translated.”

Benefits of having a roadmap

The roadmap shows the order in which you plan to work on things. It shows a prioritization of work. You can use the roadmap to show that you have plans to make a new feature available, even it’s not in the immediate future. If a customer needs the feature right now, you can give them the choice between getting the feature now for a customization fee and a maintenance fee, or getting the feature at a later date, at which point it may be covered under an existing maintenance agreement.

The roadmap shows the frequency with which you plan to make releases available. Establishing regular releases helps make the rollout process more efficient and allows other stakeholders to plan activities around the release cycle. Marketing can announce the availability of new features at an industry event or in a quarterly newsletter. Customers can plan upgrades before their year-end freeze period. Somewhere underneath all the complexity of software development and deployment lies seasonality which reminds us that we have not evolved that far beyond hunting, gathering or farming. If it was up to me, I would gather requirements in the spring, develop in the summer, release in the fall and fix bugs during the winter. But I try to be agile, and I work with hosted systems so we can avoid having to ship and install new releases. Even so, I have found that the overhead of testing and releasing is too high if we try to do more than quarterly releases.

The roadmap shows what you won’t do. This is also important. If you have no plans to support certain market segments or technical environments, you can make that clear in the roadmap. Your roadmap can also show the time at which you plan to stop support for certain features or releases. And it can show what replacement or migration options are available. It is important to communicate these decisions clearly and in a timely manner. Planning for the end of life of a product is not a glamorous job. But it may be a good opportunity to connect with customers who are still using the product, and finding a solution for them that creates new opportunities.

Limitations of a roadmap

A product roadmap show more than just a dream. You can name your product “Protégé” or “Achilles” and hope it will grow up to be extremely successful. A roadmap shows the path the product will follow. But it does not show all the hard work along the way. It does not show the resources required to get you there, or the tools you will use. There are other deliverables or activities required before your development team can scope, design, or develop a release.

The roadmap is subject to change, especially the items that are planned more than 12 months in the future. I generally put a standard disclaimer on any roadmap presentation, to inform the audience that the roadmap is considered confidential and subject to non-disclosure agreements that are in place, and to inform them that dates and features are subject to change based on market conditions and customer requirements. Because we try to have regular releases, customers know that they will receive release notes a certain timeframe before a release is scheduled, and that these release notes contain a definitive list of features.

The roadmap is not the product architecture. Don’t try to redraw the roadmap so you can more accurately depict which modules integrate with what widgets. The roadmap shows bundles of value that customers can buy.

Tips for working with roadmaps

There are many charting tools out there, but just about everyone I’ve worked with uses PowerPoint to create their roadmap. PowerPoint is easy to present, and keeps you from trying to get into too much detail. If you use a box for each release or module, you can make the box clickable and take the user to a slide that lists the major features.

You may have an internal and external version of the roadmap. The internal version shows a more complete timeline and shows supporting releases or platform releases. The external version shows a shorter timeline and omits platform releases. That dreaded bugfix and code merge release does not need to appear on a roadmap you share with customers. If you are going to maintain both versions, it works best to derive the external version from the internal one.

You can create a multi-tier roadmap. One tier shows your product. A tier below it can show major market trends or technology trends. You can use the multi-tier roadmap to show how your product is in synch with the world.

And now for the Soul

No on can sell a product roadmap better than the fabulous Aretha Franklin. Listen to her roadmap presentation to a major customer who has been demanding enhancements and customizations for an old release.

(oo) What you want
(oo) Baby, I got
(oo) What you need
(oo) Do you know I got it?
(oo) All I'm askin'
(oo) Is we follow the roadmap (just you stick with it)
Hey baby (just you stick with it) follow the roadmap
(just you stick with it) oh yeah (just you stick with it)

I ain't gonna do you wrong when you buy my product
Ain't gonna do you wrong (oo) 'cause I don't wanna (oo)
All I'm askin' (oo)
Is we stick with the roadmap (just you stick with it)
Baby (just you stick with it) follow the roadmap (just you stick with it)
Yeah (just you stick with it)

I'm about to give you the very best pricing
And all I'm askin' in return, honey
Is to give me my profits
And to stick with the roadmap (just you, just you, just you, just you,)
Yeah baby (just you, just you, just you, just you,)
follow the roadmap (just you stick with it)
Yeah (just you stick with it)

------ instrumental break ------

Ooo, these new features (oo)
Sweeter than honey (oo)
And guess what? (oo)
So is your money (oo)
All I want you to do (oo) for me
Is give it to me when you upgrade (ro, ro, ro ,ro)
Yeah baby (ro, ro, ro ,ro)
Whip it to me (roadmap, just you stick with it)
When you upgrade, now (just you stick with it)

R-O-A-D-M-A-P
Find out what it means to me
R-O-A-D-M-A-P
Take care, TCB

Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
A release at a time (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
Whoa, babe (just you stick with it)
A release at a time (just you stick with it)
I get tired (just you stick with it)
Keep on tryin' (just you stick with it)
You're runnin' out of enhancements' (just you stick with it)
And I ain't lyin' (just you stick with it)
(ro, ro, ro, ro) 'oadmap
When you buy the upgrade (ro, ro, ro ,ro)
Or you might stay behind (roadmap, just you stick with it)
And have no support (just you stick with it)
I got to have (just you stick with it)
A commitment to the roadmap (just you stick with it)

But watch out. Aretha can sell the roadmap just as effectively to the development teams. Every release that she ever planned was completed on time.

When you prepare for your next roadmap presentation, why not listen to Aretha on the way over to the meeting. I promise you, you will feel inspired!