Hi!Carolann Bonner
Product Designer at Segment.
The Product Road Map
What would you like to talk about
today?
Common pitfalls
• Strategy and objectives are unclear• Confusion about current roadmap• Lack of transparency• Process for creating roadmaps are
not consistent across the company
What is a roadmap?The path from where you are now to
where you want to be.
Why have a roadmap?To maintain focus.
Characteristics of a good roadmap
• Simple and high-level• Reflects important objectives• Clear present, fuzzy future
Before you plan your roadmap
Feature auditWhat are people using right now?
Goal: Focus your resources on what matters.
You need balance.Improving the existing product
and building new ideas
5 inputs to consider:
1. IterationIterate on the product that was just shipped.
2. Common customer issuesHave a system for collecting and
categorizing customer problems and issues.
3. Improve qualityHow well is the existing product solving
our customers’ original problem?
4. Sales team feedbackUnderstand the anxieties of
potential customers.
5. New IdeasNew solutions, creative ideas,
whatever excites you.
Handling feature requests
Unnecessary burden
Each feature is like adding a child to a family.
While it might be wonderful, it also has its own sets of needs and demands.
Be sure your team is able to take that on when you start discussing a new
feature.
A mile wide but only an inch deep
It’s easy for features to nudge your product further away from its core vision. In doing so, the scope of the
problem you’re solving for your customers is a mile wide but only an
inch deep.
Does it fit your vision?
Define metrics for success
Communication problems
IMAGE BY IAN TAYLOR
IMAGE BY IAN TAYLOR
• Make it easy to understand• People should be able to see it anytime• It doesn’t have to be interactive• Put it up on a wall or circulate it in your
team’s chat tools
Self-driving cars
Consider the other inputs
How might we measure success?