How to Build a Healthy Product Roadmap: Foundational Principles
The discipline of Product Management is built around two core tenets:
- Define a clear, value-based product strategy
- Create and manage a healthy roadmap
This article is focused on the second.
The roadmap and the product strategy are inseparable. In my previous article, I argued that product strategies should be value-based and that roadmaps are the goal-based descriptions of how you intend to deliver on the product strategy.
Good values = good goals = good product
Product values need to translate all the way to the user. Therefore they should be at the heart of your roadmap too. But we’ll get to that later. First, I’ll start with the basics. What does a roadmap need to do and what is the most common roadmap mistake?
When is a roadmap, not a roadmap? When it’s a backlog.
In whatever form your roadmap exists, you should be using it to achieve a few key things:
- Communicate your progress towards achieving the product strategy
- Document the ideas which aim to bring the product strategy to life
- Align stakeholders on what’s currently being worked on in the discovery process
Despite these worthwhile aims many roadmaps somehow end up being the enemy of the product, the user…
