Creating Strategy-based Roadmaps

There are different types of product roadmaps out there. In many cases, what teams have as roadmaps are documents that look like a backlog of features or even a Gantt chart. It’s not surprising then that such documents hardly ever lead to great products. If our aim is to build winning products (of course, that’s always the aim), strategic or strategy-based roadmaps offer a better approach. These can not only make our work easier but also help us to be more effective.

What is a Strategic Product Roadmap?

A strategic product roadmap is what a true product roadmap should be. It is a document that reflects our product vision and strategy and steers our execution of the strategy. This is basically what a standard roadmap should be.

What really is a roadmap that is not built with a strategy in mind? That is not a roadmap, but just a backlog or list of features. Such falls flat in conveying the reason we are building a product. It fails to make the big picture clear to everyone.

A strategy-based roadmap maps out the vision and the strategic direction of our product. It links our strategy to the execution plan. The document clarifies the “why” of the product so that we can have everyone on the same page.

Usefulness of a Strategy-based Roadmap

A strategic product roadmap links to the overall vision of our organization. A company’s vision statement captures the reason for its existence. This is what a product manager works with to identify the right strategy to form the basis of the roadmap.

Using this approach, we improve our chances of creating a product that delivers value to both the customer and our company.

You might have already identified some benefits of strategy-based product roadmaps from the foregoing. But let’s take a quick look at some ways it could be extra useful:

• They put our vision and strategy visibly before everyone.

• They help to align stakeholders by enabling everyone to see the same big picture.

• They aid effective discussion and planning.

• They guide the successful execution of our product strategy.

• They communicate both short-term and long-term progress of product development.

Product roadmaps are intended as strategic documents. So, without a strategy underlying them, they are not roadmaps and are less likely to promote great results.

Strategy-based roadmaps are especially preferred by executives. These individuals are more interested in seeing a link between initiatives and the product vision. They want to know how apt our roadmap is to the strategic direction the company has in focus. Only a strategy-based document will certainly work with these considerations in mind.

Arguably, some of the most successful products are those that are driven by strategies. For instance, Product Manager coach Joni Hoadley has discussed how strategy-based roadmaps helped for great success while working as a software product manager at Sonos. PMs take the company’s vision and develop strategies that influence what goes on the product roadmap.

How to Build Strategic Roadmaps

So how do we create a valuable strategy-based product roadmap? Let’s consider a few steps that are critical for doing this successfully.

Begin with the “why”

Judging by its name, it is only right that we start the process of creating this sort of roadmap with our strategy. This is the “why” of our product.

We need to take the time to determine and express the vision and direction of the product. As product managers, we are expected to lead the process of creating a winning solution. How do we do that easily without first deciding what’s the right direction to direct others toward? This is why have to first sort out our product vision and strategy.

Building a successful roadmap, therefore, requires us to first take a step back to set the vision and strategic goals. We should determine what purpose the product is meant to serve and then come up with a concise statement that everyone can understand.

Understand the problem

We can easily state that the most successful products are those that address the needs of customers. If we’re going to create a strategy-based roadmap, therefore, we should focus on problems. Less attention should go to solutions. Great products aren’t the “shiny” but the useful ones.

It is critical for us to take the time to understand the needs of customers. We must be able to identify clearly what problem we’re looking to solve with what we’re going to build. Not just that; we must also have a valid reason we’re solving that and not another.

Use themes

Product roadmaps contain features and initiatives, but they shouldn’t just be a list of those. Since the focus is on the bigger picture, we should consider grouping these items into themes. A theme contains features, initiatives, or epics that link to a similar, larger strategic objective.

Themes help us to easily link several initiatives to a major strategic goal. Using an example by Hoadley, APIs could be a theme for promoting a strategic goal of easy access to diverse streaming audio services. The initiatives that may help in achieving this goal come under the theme, instead of listing them out individually.

Finally, it helps to show clearly in the roadmap how initiatives link to strategic objectives. This may be done through the use of colors and/or swim lanes.