{"id":1551,"date":"2020-07-22T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog3.canny.io\/wordpress\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2024-04-18T14:20:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T18:20:44","slug":"product-roadmap-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/product-roadmap-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Product roadmap best practices: Informative and transparent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Product roadmaps\u2014whether they\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/internal-product-roadmaps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">internal<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/should-you-have-a-public-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">public<\/a>\u2014are a great asset for any SaaS company.<\/p>\n<p>They are the single source of information for everyone involved in product planning.<\/p>\n<h2>Product roadmaps help you:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Organize development work within the organization<\/li>\n<li>Sync up with other departments and get their perspective on product plans<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/communicate-product-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keep stakeholders and customers informed and excited<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But, they&#8217;re only truly helpful if you&#8217;re following a few basic <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/complete-guide-roadmaps\/\">product roadmap best practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><span id=\"hs-cta-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\"><!-- [if lte IE 8]>\n\n\n<div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div>\n\n\n<![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/5705808\/e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"hs-cta-img-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-img aligncenter\" style=\"border-width: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5705808\/e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa.png\" alt=\"Canny free trial\" width=\"1300\" height=\"642\" \/><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(5705808, 'e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa', {\"region\":\"na1\"}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<p>Today, we\u2019re going to talk about the five best practices for effective and informative roadmapping. These tips apply to both internal and public roadmaps. It&#8217;s easiest to use a <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/features\/product-roadmap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">product roadmap tool<\/a>, too, but there are lots of ways to create a roadmap.<\/p>\n<p>Product roadmapping is extremely valuable if done correctly, so don&#8217;t let your hard work setting up a roadmap go to waste.<\/p>\n<h2>5 product roadmap best practices to follow<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Keep your roadmap updated<\/h3>\n<p>Product roadmaps\u2014like any widely used source of information\u2014are only useful if they\u2019re kept updated.<\/p>\n<p>Internally, not keeping the roadmap updated means misinformation and disorganization. Your product team will be lost, and other departments will be even more confused.<\/p>\n<p>Externally, an-out-of-date roadmap is useless to stakeholders\u2014investors, customers, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>They won\u2019t get any useful information about what\u2019s coming. In the worst-case scenario, they get a completely wrong idea about what\u2019s being worked on. Cue a lot of disappointment and anger.<\/p>\n<p>The cadence of updating your roadmap depends on the stage your company and product are in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This amazing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.departmentofproduct.com\/blog\/product-roadmaps-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guide to product roadmaps<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.departmentofproduct.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Department of Product<\/a> illustrates this:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1552\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"border wp-image-1552\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Product-roadmap-blog-diagrams-Frequency.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Product-roadmap-blog-diagrams-Frequency.avif 960w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Product-roadmap-blog-diagrams-Frequency-300x169.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Product-roadmap-blog-diagrams-Frequency-768x432.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Product-roadmap-blog-diagrams-Frequency-210x118.avif 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Department of Product<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the early stage, there are two main ways to make sure your roadmap is always updated:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Review regularly<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The product team should review the roadmap often, even if they\u2019re not currently adding to or changing it.<\/p>\n<p>Weekly, monthly, whatever\u2014how often you want to do it is up to you. As long as you go over it regularly to make sure everything is where it\u2019s supposed to be, you\u2019re good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Make it a logical conclusion to add things to the roadmap<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Make sure all action items decided upon in meetings, documents, and so on are always added immediately after. It should become second nature to add any hard conclusions to your roadmap.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to let things slip your mind. If other departments or customers are looking at your roadmap too, every missed item causes confusion.<\/p>\n<p>Making it a clear and regular practice to keep the roadmap updated will eliminate confusion and make sure things don&#8217;t fall through the cracks.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Don\u2019t overpromise on your roadmap<\/h3>\n<p>Putting things into a roadmap is fun.<\/p>\n<p>For product managers and developers, it\u2019s almost a pride thing. You put items into the roadmap, and everyone will be excited to see it.<\/p>\n<p>However, we\u2019ve talked before about <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/managing-customer-expectations\/\">underpromising and overdelivering<\/a>. Just like with keeping it updated, a product roadmap is only useful if it\u2019s realistic.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1553\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1553\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1553\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests.avif\" alt=\"An important product roadmap best practice includes giving users a way to comment \" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests.avif 2000w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests-300x175.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests-768x448.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests-1755x1024.avif 1755w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/respond-feature-requests-206x120.avif 206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1553\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Think very carefully about the scope of each thing you present in your roadmap, and whether it\u2019s even doable. If it\u2019s not, don\u2019t put it in the roadmap.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Remember: Customers and team members will be excited to see the plans you\u2019ve made. However, they won\u2019t be excited when things start being late or not happening at all.<\/p>\n<p>People will lose trust with you if you keep letting them down. You don\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always better to underpromise and overdeliver than vice versa.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Make sure you have a place for feedback<\/h3>\n<p>Your product roadmap is ideally built based on both <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/should-you-be-collecting-customer-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer feedback and requests<\/a>, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/internal-product-roadmaps\/\">internal feedback from other departments.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, you shouldn\u2019t close off all feedback options once the roadmap has been put together. It\u2019s normal to want to reach \u201cclosure\u201d with your roadmap and lock it up after it\u2019s been built.<\/p>\n<p>But, especially in software, roadmaps are never set in stone. Plans change based on new information and requests. <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/roadmap-prioritization-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Different things end up being prioritized<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, roadmaps tend to not be super-detailed. This means that people who aren\u2019t directly involved with product planning can have additional questions or input. You might need to update your roadmap as a result.<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s important to establish an easy way to give feedback on (and ask questions about) your roadmap at all times.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Both internally and publicly, that means:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providing a place to have a discussion over the product plans<\/li>\n<li>Setting up an easy way to contact whoever is in charge of informing the roadmap<\/li>\n<li>Clarifying how to contact the whole company about their roadmap if needed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>For example, our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/feedback.canny.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Canny roadmap<\/a> allows for discussion and comments over any roadmap entry:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1569\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1569\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"border wp-image-1569\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/roadmap-comments.avif\" alt=\"Product roadmap best practices: use a product roadmap tool that allows people to leave feedback\" width=\"600\" height=\"382\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/roadmap-comments.avif 1282w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/roadmap-comments-300x191.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/roadmap-comments-768x489.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/roadmap-comments-188x120.avif 188w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Add public or private comments via Canny<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Remember\u2014additional feedback and input is always a good thing. It\u2019ll make your roadmap more diverse and adaptable to changes outside your product.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Make ownership clear<\/h3>\n<p>Especially with internal product roadmaps, it\u2019s extremely important to make it very clear who\u2019s in charge of any given item.<\/p>\n<p>This way, if there\u2019s an issue or a question, everyone knows who to reach out to. Otherwise, the general product manager will be bombarded with questions and problems they\u2019ll have to reassign.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, clear and visible ownership within the roadmap will make the people directly responsible more aware, involved, and proud of the work they&#8217;re doing.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to make it even more clearer (and fun!) you can do something like <a href=\"https:\/\/buffer.com\/\">Buffer<\/a>\u00a0(our tool of choice for social media scheduling!) does with their <a href=\"https:\/\/open.buffer.com\/teammate-responsibilities\/\">Batman-Robin system<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cIn one of my 1:1s with Kevan awhile ago we spoke about kicking off a marketing podcast, and he said, &#8216;Brian is going to be Batman for the podcast. How would you like to be Robin?&#8217;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This was such a simple metaphor, I immediately understood what he meant. Brian was taking the lead and needed some support; that\u2019s where I had some bandwidth to come in and help out.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Assigning both your Batmen and Robins (or just Batmen if you\u2019d like) to all tasks will reduce confusion and direct communication.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Keep the format consistent<\/h3>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t matter whether you keep your product roadmap in <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/\">Canny<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/trello\">Trello<\/a>, or somewhere else. (Though of course, we&#8217;d recommend using a tool like Canny, which has a <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/features\/roadmap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">product roadmap tool<\/a> built into it. We love Trello, but it <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/compare\/trello\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wasn&#8217;t designed as a roadmapping tool<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>The important thing is to have a conversation around the format of your roadmap and the entries in it. Everyone who has permission to change the roadmap should agree on a common \u201cway\u201d to do it.<\/p>\n<p>This is a simple consistency issue. Not enough consistency in the format of your roadmap entries can cause a lot of confusion.<\/p>\n<p>Being consistent with your entries doesn\u2019t necessarily mean always <em>adding<\/em> more stuff, either.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Depending on how your teams work, it can be an issue of either a lack or excess of information:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A lack of information causes communication issues and information gaps<\/li>\n<li>An excess of information causes noise and confusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whatever format you agree on when it comes to adding things to the roadmap, it should always look the same, and have the same level of information.<\/p>\n<p><em>Need some ideas? <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/public-product-roadmap-examples\/\">Check out our list of public product roadmap examples.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Put constant work and thought into your product roadmap<\/h2>\n<p>Product roadmaps, whether used internally or publicly, are extremely useful.<\/p>\n<p>You can use them to keep work organized between all the departments in your company, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/communicate-product-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">let stakeholders know what\u2019s coming<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Product roadmapping is the <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/features\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">link between collecting user feedback and execution<\/a>. Your roadmap will\u00a0start conversations about your product\u2019s future, and give context for the work you&#8217;re doing.<\/p>\n<p>Keep your product roadmap properly maintained, updated, and accessible. It\u2019ll streamline your whole product planning process, and save you a lot of wasted time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roadmaps\u2014whether they\u2019re internal or public\u2014are a great asset for any SaaS company. However, they&#8217;re only truly useful if a few key product roadmap best practices are followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"Eric Hoppe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6622,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/6622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}