What is a Product Roadmap?
A product roadmap is a document that outlines the vision, objectives, and the plans to reach them for a product. It typically covers a period of time from 1-3 years, providing an approximate timeline of when certain features will become available for customers.
Purpose and Goals of Product Roadmap
It place a focus on the future direction of the product, allowing teams to stay on track and predict the resources needed to bring it that vision to life. The purpose of the product roadmap is to keep the stakeholders informed about the progress of the product. It informs them of how the product team is allocating resources and provides guidance as to what features and updates will come out in the future.
Product roadmaps are also used to align the team’s vision and goals with the overall corporate objectives and ensure that the product plan is in sync with the company’s overall strategy.
Types of Product Roadmaps
Product roadmaps are typically divided into three categories:
- Strategic Roadmap Describes the current and future product strategies. It typically covers a period of 1-3 years and helps set long-term goals for the product.
- Tactical Roadmap Describes intermediate tactical goals and helps determine what features need to be implemented to reach those goals.
- Technical Roadmap Describes what technologies and architectures need to be employed in order to build the desired product features.
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FAQs
How does a Product Roadmap align with business goals?
A product roadmap helps ensure that product goals are aligned with the company’s overall strategic goals. It is important to keep the stakeholders in the loop when it comes to changes and updates in the product roadmap and go to market strategy. This helps ensure that the product and engineering teams are working towards the same objectives.
Can a Product Roadmap change frequently?
Yes, product roadmaps are not meant to remain static. As customer needs, business objectives and technologies evolve, the product roadmap should also evolve to reflect the new objectives.
Are there software tools to create and manage Product Roadmaps?
Yes there are several software tools available to create and manage this. These tools can help product managers and teams anticipate customer needs, plan releases, and stay organized when it comes to developing and deploying products.