Free Product Roadmap Templates

Depending on your needs, a roadmap may be goal-oriented, focus on features, or create a schedule for sprints (if supporting an Agile development process). For example, if you’re working on a product that already has a predictable and stable market, when it’s easier to anticipate growth, it may be most effective to focus on features. For a new product with more uncertainty, organizing your roadmap around goals may be a better strategy.

Regardless of the format or focus of your roadmap, it should describe how you are going to carry out your product strategy to achieve your final objectives. Each step in the roadmap should build on the last so that you have a cohesive plan for product growth. Since roadmaps tend to change over time, your map may be more detailed when it comes to short-term goals and strategies. You will likely modify the map as needed and add more details as they become relevant.

Of course, it is possible to use multiple types of roadmaps together. You may want one detailed roadmap that focuses on IT architecture related to your product, another for marketing, and another for the overall development process. If you’re new to roadmapping, keep it simple — both to ease management and to ensure that you create an effective communication tool. It’s also wise to create a collaborative roadmapping process, as sharing the map with stakeholders can help foster relationships and ensure buy-in. Finally, it’s a good idea to keep your audience in mind when creating a roadmap and to adjust the map accordingly.

Here are some key elements typically included in a product roadmap, as well as tips for creating an effective map.

• Product Strategy: Developing your strategy requires a product vision, which is typically based on concrete information about your target audience, the unique benefit that your product provides, and your business objectives. This vision will be your compass for where the product is headed and will help ensure that each goal moves your team toward its high-level objectives.
• Releases: The way you customize releases will depend in part on your audience. Internal and external release dates may differ; for example, customers may be interested in your plan to release certain features, while internal stakeholders may want the roadmap to highlight how certain releases relate to strategic goals.
• Features: Your strategy should drive your roadmap, so prioritize the features that will move you toward your goals. Ranking customer requests can help prevent creating a random selection of features. One technique is to choose a golden feature (an essential feature that has the highest priority for a release) and to tackle that feature first. The golden feature should be an item that is simple to communicate for ease of marketing, but strong enough to capture customers’ attention.
• Goals: Set realistic goals and include milestones with measurable benefits. Your goals have to be quantifiable so that you have some way of determining success. Identify the metrics you will use to track your goals.
• Dates: There are differing opinions about using specific dates in a product roadmap. If you’re working on an internal roadmap that outlines the tasks of various teams (from development to marketing and sales), it may be helpful to include specific dates. If your roadmap is for customers and you do not have to meet any seasonal marks, it may work better to show releases in progressive order without dates.
• Costs: Determining the costs for developing and delivering your product will help ensure that your plan is achievable, and it may be vital for securing an appropriate budget. Use your roadmap and previous experience as a product manager to determine labor costs, as well as infrastructure, licenses, and other expenses. If costs are too high or you don’t have access to necessary resources, adjust the roadmap or change course.