Product Roadmap Best Practices

A roadmap is a communication tool, not a project plan. It answers "where are we going and why?" not "what exact features ship when?"

Roadmap Formats

Now/Next/Later

Best for: Teams wanting flexibility, avoiding false precision.

• Now: Actively in progress or committed (1-2 months)
• Next: High confidence, coming soon (3-6 months)
• Later: Planned but flexible (6+ months)

Advantages: Honest about uncertainty, easy to update, focuses conversation on priorities not dates.

Quarterly View

Best for: Planning cycles, resource allocation, stakeholder reporting.

• Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 columns
• Themes per quarter
• Major milestones marked

Advantages: Aligns with business planning, easier to staff.

Theme-Based

Best for: Communicating strategy, avoiding feature-factory thinking.

• Group by strategic theme (Growth, Retention, Platform)
• Initiatives support themes
• Features are details under initiatives

Advantages: Connects work to outcomes, easier to say "not now."

Roadmap Hierarchy

Vision → Goals → Themes → Initiatives → Features

Level	Timeframe	Stability	Audience
Vision	2-5 years	Very stable	Everyone
Goals	1 year	Stable	Leadership
Themes	6-12 months	Moderately stable	Teams + stakeholders
Initiatives	3-6 months	Can change	Teams
Features	1-3 months	Expect changes	Engineering

Only put themes and initiatives on the roadmap. Features belong in backlogs.

Initiative Structure

Each roadmap initiative should include:

Problem: What user/business problem does this solve?
Outcome: What does success look like? (Metrics)
Scope: What's in and out?
Dependencies: What needs to happen first?
Confidence: How certain are we about timing/scope?

Prioritization Frameworks

RICE Score

• Reach: How many users affected?
• Impact: How much improvement per user?
• Confidence: How sure are we?
• Effort: How much work?

Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort

Now/Next/Later Criteria

• Now: High impact, high confidence, dependencies clear
• Next: High impact, some uncertainty or dependencies
• Later: Important but lower urgency, or needs more discovery

MoSCoW

• Must: Non-negotiable for this cycle
• Should: Important, include if possible
• Could: Nice to have
• Won't: Explicitly not doing (this cycle)

Stakeholder Communication

What Stakeholders Want

• Where are we going? (Direction)
• Why these priorities? (Rationale)
• When can I expect X? (Timeline—but be careful)
• What's changing? (Updates from last version)

What to Include

• Strategic context (2-3 sentences on goals)
• Top 3-5 themes with brief rationale
• Key initiatives per theme
• What's NOT on the roadmap (and why)
• Confidence levels

What to Avoid

• Feature-level detail (too granular)
• Exact dates (create false expectations)
• Unvalidated ideas (roadmap ≠ wishlist)
• Too many items (focus is a feature)

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Too many items	Limit to what you can actually do
Feature lists	Organize by themes/outcomes
False precision	Use timeframes, not dates
No rationale	Explain why for each theme
Never saying no	Include "not doing" section
Static document	Update quarterly minimum
No confidence indicators	Mark certainty levels

Updating the Roadmap

Roadmaps should evolve. Review and update:

• Monthly: Progress on Now items
• Quarterly: Full reprioritization
• On demand: Major strategy shifts

Changes are normal. Communicate changes clearly: what moved, what's new, what's dropped, and why.