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Product Roadmap Planning with GitScrum
Roadmaps bridge strategy and execution. GitScrum helps teams create living roadmaps with milestone tracking, timeline visualization, and stakeholder communication features that keep everyone aligned.
Roadmap Fundamentals
Purpose
WHAT A ROADMAP IS (AND ISN'T):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ A ROADMAP IS: │
│ ✓ A communication tool │
│ ✓ A strategic direction │
│ ✓ A prioritization framework │
│ ✓ An alignment mechanism │
│ ✓ A living document │
│ │
│ A ROADMAP IS NOT: │
│ ✗ A commitment to exact dates │
│ ✗ A project plan with tasks │
│ ✗ A fixed contract │
│ ✗ A list of features stakeholders demanded │
│ ✗ A once-and-done document │
│ │
│ THE KEY TENSION: │
│ │
│ Stakeholders want: Teams need: │
│ • Specific dates • Flexibility │
│ • Feature commitments • Room to learn │
│ • Certainty • Ability to adapt │
│ │
│ RESOLUTION: │
│ Show themes and outcomes, not exact features and dates │
│ Near-term: More specific │
│ Far-term: More directional │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Roadmap Types
ROADMAP FORMATS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ TIMELINE ROADMAP: │
│ Best for: Teams with predictable work │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 ││
│ │ ├────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤ ││
│ │ │ Auth │ Reporting │ Mobile │ Enterprise │ ││
│ │ │ overhaul │ dashboard │ app │ features │ ││
│ │ ├────────────┴────────────┼────────────┴────────────┤ ││
│ │ │ API v2 │ Marketplace │ ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ NOW/NEXT/LATER ROADMAP: │
│ Best for: Uncertain environments │
│ ┌───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┐ │
│ │ NOW │ NEXT │ LATER │ │
│ │ (This quarter)│ (Next quarter)│ (Future) │ │
│ ├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤ │
│ │ Auth overhaul │ Reporting │ Mobile app │ │
│ │ API v2 │ Mobile MVP │ Enterprise │ │
│ │ │ │ Marketplace │ │
│ └───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┘ │
│ │
│ THEME-BASED ROADMAP: │
│ Best for: Outcome-focused organizations │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ THEME: User Self-Service ││
│ │ Goal: Reduce support tickets by 40% ││
│ │ Initiatives: Help center, in-app guides, chatbot ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Building Roadmaps
Input Sources
ROADMAP INPUT GATHERING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ STRATEGY & VISION: │
│ • Company goals │
│ • Product vision │
│ • Market positioning │
│ Weight: High (must align) │
│ │
│ CUSTOMER FEEDBACK: │
│ • Support tickets │
│ • Feature requests │
│ • User research │
│ • Churn reasons │
│ Weight: High (validates needs) │
│ │
│ DATA & METRICS: │
│ • Usage analytics │
│ • Conversion funnels │
│ • Performance data │
│ Weight: Medium (informs priority) │
│ │
│ STAKEHOLDER INPUT: │
│ • Sales team needs │
│ • Partner requirements │
│ • Executive requests │
│ Weight: Medium (one input, not the input) │
│ │
│ TECHNICAL NEEDS: │
│ • Technical debt │
│ • Infrastructure │
│ • Security requirements │
│ Weight: Medium (enables future work) │
│ │
│ COMPETITIVE: │
│ • Market trends │
│ • Competitor moves │
│ Weight: Low (don't just copy) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Prioritization
ROADMAP PRIORITIZATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ STEP 1: STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT │
│ Does this support our goals? │
│ • Aligns with vision: High priority consideration │
│ • Doesn't align: Probably shouldn't be on roadmap │
│ │
│ STEP 2: IMPACT ASSESSMENT │
│ What's the expected impact? │
│ │
│ Impact Score: │
│ • Revenue potential (1-5) │
│ • User value (1-5) │
│ • Strategic importance (1-5) │
│ │
│ STEP 3: EFFORT ESTIMATION │
│ What does it take to build? │
│ │
│ Effort Score: │
│ • Development effort (T-shirt: S/M/L/XL) │
│ • Dependencies (few/many) │
│ • Risk level (low/medium/high) │
│ │
│ STEP 4: SEQUENCE │
│ What order makes sense? │
│ │
│ Consider: │
│ • Dependencies between items │
│ • Resource availability │
│ • Market timing │
│ • Quick wins vs big bets mix │
│ │
│ RESULT: Prioritized, sequenced roadmap │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Roadmap Visualization
GitScrum Roadmap View
GITSCRUM ROADMAP STRUCTURE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ PRODUCT ROADMAP [This Year ▼] │
│ │
│ Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ THEME: Platform Scalability │
│ ├── ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ API v2 │
│ │ [In Progress] 65% complete │
│ │ │
│ └── ░░░░░░░░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ Database Migration │
│ [Planned] Starts Feb 15 │
│ │
│ THEME: User Experience │
│ ├── ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ Dashboard Redesign │
│ │ [In Progress] 80% complete │
│ │ │
│ └── ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▓▓▓▓▓▓ Mobile App │
│ [Planned] Q2 │
│ │
│ THEME: Growth │
│ └── ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ Marketplace │
│ [Planned] Q2-Q3 │
│ │
│ ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ LEGEND: │
│ ▓▓▓ = Active ░░░ = Planned ─── = Dependency │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Milestone Tracking
MILESTONE PROGRESS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ MILESTONE: API v2 Launch │
│ Target: March 31 | Status: On Track │
│ │
│ PROGRESS: [████████████████░░░░] 75% │
│ │
│ EPICS: │
│ ✅ Authentication endpoints [Complete] │
│ ✅ Core CRUD operations [Complete] │
│ 🔄 Webhook system [In Progress] │
│ └── 5/8 stories done │
│ ☐ Rate limiting [Not Started] │
│ ☐ Documentation [Not Started] │
│ │
│ RISKS: │
│ ⚠️ Webhook system more complex than estimated │
│ Mitigation: Added 1 dev, may cut scope │
│ │
│ DEPENDENCIES: │
│ ✅ Infrastructure ready │
│ ✅ Auth service deployed │
│ ⏳ Partner API access (waiting) │
│ │
│ LINKED SPRINTS: │
│ Sprint 23: API endpoints │
│ Sprint 24: Webhooks + rate limiting │
│ Sprint 25: Documentation + launch │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Communication
Stakeholder Views
AUDIENCE-SPECIFIC ROADMAPS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ EXECUTIVE ROADMAP: │
│ • High-level themes │
│ • Business outcomes │
│ • Quarterly view │
│ • No technical details │
│ │
│ Example: │
│ "Q2: Launch mobile app to capture 30% of mobile users" │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ SALES/CUSTOMER-FACING ROADMAP: │
│ • Features they can talk about │
│ • Timeframes (quarters, not dates) │
│ • Customer benefit focus │
│ • No internal initiatives │
│ │
│ Example: │
│ "Coming Q2: Native mobile apps for iOS and Android" │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ ENGINEERING ROADMAP: │
│ • Technical details │
│ • Dependencies │
│ • Sprint-level connection │
│ • Infrastructure work included │
│ │
│ Example: │
│ "Q2: Mobile app (React Native), requires API v2" │
│ Sprint 24: Complete API v2 │
│ Sprint 25-28: Mobile development │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Roadmap Updates
COMMUNICATING ROADMAP CHANGES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WHEN ROADMAP CHANGES: │
│ │
│ STEP 1: DOCUMENT THE CHANGE │
│ • What changed? │
│ • Why did it change? │
│ • What's the impact? │
│ │
│ STEP 2: NOTIFY STAKEHOLDERS │
│ • Proactive communication │
│ • Don't let them find out by surprise │
│ • Explain the reasoning │
│ │
│ STEP 3: UPDATE ARTIFACTS │
│ • Roadmap document │
│ • Public roadmap (if applicable) │
│ • Stakeholder presentations │
│ │
│ CHANGE COMMUNICATION TEMPLATE: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ ROADMAP UPDATE: Mobile App Timeline ││
│ │ ││
│ │ CHANGE: Mobile app moved from Q2 to Q3 ││
│ │ ││
│ │ REASON: API v2 taking longer than expected. ││
│ │ Mobile app depends on new API capabilities. ││
│ │ ││
│ │ IMPACT: Customers expecting Q2 will need to wait. ││
│ │ We're prioritizing quality over rushing. ││
│ │ ││
│ │ QUESTIONS: Contact Product team ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Roadmap Maintenance
Review Cadence
ROADMAP REVIEW SCHEDULE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WEEKLY: │
│ • Track milestone progress │
│ • Identify risks and blockers │
│ • Adjust sprint plans if needed │
│ • No major roadmap changes │
│ │
│ MONTHLY: │
│ • Progress update to stakeholders │
│ • Review upcoming quarter │
│ • Adjust timelines if needed │
│ • Reprioritize if new information │
│ │
│ QUARTERLY: │
│ • Full roadmap review │
│ • Strategy alignment check │
│ • Major reprioritization if needed │
│ • Plan next quarter in detail │
│ • Update future quarters directionally │
│ │
│ TRIGGERS FOR UNSCHEDULED REVIEW: │
│ • Major market change │
│ • Significant customer feedback │
│ • Resource changes │
│ • Strategic pivot │
│ • Major blocker discovered │
│ │
│ RULE: Roadmap should always reflect current reality │
│ If it doesn't, it's not useful │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘