What Is the Purpose of a Product Roadmap?

What Is the Purpose of a Product Roadmap?

A product roadmap is a strategic summary that directs where the product team is heading. In an Agile workplace, a product roadmap helps communicate the shifts happening according to changing market needs.

What is the purpose of a product roadmap? Here are the goals it sets out to achieve:

1. Define the product's vision and strategy
2. Assist in directing the flow of execution of strategy
3. Align the internal stakeholders on a project
4. Help in consideration of options and planning of scenarios
5. Establish channels of contact with external stakeholders such as customers

What are the different types of product roadmaps?

Product roadmaps can vary. The different types of product roadmaps include:

Internal roadmap for executives

A product roadmap for executives focuses on the strategic level of a product's goals. These include metrics demonstrating the product's involvement in driving company growth, market position, and customer experience. The internal roadmap for executives aims to instill faith in the product and gain stakeholder support through its life cycle. 

They are generally created monthly or quarterly to show the product's progress towards set goals. Product roadmaps for investors and members of the board are developed similarly. 

Internal roadmap for engineers

Roadmaps for developers are more detailed. They outline product releases, sprints, features, and achievements based on the product timeframe. They are granular and compact compared to roadmaps for executives. 

In an Agile environment, roadmaps can display a micro-strategic level of progress, such as by epic or feature. However, keeping the product vision and long-term objectives in focus will help developers work according to specified deadlines. 

Internal roadmap for sales

The sales team focuses on maximizing the company's profit. A product roadmap assists by helping them understand customer benefits relating to product features. 

Communicating the essential features of the product is vital when building a roadmap for sales. You must employ user-friendly language with an emphasis on generating interest in the product. Exercise caution when sharing internal release dates and certain internal roadmaps with sales teams, as they may unwittingly share them with the customer.

External roadmap

External roadmaps should be easy to understand. They are targeted towards customers and prospects. Their visual elements and language should be engaging, and customer-friendly. 

These roadmaps are entirely about the benefits of the product for the stakeholders. Internal information such as sensitive release dates should not be mentioned in external roadmaps. This may commit the team to unrealistic timelines when faced with unforeseen challenges. External roadmaps let the audience know what to expect from the product delivery team and generate interest in the solutions offered by the product.