Product Roadmap

A product roadmap is a strategic document that outlines what you plan to build, when you plan to build it, and why. It's part plan, part communication tool, and part promise to users and stakeholders about where your product is heading.

Types of Roadmaps

Internal roadmap: Detailed, dates-driven, shows everything the team is working on. For internal planning and coordination.

Public roadmap: High-level, theme-based, shows strategic direction. For users, customers, and prospects.

Now-Next-Later roadmap: Flexible, avoids specific dates, groups work by time horizon. Popular with agile teams.

Feature-based roadmap: Lists specific features and functionality. Easy to understand but can create brittle commitments.

Theme-based roadmap: Organizes around problems you're solving or areas you're improving. More flexible than feature-based.

What Belongs on a Roadmap

Definitely include:

Major new features or capabilities
Significant improvements to existing functionality
Strategic initiatives that change the product direction
Platform improvements users will notice

Consider excluding:

Bug fixes (unless they're fixing major issues)
Small improvements and tweaks
Technical debt work
Infrastructure that users don't see

Never include:

Specific release dates (unless you're very confident)
Everything you might possibly do
Items you're not committed to

The Purpose of a Roadmap

For your team: Alignment on priorities and direction. Everyone knows what we're building and why.

For users: Transparency about future direction. Helps them plan and reduces feature request repetition.

For prospects: Confidence that you're actively developing and will address their needs.

For investors: Evidence of strategic thinking and execution capability.

The Roadmap Trap

The biggest mistake teams make is treating roadmaps as contracts. You show a feature on your public roadmap, users expect it, and now you're locked in—even if you learn it's the wrong thing to build.

Better approach: Show themes and problems you're solving, not specific features. "Improving team collaboration" gives you flexibility. "Adding @mentions, threaded comments, and activity feeds" locks you in.

How Often to Update

Internal roadmap: Weekly or bi-weekly as you learn and priorities shift.

Public roadmap: Monthly or quarterly. Too frequent and it looks chaotic. Too infrequent and it looks stale.

Roadmap Inputs

Good roadmaps synthesize multiple data sources:

User feedback and feature requests
Usage analytics and behavior data
Strategic business goals
Competitive landscape
Technical opportunities and constraints
Customer success insights
Sales feedback