Today’s topic is product roadmaps. Why well-defined roadmaps deliver results and why keeping them simple will make it easier for you to deliver value to your customers, clients and users.
Who is this useful for? It is useful for any one who builds products, software or physical or personal. If you are:
- A product manager - your product is your product.
- An executive - your product is your business unit’s output.
- A senior manager - your product is your team’s output.
- An entrepreneur - you have many products, your products, your services, yourself.
- A small business owner - your product is your service.
- A professional - your product is you.
Having a well-defined product roadmap will help you plan your path to success, align yourself and your team toward your goals, and coordinate your actions and those of others.
Most people fail to build a well-defined product roadmap because they either make it too complicated, they treat it as a one-time thing, or they don’t do it at all.
Let’s fix that.
Make better decisions with a roadmap.
No matter what your product is, the main benefit of having a roadmap is to help you make better decisions about what to focus on next.
Product roadmaps are built using the following principles:
- Outcomes over outputs
- Value over wastefulness
- Clarity over confusion
- Metrics over guessing
Build your roadmaps with these in mind, and you will have a much easier time making the right decisions and delivering results.
Let’s break down each of these principles.
Outcomes over outputs.
An outcome is a result or benefit you receive after acting. An output is the amount of something that was produced as a result of an action.
- An output is a sales brochure.
- An outcome is customers buying what your sales brochure is selling.
When building your roadmaps, it is essential to focus on the outcomes.
Focus your roadmap on the outcomes, yours or your client’s, and build outputs to create those outcomes.
Value over wastefulness.
When we focus on outputs, we tend to create wasteful work.
Have you ever seen a TV remote with a few dozen buttons? A lot of effort was spent on building that remote. Most of those buttons are never used because people usually want only three outcomes after using the remote: changing the channel, changing the volume, and switching the TV on and off.
When you are building your roadmap, outcomes help you focus on doing valuable work.
Clarity over confusion.
Most roadmaps are complicated. They feature detailed timelines and too many options to focus on.
Successful roadmaps are simple and clear.
They have a simple timeline that defines a clear path to delivering value and achieving the desired outcome.
Breaking down your roadmap into Now, Next, Later groups is the most effective way to help you focus on delivering the most valuable result first.
- Now: this is what you and/or your team will focus all your effort on.
- Next: this will help you plan your next iteration and ensure you have everything you need to hit the ground running.
- Later: this is the work you have planned that might be valuable, but you haven’t figured this out yet.
Metrics over guessing.
Metrics help you measure progress and determine if you have achieved your desired outcome.
As you define your outcomes, determine valuable actions and plan your roadmap, you must record metrics.
Before you begin your work, record the baseline metric.
How will you know if you’ve achieved your outcome? You will measure results after you’ve taken action, such as distributing a sales brochure.
Outcome: Sell three products. Baseline Metric: Products sold - 0. Action: Make 100 sales brochures. Action: Distribute the sales brochure. Result: Products sold - 5.
When building a well-defined roadmap, metrics are your best friends.
Today’s Action Steps
Here’s how you can act on this advice today:
If you have a roadmap:
- Change output goals to outcomes.
- Remove anything that doesn’t create value.
- Record baseline metrics if you don’t have them.
If you don’t have a roadmap:
- Craft your vision.
- Define your outcomes based on your vision.
- Ensure outcomes have metrics.
Outro
Everyone needs a roadmap, no matter who you are or what you do.
A well-defined product roadmap is your secret weapon for delivering results. It will help you plan your path to success, align with your goals and coordinate your actions with others.
Use the four principles defined above to craft your product roadmap.
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And that’s all for this week.
See you next Monday.
P.S. I’d love to hear what challenges you are facing in your business. What can I write about to help you personally?
Reply back to this email to let me know.