The Importance of A Product Roadmap

Product Roadmap

Product Management is impossible to imagine without a detailed strategy and goal setting. It is these two that make it possible to determine and see which way the product is moving, to what stage it has reached. 

The roadmap is the only reliable source of information describing the vision, direction and progress of the product over time. The product roadmap allows you to understand how short-term efforts affect the business goal. Its role is as vital and determining as luck in CasinoChan

To get a complete understanding of the Roadmap, let’s start from the beginning. 

What is a product roadmap?

A product roadmap is an action plan that combines short-term and long-term goals and methods to achieve them. The roadmap shows the product being created, the reasons and goals for its creation. 

product strategy

The elements of the roadmap should be closely related to the product strategy and must include the ability to respond to changes in the map.

The product owners use the product roadmap while working with their teams. Thanks to the Agile roadmap, teams are aware of events and understand the context and further actions of daily work.

Who are the product roadmaps for?

Product roadmaps come in different types and are designed for different audiences. And so․

  • Internal roadmaps for the working team: Such maps are created by the team’s preferred tools and often include information about the priorities of customers, or what time limits exist. Since product development teams are mainly guided by agile methods, roadmaps are often in the form of sprints and express clear parts of the work.
  • Internal Roadmaps for managers: These maps highlight how teamwork helps achieve goals. To demonstrate progress, the maps are provided once a month or quarterly. They contain fewer technical details than for a team of employees.
  • Internal roadmaps for the sales team: new opportunities and benefits for customers that can be used during sales are highlighted here.
  • External road maps: these cards should arouse the interest of customers in the release of a new product, be visually attractive and contain general information about the product.

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What is the product roadmap for?

create a product roadmap

The main advantage of the product roadmap is the strategic vision. It consists of a big product goal, and necessary investments and unites all teams around a common goal. In addition, the roadmap has other advantages:

  • Provides management with updated information on the status of work in a simple and understandable format.
  • Unites owners and managers into one team that works on product development. Allows you to report priorities to other teams.
  • Enables designers to present the overall situation, which increases employee engagement, and provides detailed information about volumes, deadlines and goals.

Also Read This: Customer Journey | Mapping- Essential Steps to Creating Customer Journey Map

How to create a product roadmap

Creating a product roadmap requires knowledge about the market, values important to the client, strategic goals, and access to resources. Knowing these factors is important to get started and prioritize on the map.

The content of the product roadmap depends on the audience: for programmers, it should be sufficiently detailed and have a technical description, be in a different format for business leaders.

The main meaning remains as follows: the target audience should easily perceive the map. A very general or very detailed map can be distracting and confusing. It is necessary to correctly determine the contents of the map.

The creation and preservation of the product roadmap is in constant progress. We have highlighted a few tips:

  • The map should contain as much information as the audience needs.
  • The map should maintain balance and contain both short-term goals and their relationship with two-month goals.
  • Maps need to be constantly monitored and modified as needed.
  • Constant communication with all interested parties, which ensures consent to actions.