5 examples of good and bad product roadmaps
As a PMM who spends most of my days looking at product roadmaps and mapping them to customer needs, let’s just say I have a lot of opinions on this topic. If you clicked on this post, you probably have opinions too.
Disclaimer - I’ve never been in an organization where PM and PMM agree on what the roadmap’s purpose is or how it should be shared. It’s a controversial topic, to say the least.
Product roadmaps are an untapped goldmine of opportunity to get to know your customers better, and as someone who's pretty much married to them, I figured it's high time we chat about how to harness its power. Here are 5 descriptions of good vs. bad product roadmaps and how the good ones harness the magic of a tight customer feedback loop.
Good roadmaps are decisive and purposeful
A good roadmap is a tool to articulate how your company will prioritize – and re-prioritize – over time. It's more than a tool – it's the voice of your company, speaking volumes about your game plan. Picture your founder's compass - steadfast and purposeful. A good roadmap is the needle pointing towards your true north, revealing what grand problem your company is tackling head-on. It's fluid, flexible, and its visionary. It should get customers excited when you share it.
Bad roadmaps can feel as uninspiring as a dusty old shopping list, cluttered with tech debt and backlog tasks. They're as stale and unexciting as reading a list of technical release notes and bug fixes - items ticked off one after the other with robotic precision. Sharing bad roadmaps feels as draining as lugging a bag of rocks uphill. You'd rather keep them hidden away like an embarrassing secret. Bad roadmaps are like echo chambers, reverberating with a monotonous "me too" that brings nothing new to the table. They elicit no reaction when you share them with customers.
2. Good roadmaps create discovery and invite influence
If you share your roadmap without learning something new about your customer’s priorities, you did it wrong. A good product roadmap discussion feels like an exclusive party invite, a chance for customers to shape your journey.
A good roadmap sharing session is a conversation, not a sermon. It’s about listening, about understanding what your customers value and about being flexible. A good roadmap is painted with real-life customer stories. It's their storyboard, their narrative…in the form of a roadmap. Make your customers the star of the show. A good roadmap session ends with the question “and what else? What do you wish we were doing sooner, and why?”
A bad roadmap is a fixed truth. A bad roadmap discussion feels like a telling of “Here’s what we’re doing, now you know” and is a one way conversation. It has a “our way or the highway” attitude. A bad roadmap focuses on the product leaders career goals instead of customer needs and pain points.
3. Good roadmaps are thematic
A good roadmap is driven by at least 3 top themes and no more then 5. A good roadmap’s themes aren't just random buzzwords. They're your guiding stars, your north, east, and west. A good product roadmap elicits rich, meaningful discussions with analysts and customers that fuels innovation and growth. A good roadmap is more than a roadmap - it's treated as your reputation, your role in the industry, your vision. A good product roadmap’s themes infuse your company with purpose, direction, and a story worth telling.
A bad roadmap is like a ship lost at sea. It looks tactical and stiff. It feels like a chaotic mess. An aimless list of product features. Instead of guiding stars - your roadmap looks like confusing, tangled constellations. Instead of sparking valuable discussions, a bad roadmap shuts down conversation. It doesn't inspire, it doesn't engage, and it's a conversation killer. It doesn't tell a story worth telling. It doesn't resonate with your customers.
4. Good roadmaps are humble
Good roadmaps feel like a sheet of music ready for improvisation. It's a composition that evolves, that welcomes and adapts to the new notes of customer feedback and industry trends. You've got to treat it like a birdwatcher in the wild, always alert, always ready to spot the slightest flutter of opportunity in the marketplace.
Good roadmaps always ask for feedback. This doesn’t mean a promise to alter the direction but a promise to listen with humble ears, ready to refine and improve for the next iteration.
Bad roadmaps feel and look like outdated textbooks. It don’t consider different perspectives. Imagine a stubborn old captain refusing to adjust the sails despite the changing wind direction. A bad roadmap clings to its original state like a scared animal. It's static, stagnant, and more than anything, a missed opportunity. It’s like a ship stuck in the ice - unable to change direction or pace with the shifting environment.
5. Good roadmaps are not always predictable
A good roadmap should feel tricky at times, sometimes shaky, and full of potential slips. A good roadmap does not predict the future, as in technology, that is as unpredictable as the weather. A good roadmap is presented like a forecast, but not a crystal ball to see what's precisely going to happen. And guess what? That's okay. It's more than okay; it's the very thing that makes this dance so exciting.
A bad roadmap feels like a leisurely walk in a park - it's easy, uncomplicated, and lacks any sense of risk or surprise. But don't be fooled, this isn't a sign of mastery, rather it's an indication of a lack of ambition or vision.
A bad roadmap tries to predict the future with certainty, naively believing that technology is as reliable as the rising and setting of the sun. Instead of offering a nuanced forecast that acknowledges the unpredictable storms and sunny spells, it hands you a predictable promise. It's out of sync, misplaced, and sorely disappointing. It doesn't fuel excitement, spark innovation, or drive curiosity.
So that’s my rant on roadmaps. Always easier in theory than in execution :) What do you think? Hit me a comment in my contact page.
