Roadmapping the Product Roadmap (ProductCamp Boston 2016)
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Transcript of Roadmapping the Product Roadmap (ProductCamp Boston 2016)
Product RoadmappingC. TODD LOMBARDO
CHIEF DESIGN STRATEGIST @IAMCTODD
Overview
What is a Product Roadmap?
What is a Product Roadmap?
A strategic communication artifact that conveys the path you’ll take to fulfill your product vision.
It’s simple and focused on the big picture.
What is a Product Roadmap NOT?!
What is a Product Roadmap NOT?!
It is not a spec or release plan - so leave out the dates!
It is not a laundry list of features and components.
It should not include job or user stories.
It is not a single path (think tree, not road).
What is it designed to do?
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: forces the right strategic conversations about outcomes instead of deliverables
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: forces the right strategic conversations about outcomes instead of deliverables
EVOLVE: sets a stable direction but allows stakeholders to discuss change resulting from iterative learning
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: forces the right strategic conversations about outcomes instead of deliverables
EVOLVE: sets a stable direction but allows stakeholders to discuss change resulting from iterative learning
INSPIRE CONFIDENCE: answer “are we heading in the right direction?” and “is this the right order?”
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: forces the right strategic conversations about outcomes instead of deliverables
EVOLVE: sets a stable direction but allows stakeholders to discuss change resulting from iterative learning
INSPIRE CONFIDENCE: answer “are we heading in the right direction?” and “is this the right order?”
PRODUCE METRICS: keeps improvement iterative and incremental through outcome based planning
What is it designed to do?
ALIGN: promotes buy-in from all teams and aligns everyone on the direction towards a specified future
CREATE COMMON LANGUAGE: specific enough for the ‘Traditionalists’ but not too detailed “Agile-ists"
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: forces the right strategic conversations about outcomes instead of deliverables
EVOLVE: sets a stable direction but allows stakeholders to discuss change resulting from iterative learning
INSPIRE CONFIDENCE: answer “are we heading in the right direction?” and “is this the right order?”
PRODUCE METRICS: keeps improvement iterative and incremental through outcome based planning
PREVENT MISTAKES: avoid building the wrong thing, which is especially important for agile development
Who uses it? ALL Stakeholders!
Who uses it? ALL Stakeholders!
PRODUCT MANAGERS - communicate with stakeholders, get universal buy-in, and plan ahead.
DESIGN - understand direction and stay focused on user goals
DEVELOPMENT - allocate resources and speed future development
SALES & MARKETING- craft the story to entice new customers and upgrades
CUSTOMERS - understand value and what to expect in future versions
CUSTOMER SUPPORT - ensure reps are trained to help with new features
EXECUTIVES & BOARD- keep track of progress and align with business goals.
PARTNERS - take stock of the relationship and anticipate synergies
The Roadmapping Process
VISION OBJECTIVES PRIORITIZE ROADMAPUSER
GOALS SOLUTIONS
THEMES
Required Inputs
1) Clearly defined Problem and Solution
Why? You have to know what you’re doing and why, before you start thinking about where you’re going.
PROBLEM SOLUTION
If this hasn’t happened yet, see our work on Design Sprints!
Clarify the Problem and SolutionBy the time you get to the Roadmapping phase you should already have a clearly defined problem with a solution that has been validated.
If that hasn’t happened yet, see our work on Design Sprints!
Purpose: You have to know what you’re doing and why, before you start thinking about where you’re going.
Problem: Travelers want a better way to find great eateries while on a trip.
Solution: A restaurant recommendation and booking engine that mirrors our highly successful hotel platform.
EXAMPLE
PROBLEM SOLUTION
2) Developed Personas
Why? You need to be able to empathize with your users so you can understand and anticipate their needs.
Think? Feel?
Hear? See?
Do?
Think? Feel?
Hear? See?
Do?
Name: Dick
Age: 55
Job: Salesman
Tasks: Develop trust
Motivations: Happiness
Obstacles: Time
Name: Jane
Age: 27
Job: Advertising
Tasks: Create programs
Motivations: Viral reach
Obstacles: Superiors
3) User Journeys for their current experience
Why? You need to fully understand how they’re currently solving the problem in order to make it better for them.
Jane wakes up
makes coffee
walks dog
catches train
reads paper
arrives at office
Personas & User JourneysMake sure you have your personas in place, and that you
understand the steps they currently take to solve the problem in
question. What are the alternatives they’re currently using and
where are their biggest pain points?
Purpose: Empathize with your users so you can understand and anticipate their needs.
EXAMPLE
• Extend user time in app
• Grow advertising market around restaurants
• Enhance user experience
4) Talk to your users!
Why? You need to interact with actual users to validate their actions, needs and pain points.
The Roadmapping Process
VISION OBJECTIVES PRIORITIZE ROADMAPUSER
GOALS SOLUTIONS
THEMES
INPUTS
1. Set the Vision
Set the Strategic Product Vision
Your Strategic Product Direction is simply the answer to When, What, How, Who, Where, Why in a few simple sentences. Use the below framework.
Why? Get your vision into a clear statement to gain buy-in and alignment on direction from all stakeholders.
When: at a time when ___________
What: our product is the only ___________
How: that _____________
Who: for ______________
Where: in ______________
Why: who ____________
Think: Movies!
Set the Strategic Product VisionYour Strategic Product Direction is simply the answer to When, What, How, Who, Where, Why in a few simple sentences. Use the below framework.
Purpose: Get your vision into a clear statement to gain buy-in and alignment on direction from all stakeholders.
• At a time when travel is frequent, but travelers plan less…
• our product is the only international restaurant recommendation engine…
• that gives immediate recommendations based on location and review…
• for the everyday traveler…
• from countries all over the world…
• who want to save time and energy finding local eatery gems
• When: in an era of ___________
• What: our product is the only ___________
• How: that _____________
• Who: for ______________
• Where: in ______________
• Why: who ____________
EXAMPLE
2. Create objectives
Identify 1-5 Strategic Objectives
What types of value do you want your product to add to your business? These should be high-level and define a desired end state. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Why? All items in the roadmap should map back to a strategic objective to create guardrails and guide direction.
Grow the user base
Enhance customer satisfaction
Improve performance
Validate learning
Increase revenue this year
Strategic ObjectivesCreate 1 - 5 high-level objectives that define the desired end state.
These should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and
time-bound. Here are some examples:
• Grow the user base
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Improve performance
• Validate learning
• Increase revenue this year
New products may or may not benefit from multiple Strategic Goals
in the beginning because the goal is simply to build v1. Sometimes
these are best used for existing and growing products.
Purpose: Create guardrails for your roadmap. These high-level objectives define and guide your direction. All items in the roadmap should map back to a strategic objective.
EXAMPLE
• Extend user time in app
• Grow advertising business around restaurants
• Improve the app store ratings
3. User goals
Define User GoalsUse your user pre-existing journeys to help you list the goals each persona needs to accomplish when using your product.
Why? Your user has to accomplish certain tasks while using your product in order to solve her problem.
Goal #1:
Goal #2:
Goal #3:
Goal #4:
Goal #5:
Persona: Jane the Business traveler
User Goals Step 1: DefineUse your user journeys as a guide in helping you list the goals that each persona type needs to accomplish when using the product. This is a good time to check-in with actual users to really understand their needs.
Purpose: Empathize with the user and understand what goals she wants to accomplish in order for your product (aka solution) to solve her problem and be valuable to her.
EXAMPLE
Goal #1
Goal #2
Goal #3
Goal #4
Goal #5
Persona: JaneFind a restaurant at the last minute
Find a restaurant near my hotel
See feedback from other patrons
Find a restaurant by cuisine
Make me look knowledgable to my fellow travelers
Help me brag about where I’ve been
Persona: Jane
Prune User Goals
Purpose: Make sure everything you build relates to a goal you’ve validated as important to your user’s experience.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Goal #1
Goal #2
Goal #3
✓
X
X
✓ ✓ ✓
✓
✓
✓
✓ ✓
Is each goal relevant and validated? Try using the 5 Why’s test here.
User Goals Step 2: Prune
Purpose: Make sure everything you build helps the user address an actual need or accomplish a real goal when using your product. Get rid of the rest.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Goal #1
Goal #2
Goal #3
✓
X
X
✓ ✓ ✓
✓
✓
✓
✓ ✓
Take some time now to prune your goals. Is each goal relevant and validated? The best way to do this is to talk to actual customers! However, you can also run the 5 Why’s test on each goal. Keep asking why the goal is important until you validate or invalidate it’s value.
EXAMPLE
Goal: Find a restaurant by cuisine
✓
✓
✓
✓
Why? Because I want to quickly find restaurants near me that serve the kind of food I’m in the mood for
Why? Because I don’t have time to do all the searching for myself
Why? Because I’m traveling and want to spend the time enjoying myself, not worrying about where to eat
Why? Because I want to have a great trip
4. Solutions
Purpose: Considering all options helps us determine if building something is better than what already exists.
Open your mind about how each goal might be accomplished. Don’t assume your first idea is the right path!
Diverge on Possible Solutions
Goal
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Purpose: Open your mind about how a goal might be accomplished. Don’t assume your first idea is the right path! Sometimes the simple or non-obvious solutions are best.
Consider every possible solution for the goal, even non-digital solutions or solutions not related to the product. Considering all options helps us determine if building something is better than what already exists.
EXAMPLE
Goal: Find a restaurant by cuisine
Diverge on Possible Solutions
Goal
Potential
Solution
Potential
Solution
Potential
Solution
Potential
Solution
List of Cuisines
Pictures of food by cuisine
Select country of origin on a
map
Auto-populate search box
Select flag for country
of originAsk a local
Ask hotel concierge
Converge on Solutions
Purpose: Narrow down the potential solutions and select which ones to move forward with.
Work with all stakeholders to choose which solution the group thinks is best for best for each goal you’ve identified. Do this by simple dot voting (each stakeholder gets 3 dots to vote on his/her top choices), or by using the $100 dollar test (each stakeholder gets $100 to spend any way they like on the solutions they think are best).
Goal
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Potential Solution
Goal
Potential Solution
Potential
Solution
Potential
Solution
Potential
Solution
$45
$25
$20
$10
5. Goals + Solutions = Themes
Why? Themes are the items on your roadmap. They keep track of what’s important to the user and what has to be done to move the product towards solving their problem.
A well thought through goal plus a validated solution becomes what we call a “Theme”.
Goals/Solutions become Themes
GOAL ThemeSOLUTION =+
Purpose: Themes are the items on your roadmap. They keep track of what’s important to the user and what has to be done to move the product towards addressing their needs.
You’ve identified the most important goals your user will need accomplish, and selected the best method for how your product to help them do so. These goals/solutions have now made the transition to what we call “Themes”.
Goals/Solutions become Themes
GOAL ThemeSOLUTION =+
EXAMPLE
Find a restaurant by cuisine
Select country of
origin on map
Cuisine search and select by
map +
User Goal Solution Theme
=
6. Determine Priorities
Now work with your stakeholders to prioritize the themes. Base this on three factors: Feasibility (technology), Desirability (human), and Viability (business).
Prioritize Themes
Why? Make sure you’re focusing on the most important themes, and building them in the right sequence.
Feasibility(technical)
Desirability (human)
Viability (business)
Engineering Design Sales
Marketing
Product Managers Executives
Next work with stakeholders to prioritize the themes so you can determine what is the best order to design and build. Base this on three factors: Feasibility (technology), Desirability (human), and Viability (business). It’s very helpful to rate the different factors by stakeholder team. For each theme rate the 3 factors from 1 to 5 (low to high).
Feasibility(technical)
Desirability (human)
Viability (business)
Prioritize Themes
Purpose: Make sure you’re focusing on the most important themes, and building them in th right sequence.
Engineering Design Sales
Marketing
Product Managers Executives
EXAMPLE
Feasibility Desirability Viability TOTALS
Restaurant reviews 5 5 5 15
User expertise rating 3 4 4 11
Cuisine search and select by map 2 4 3 9
Auto-populate search 5 2 2 9
Order of priority
Another valuable step is to scope the each theme. This helps you develop a rough understanding of how much time it’s going to take to design and build each theme.
You don’t want to use exact dates here, but rather ballpark measurements. A good tool for this is what is sometimes called “T-shirt” sizing. Like the sizes of a t-shirt, each theme can be labeled as tiny, small, medium, large, or huge. It’s helpful to have a comparison theme you’ve built in the past to use as your benchmark.
Scope your Themes
Purpose: Understand how each theme adds up to define the general length and breadth of the project.
Size
Cuisine search and select by map Large
Restaurant reviews Medium
User expertise rating Huge
Auto-populate search Small
EXAMPLE
7. Roadmap Visual
Remember, roadmapping is not a single stream. Organizing your themes into a product tree can help structure product areas and see how the themes relate.
The Product Tree
Purpose: Visualize the structure of your product so you can see the big picture and know where to focus your resources.
Trunk = the core product
Branches = the streams,
product areas
Roots = infrastructure, engineering operates here
User Profile
User Recommendations
Map of Cuisines
User Expertise
Rating
Search near me
Restaurant Reviews
Social media API’s
Share with Friend
Auto-pop Search
Search by City
OpenTable API
Customer Support
FAQ’s
Trip Advisor Example
Now it’s time to build your theme based roadmap. Since the roadmap is focused on describing major blocks of work, it’s best to use general timeframes.
The Timeframe
Why? Create the visual representation of your roadmap in a format that can be shared.
Current Term, Near Term, Future Term
Now, Next, Later
Next 6 weeks, next 6 months, next 6 years
3 or 6 month intervals, over 1 to 3 years
Finally, as we mentioned in the beginning, it’s helpful to map the themes on your roadmap back to your strategic objectives. A great way to do this is to simply color code your objectives.
Color Coding
Why? Make sure you’re building the right things for the right reasons.
Extend user time in app
Grow advertising market around restaurants
Enhance user experience
Now Next Later
User Profile Auto-pop Search Social media API’s
Map of CuisinesUser Reviews and Recommendations Share with Friend
Restaurant Reviews Search by CityUser Expertise
Rating
Customer Support OpenTable API
The Roadmap
Extend user time in app
Grow advertising market around restaurants
Enhance user experience
Two Versions
Generally it’s good to separate the roadmap into two versions: one internal with more detail, and external for more high-level communication.
High-level
Detail
Internal Initiatives Public Initiatives
CEO & Execs
Sales & Marketing
Product Managers
Dev Ops
Customer Support
Trusted Customers
Development Partners
General Public