Product roadmapping
Now, next, and later, without fake dates on the later column.
Sequence without false precision
Roadmapping is the practice of showing what a product team will do in what order. Roadmapping tools can draw it. The one-page version has three columns: now, next, and later. Now has names and dates. Next has names and a rough window. Later has problems you intend to face, not features with a month attached. A date on a later item is a promise you cannot keep, and it trains stakeholders to treat fiction as a plan.
A Gantt chart is right when the work is a project with dependencies and a known end, such as a science fair or a migration. A roadmap is right when discovery will change the later column. Review the now column in the product review.
Example
Now, this month: stop the signup form from accepting a date in the past. Next, this quarter: send a confirmation email. Later: let coordinators export attendance. The later item has no month. If a stakeholder needs a month, the item is no longer later. Move it to next and say what you will drop.
Questions
- What is roadmapping?
- Showing the order of future product work. A clear roadmap separates dated work now from undated intentions later.
- What are roadmapping tools for?
- Drawing and sharing that order with a team. The columns and the honesty about dates matter more than the tool.
- How is a roadmap different from a Gantt chart?
- A Gantt chart shows task durations and dependencies for a scoped project. A roadmap shows priority over time and should not pretend later ideas have firm dates.