Hi!Carolann Bonner

Product Designer at Segment.

The Product Road Map

What would you like to talk about

today?

Common pitfalls

• Strategy and objectives are unclear• Confusion about current roadmap• Lack of transparency• Process for creating roadmaps are

not consistent across the company

What is a roadmap?The path from where you are now to

where you want to be.

Why have a roadmap?To maintain focus.

Characteristics of a good roadmap

• Simple and high-level• Reflects important objectives• Clear present, fuzzy future

Before you plan your roadmap

Feature auditWhat are people using right now?

Goal: Focus your resources on what matters.

You need balance.Improving the existing product

and building new ideas

Where to start

5 inputs to consider:

1. IterationIterate on the product that was just shipped.

2. Common customer issuesHave a system for collecting and

categorizing customer problems and issues.

3. Improve qualityHow well is the existing product solving

our customers’ original problem?

4. Sales team feedbackUnderstand the anxieties of

potential customers.

5. New IdeasNew solutions, creative ideas,

whatever excites you.

Saying “no”

Handling feature requests

Unnecessary burden

Each feature is like adding a child to a family.

While it might be wonderful, it also has its own sets of needs and demands.

Be sure your team is able to take that on when you start discussing a new

feature.

A mile wide but only an inch deep

It’s easy for features to nudge your product further away from its core vision. In doing so, the scope of the

problem you’re solving for your customers is a mile wide but only an

inch deep.

Does it fit your vision?

Define metrics for success

Communication problems

Visualize

IMAGE BY IAN TAYLOR

IMAGE BY IAN TAYLOR

Accessible

• Make it easy to understand• People should be able to see it anytime• It doesn’t have to be interactive• Put it up on a wall or circulate it in your

team’s chat tools

Self-driving cars

What first?

Consider the other inputs

Define Success

How might we measure success?

Thanks!