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Index
Praise for Product Roadmaps Relaunched
Foreword
Preface
Dear Roadmap
Who Is This Book For?
How to Use This Book
Why Listen to Us?
C. Todd Lombardo
Bruce McCarthy
Evan Ryan
Michael Connors
Acknowledgments
1. Relaunching Roadmaps
What Is a Product Roadmap?
Key Terms and How We’re Using Them
Product
Stakeholder
Customer
Where Did Product Roadmaps Come From?
Requirements for a Roadmap Relaunch
A Roadmap Should Put the Organization’s Plans in a Strategic Context
A Roadmap Should Focus on Delivering Value to Customers and the Organization
A Roadmap Should Embrace Learning
A Roadmap Should Rally the Organization Around a Single Set of Priorities
A Roadmap Should Get Customers Excited About the Product Direction
A Roadmap Should Not Make Promises a Team Cannot Deliver On
A Roadmap Should Not Require Wasteful Up-Front Design and Estimation
A Roadmap Should Not Be Conflated with a Release Plan or a Project Plan
Summary
2. Components of a Roadmap
Primary Components
Product Vision
Business Objectives
Timeframes
Themes
Disclaimer
Meet the Wombat Garden Hose Co.
Developing the Wombat Roadmap
Secondary Components
Features and Solutions Show How You Intend to Deliver on Your Themes
Stage of Development
Confidence
Target Customers
Product Areas
Secondary Components Added to the Roadmap
Complementary Information
Project Information
Components in Context
Components in Context
Components in Context
Components in Context
Summary
3. Gathering Inputs
Understand Where Your Product Is in Its Life Cycle
New Product Phase
Growth Phase
Product Expansion Phase
Harvesting Phase
End-of-Life Phase
Gathering Input from Your Market
Understand Your Ecosystem
Define the Problem and the Expected Outcome of the Solution
Gathering Input from Your Customers
Customer Roles
User Types
Users Versus Buyers
Roles Versus Personas
Gathering Input from Your Stakeholders
Summary
4. Establishing the Why with Product Vision and Strategy
Mission Defines Your Intent
Vision Is the Outcome You Seek
Values Are Beliefs and Ideals
Product Vision: Why Your Product Exists
Value Proposition Template
Example for Our Wombat Hose
Duality of Company and Customer Benefit
Product Strategy: How You Achieve Your Vision
Objectives and Key Results
The 10 universal business objectives
Key results (and metrics)
Outcome Versus Output
Timing
Case Study: SpaceX
Business Objectives
Themes
Key Results
Summary
5. Uncovering Customer Needs Through Themes
Expressing Customer Needs
Themes and Subthemes
Ways to Uncover Themes and Subthemes
User Journeys and Experience Maps
Existing Product Needs
System Needs
Opportunity-Solution Trees
Using Job Stories and User Stories to Support Themes
Themes Are About Outcomes, Not Outputs
Relating Themes Back to Your Objectives
Real-World Themes
The High Cost of Space Travel
Slack’s Theme-based Roadmap
GOV.uk’s Gantt Chart with Benefits
Summary
6. Deepening Your Roadmap
Features and Solutions: How They Can Work with Themes
When and Why Do Features Appear on the Roadmap?
Where Do Features Appear on the Roadmap?
Buffer’s feature-level roadmap
Feature questions
Using Stage of Development
Stage of Development Questions
Communicating Confidence
Confidence Questions
Identifying Target Customers
Target Customers Questions
Tagging Product Areas
Product Areas Questions
Secondary Components Summary
Strive for Balance
Summary
7. Prioritizing–with Science!
Why Prioritization Is Crucial
Opportunity Cost
Shiny Object Syndrome
Exponential Test Matrix Growth
Features Versus Tests
Bad (but Common) Ways to Prioritize
Your, or someone else’s, gut
Analyst opinions
Popularity
Sales requests
Support requests
Competitive me-too features
Prioritization Frameworks
Critical Path
Kano
Desirability, Feasibility, Viability
ROI Scorecard
A Formula for Prioritization
A simple scorecard
A more complex scorecard
MoSCoW
Tools Versus Decisions
Dependencies, Resources, and Promises (Oh, My!)
Prioritization Frameworks
Summary
8. Achieving Alignment and Buy-in
Alignment, Consensus, and Collaboration Walk into a Bar...
Alignment
Consensus
Collaboration
Shuttle Diplomacy
Shuttle Diplomacy for Product People
Why Does Shuttle Diplomacy Work?
How to Engage in Shuttle Diplomacy
Shuttle Diplomacy Canvas
What’s Difficult About Shuttle Diplomacy?
Meetings and Workshops
Presenting Recommendations
Co-creation Workshop
Software Applications
Summary
9. Presenting and Sharing Your Roadmap
Why to Share Your Roadmap Internally
Inspiration
Alignment
The IKEA Effect
Why to Share Your Roadmap Externally
The Risks of Sharing
Overpromising and Underdelivering
The Osborne Effect
Competition
Multiple Roadmaps? Not So Fast!
Presenting the Roadmap to Stakeholders
What the Development Team Needs in a Roadmap
Secondary Components
Complementary Information: Platform Considerations
Complementary Information: Project Information
Status
What Sales and Marketing Need in a Roadmap
Secondary Components
Complementary Information: External Drivers
What Executives Need in a Roadmap
Complementary Information: Financial Information
What Customers Need in a Roadmap
The Roadmap Presentation
Preparation
Case Study: Chef.io’s Roadmap Presentation
Dropping Like a Lead Balloon
CASE STUDY: Chef.io’s Roadmap Presentation
Summary
10. Keeping It Fresh
Roadmap Evolution
How Far Out Should Your Roadmap Go?
Planned Change
Change Frequency
Unplanned Change
When Features Are Late
When to Compromise on Quality
Special Requests
External Pressures
Changes in Strategy
Communicating Change
Why
What and When
Roadmap Changes
Forks in the Road
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Summary
11. Relaunching Roadmaps in Your Organization
How to Get Started
Step 1. Assess your situation
Step 2. Get buy-in for change from from your key stakeholders
Step 3. Train your stakeholders how to contribute
Step 4. Start small and work incrementally
Step 5. Evaluate your results and align on next steps
Step 6. Keep relaunching
Postscript
Index
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