Community Talks: Crafting a Product Roadmap
Every product has its vision. As Product Managers, what do we do to reach a product’s vision? How do we make sure that the product will satisfy the needs of end-users and give them a good service experience?
In this session, we have invited three guest speakers: Ferdenee Mempin (Product Designer at TANG app), Dmitry Stupakov (Product Manager of BuildBuild), and Marrisse Asuncion (Senior Product Manager at Quipper) to tackle all things about Product Management through a series of lightning talks, followed by a lean coffee discussion where all participants are free to engage with each other and share questions, ideas, and experiences. Let us learn from their success stories as they used product roadmap in project management.
Turn a Storyboard into a Product Roadmap
Our first speaker, Ferdenee, discussed turning a storyboard into a product roadmap. She said that the goal is to create a story roadmap for projects. She envisions that we, as product managers understand the importance of story roadmap to accomplish a project successfully.
This type of strategy, according to Ferdee, is helpful for agency based products and designers, beginners studying design (mainly UI or UX design), and design work shoppers.
On starting a product roadmap, Ferdee taught to first gather data and information. This could be market research or competitive analysis, and learning how the end user is predicted to use the product. We also gather data on business research to learn how the client aims to profit from or use the product. Lastly, we gather the product goal/vision to learn the end deliverable expected from us.
The next step after gathering the information is story mapping. It is a core set of steps a user must work through to accomplish the goal. When we create a story, it has a beginning and an end.
For example, Ana needs an item. We create a story map of what could be the possible actions that Ana will do. Ana would search an item online, she finds the item, then checks the item information, then she buys an item, then finally receives the item bought. Here, we can see the end-user’s methodology, which helps us product managers to prioritize and group tasks, and address critical tasks first.
Third step is to propose a story map to the team. When the story map is crafted, it is time to let the team give their insights. Based on the resources available and client’s deadlines, is the scope of the story doable? Ask the client and have it aligned and approved. Thus, we prepare for pushbacks, or asking for additional features to meet marketing demand.
As we lay down the basic structure of the story, the team can now pitch in for ideas, solutions, innovation and features. Ferdee showed this example wherein UX, Dev, and Marketing pitches in. We can see that in every part of the story, there’s an action or feature that we can input to make the product effectively.
Roadmap vs Feature Plan
Our second speaker, Dmitry Stupakov discussed the comparison of road map vs feature plan.
Road mapping, as Dmitry explained, can help us as product managers do the right thing. It makes us think over, plan, and avoid failures in the product making. It connects us to everyone, increases involvement, and helps the team to work better.
Dmitry also stated that we, as product managers should ask ourselves these questions:
- Is the set of features the right thing?
Some features may not just work — you will not get value from it. - Does everyone want to know all the details?
We need a bigger picture on small details. - Who wants to interrupt in complicated things?
Who is willing among the team to work on the complicated tasks? - What is the best precision for the best work?
People will need something to aim, and the team needs to swim in the same direction.
By answering these questions, this would lead us to separation of project plan and roadmap.
Feature plan is a day-to-day instrument where we can plan our features, tasks, and assign tasks to people. On the other hand, roadmap is a goal oriented instrument for achieving the desired product.
Let’s look closer at the differences of project plan and roadmap.
A highly-detailed feature plan works better in the short term, while a goal oriented roadmap works better in the mid-long term.
We make use of different tools for roadmaps. On feature plan, it is recommended to use some task trackers like Jira, Trail, or Asana because they have features on customizable desks, status integrations, and so on. When we build a roadmap, we are thinking of goals, and all the creative processes.
Dmitry showed an example of his own feature plan and roadmap.
In the image below, we can see the prioritization of each task, the progress, and shows if we are on track for each task. There is also a section where developers can put links into the task, and receive comments to make further development much easier.
Dmitry works in a start-up company, which means they didn’t have enough resources to use. The company focuses first on increasing their profit. Their goal is to make lots of projects without spending too much money. Roadmap helped them achieve their goal of producing effectively, cost-cutting on expenses, and increasing their income substantially.
Feature plans and roadmaps are essential instruments, but both need to be living in agile. Both tools need to be adjusted in the current situation.
Aligning Teams Through Product Roadmaps
Our final speaker, Marrisse Asuncion discussed aligning teams through product roadmaps.
Marrisse had a very rough start on being a product manager. For months, she was receiving a lot of overwhelming requests from different people. These requests dimmed her vision of looking at the bigger picture. She ended up trying to deliver whichever comes first, and it became a huge struggle for her. Their company’s CEO then advised her to make use of the product roadmap to solve her problem. This is where she first heard of the product roadmap, and from that very moment she started her research.
At first, she thought that a product roadmap is just a Gantt chart wherein she’ll just need to line-up all the features that she’s planning, assign start and end dates and there you have it.
As Marrisse continued to work with a lot of people and applied her knowledge on product roadmap, she realized that a product roadmap is more than a Gantt chart.
Product Vision and Roadmap
Marrisse described how their company came up with a product roadmap by first understanding the product vision. Quipper’s vision is to bring the best education to all corners of the world. This vision is broken down into four: product vision, product goals, product roadmap, and release plan & backlog.
Choosing Your North Star
North Star serves as a key metric of success. It gives an idea of identifying the level of success a product has. It guides us on prioritization decisions, guides our team and stakeholders to have alignment to make sure we are moving in the same direction.
Marrissa recommended conducting a workshop called creative matrix. It is a format for sparking new ideas at the intersections of distinct categories. The top row shows the user persona, and the first column are the enablers. Based on these two factors, the team can come up with innovative ideas, solutions to problems, divergent thinking, and participative inputs from the team.
Marissa ends her discussion by reminding us of five things:
- Having a clear product vision is key.
- A North Star metric with supporting input metrics will help you build a strong & robust roadmap.
- Driving team alignment is at the heart of building a great roadmap.
- Great roadmaps take a lot of work — it’s more than just an Excel sheet or a Gantt chart with release dates.
- Roadmaps shouldn’t be set in stone — always leave room for change.
We need teams of missionaries, not mercenaries. — John Doerr
Do you want to get involved in the Philippines’ Product Management community? Check out Product PH at Meetup or on Facebook to learn more.
