roadmap-planning

## Purpose Guide product managers through strategic roadmap planning by orchestrating prioritization, epic definition, stakeholder alignment, and release sequencing skills into a structured process. Use this to move from disconnected feature requests to a cohesive, outcome-driven roadmap that aligns stakeholders, sequences work logically, and communicates strategic intent—avoiding "feature factory" roadmaps that lack strategic narrative or customer-centric framing. This is not a Gantt chart—it's a strategic communication tool that shows what you're building, why it matters, and how it ladders up to business outcomes. ## Key Concepts ### What is Strategic Roadmap Planning? Roadmap planning is the process of: 1. **Gathering inputs** — Customer problems, business goals, technical constraints 2. **Defining initiatives** — Epics with clear hypotheses and success metrics 3. **Prioritizing** — Rank initiatives by impact, effort, strategic fit 4. **Sequencing** — Organize into releases/quarters with logical dependencies 5. **Communicating** — Present roadmap to stakeholders with strategic narrative ### Types of Roadmaps **Now/Next/Later Roadmap:** - **Now:** Current quarter (committed) - **Next:** Following quarter (high confidence) - **Later:** Future exploration (low confidence) - **Best for:** Agile teams, uncertainty, continuous discovery **Theme-Based Roadmap:** - Organize by strategic themes (e.g., "Retention," "Enterprise Expansion," "Mobile Experience") - **Best for:**...