Categories of Product Roadmaps
Product roadmaps fall into three main categories: goals-oriented, features-oriented, and timeline-oriented. Each communicates different key information and is intended for a specific audience. For any product, you will likely create multiple roadmaps oriented toward your team, management, and the public.
When you have multiple product roadmaps, you can tell the whole story and communicate information at different levels. For example, the development team needs to be in the weeds with the feature build schedule, but upper management doesn’t need to know those specifics. You can also enjoy greater flexibility with multiple roadmaps, as you can flip between different views.
Here’s an outline of each of the three main categories:
- Goals-Oriented Product Roadmap: This category surfaces the product vision at the highest level. It depicts the overall goals and objectives of the product and the relationships between them (e.g., whether they must happen in a sequential order). Goals-oriented roadmaps work well for presenting upper management or senior leadership with a snapshot of your work and a sense of how it aligns with larger organizational goals.
- Features-Oriented Product Roadmap: Use this type of roadmap to break down the schedule of development work: what features (and subfeatures) you will build, along with their delivery dates. Development and other internal teams can use a features-oriented roadmap as a schedule to determine when, how, and in what order they will tackle each aspect of the product. It also serves as a live progress update, so anyone can tell the status of a particular feature or release at any point in time.
- Timeline-Oriented Product Roadmap: Most people are familiar with this type of roadmap, which is a visual timeline that communicates a team’s priorities, the expected length of time each will take, and the expected date of completion. Timeline-oriented product roadmaps communicate the overall timeline to leadership and help give customers or the public a preview of what’s coming. While timeline product roadmaps are very popular, it’s important to note that not all product roadmaps include a timeline.
See below for more specific types of roadmaps, and check out our complete guide to visual product roadmaps to learn more about creating a timeline tool.
How to Choose Which Type of Roadmap Is Best for You
To choose which type of product roadmap to create, consider your audience, presentation style, and what you are trying to communicate. You’ll likely create multiple roadmaps for any given product, so cater each one to the intended audience.
Kris Drey has worked as a digital and physical product management executive for more than 20 years and is the Founder and CEO of The Byrd. According to him, the type of roadmap you create “depends on several factors, including the type of products you’re building and when they need to be delivered, how often code needs to be released, the urgency of the initiative,” and more. “The audience or stakeholder is also very important when deciding on a roadmap style,” he says.
Here is an overview of when to use each type and a generalized example of each:
- Goal-Driven: Use this for big-picture presentations to senior leadership. For example, you might create a presentation for leadership that shows your team’s priorities for the year and how they map to larger company-wide goals.
- Feature-Driven: Use this for development teams to define sprint or epic schedules, or to see a clear prioritization of the features that need to be developed. An example of this is a sprint schedule, which defines priorities for each member of the development team in a two-week work cycle. This would be a detailed roadmap that specifies exactly what features and testing each team member should be working on.
Learn more with this ultimate guide to sprint planning, or get started with these free downloadable sprint planning templates.
- Timeline-Driven: Use this for tracking work completed during each sprint or epic, setting a release schedule, or communicating high-level schedules to leadership, customers, or the public. For example, you might create a product roadmap that hints at upcoming products to generate buzz among your customers. In this instance, the product roadmap doubles as a piece of marketing material.
If you’re not sure which type of product roadmap is best for your needs, use this simple if-then flowchart below:
Learn how to customize your roadmap even further below.
Examples of Different Types of Product Roadmaps
In addition to the three general product roadmap categories (goal-oriented, feature-oriented, and timeline-oriented), there are many other, more specific types. Below, you’ll find examples of release schedule roadmaps, Agile epic roadmaps, portfolio roadmap, strategy and high-level roadmaps, and more.
A product roadmap should ultimately provide clarity on the product vision and strategy. Think of it as a visual representation of the way you will achieve the goal of bringing the product to life. Also, remember that a product roadmap is not static. It should be a live, always up-to-date plan that exists as the single source of truth of progress toward the overall product vision.
To learn more, check out our complete roundup of free product roadmap templates and our step-by-step guide to creating a product roadmap.
Product Release Roadmap Example
A product release roadmap depicts the product development timeline, including all features, testing, and bug fixes. Also called a release plan, this type of roadmap helps set clear expectations for development and QA teams around roles, responsibilities, and priorities.
According to Drey, product release plans are “product roadmaps and release plans combined. They are used for communicating specific milestones, who is responsible for them, and when they will be released.” As this implies, a product release roadmap is a features-related roadmap.
A common example is a software release plan, which development teams use as a plan for what they will build, the releases they’re tracking toward, and how they will work together as a team. A software release plan includes the features in development, an explanation of how the feature works from a user’s perspective (called a user story), a task breakdown, roles and responsibilities, and an estimated timeline.
Agile Epic Roadmap Example
An Agile epic roadmap, also called an Agile product roadmap or epic roadmap, outlines upcoming features and releases to senior management. It is a flexible plan of action organized into epics, which are work cycles broken down into specific tasks.
Drey provides an original example of using an Agile epic roadmap in a past role: “At one very large pharmaceutical company, we had epic roadmaps in one program, with feature roadmaps that rolled up to the epics in another bug-tracking tool. This type of roadmap can contain much more detail related to releases, epics, features, etc., and how they tie into the overall product strategy. They can be used as the core roadmap from which anyone can pull broad or fine detail to present to any person or group.”
An Agile epic roadmap is also a features-oriented roadmap and is typically more detailed than a product release roadmap.
Learn more about the role of an Agile product roadmap, and get started with our collection of free Agile product roadmap templates.
Kanban Roadmap Example
A Kanban roadmap is a visual tool that leverages the Kanban project management methodology. It combines traditional Kanban, which separates work into To-Do, Doing, and Done columns, along with a product roadmap, which gives an overview of long-term initiatives.
Traditionally, a Kanban board only showcases near-term endeavors in an effort to keep the team focused, streamline production, and limit work in progress (WIP). Additionally, in Kanban, teams do not commit to hard deadlines, and instead just move work items to the Done column upon completion. While that approach may seem at odds with product roadmapping, which often accounts for long-term strategic initiatives and includes a timeline, a hybrid Kanban roadmap can work quite well.
A Kanban roadmap is also a features-oriented roadmap, although it presents the information differently. It also combines elements of a goal-oriented roadmap, since it lists upcoming priorities and tasks in a more general sense.
The easiest way to create a strong Kanban roadmap is to simply add a fourth column, Backlog, to the traditional Kanban board. This allows upper-level management to see the upcoming priorities that align with larger objectives without forcing the team to set deadlines. It also allows teams to re-prioritize work items — that is, move an item from the Backlog into the To-Do column — if objectives change from the top down.
Here is an example of a simple Kanban roadmap you might use when launching a new product feature:
Product Portfolio Roadmap Example
Use a product portfolio roadmap to display release plans for multiple products at once. This type of roadmap outlines the planned releases across an entire portfolio and shows relationships between products and the progress of the portfolio as a whole.
Drey defines this type as “a more strategic roadmap.” According to him, it is used “to track several projects on a single roadmap and how they relate to one another and to the strategic plan. It’s used to show all of the projects that relate to a specific portfolio or product line.”
A product portfolio roadmap is a goals-oriented roadmap, since it displays various initiatives and how they roll up into larger strategic goals. That said, it also combines some elements of timeline and features roadmaps, since it includes a general timeline progression and upcoming features.
A product portfolio roadmap works well for any suite of products that are united under one larger strategic initiative. For example, a fitness technology brand may have a portfolio of wearable technology, such as a step counter, a fitness watch, a glucose monitor, and more. The visual below shows how a product portfolio roadmap might look for this example.
Product Strategy Roadmap Example
A product strategy roadmap or strategic initiative roadmap is a goals-oriented roadmap that shows how a team’s current initiatives map to company-wide goals. It is intended for upper-level management and is often presented as a simple visual slide.
Product strategy roadmaps are “mainly used for senior management to get a high-level view of what’s being developed as it relates to strategic goals,” says Drey. “This roadmap is used to answer two big questions: 1) How are you going to achieve our strategic goals? and 2) Can you deliver on these goals in the time we’ve projected?”
This is another style of a goals-oriented roadmap, as it is used to visually display the work toward a larger strategic vision.
Consider the example of presenting on a software development product. You should include an overview of the products you are working on and connect them to larger strategic goals. A simple way to do this is to visually map each product to a specific strategic goal, using color coding or other graphic elements.
Product Features Roadmap Example
A product features roadmap or release timeline details which features are coming and when. Every product release includes multiple features, and this roadmap is where you detail specifics about the order and schedule of each forthcoming feature.
Drey explains this as the “‘standard roadmap’ or visual view of the details of what you are developing and when. This is the ‘in the weeds’ version of a product strategy roadmap, and is usually just for development teams.” Therefore, this is also a features-oriented roadmap.
Product features roadmaps are common with software development teams and typically outline the upcoming quarter or epic. Below is a visual example of a product features roadmap from Drey:
Goals Product Roadmap Examples
A goals product roadmap, also called a high-level product roadmap or an objectives timeline roadmap, is a simple visual tool that shows your upcoming goals. Use this high-level roadmap in presentations with management and executives to communicate your upcoming priorities.
Simply put, Drey describes this type of roadmap as “one of the preceding roadmaps stripped down for a specific audience.” In essence, it is the most stripped-down, high-altitude roadmap: It simply outlines a team’s or department’s upcoming goals. As the name implies, it is a goals-oriented roadmap.
For this type of roadmap, consider using one of our free PowerPoint product roadmaps for a straightforward presentation.
For example, your team might be working on a series of features or releases that all contribute to the larger goal of increasing subscription upgrades within your app. Here is an example of how you might visually communicate that to your senior leaders:
Timed-to-Do Roadmaps
A timed-to-do roadmap is an innovative tool for surfacing priorities from senior leadership. Unlike other roadmaps, it provides information about strategic objectives, which you can use to create a features- or timeline-oriented roadmap on how you will achieve these priorities.
Here’s how it works: As a product manager, you can give senior leadership a set amount of time (for example, one hour, two business days, etc.) during which they need to generate a list of the most important things they want your team to focus on in the upcoming work cycle. This could be a particular product, a set of features, testing, or something else. The time-bound nature of this exercise raises the stakes, so it typically yields a list of the highest-priority items to tackle.
Once you have clarity on the priorities, you can create other tools — such as an epic roadmap or release plan — to show when and how you will execute on these priorities. This is a hybrid between all three types of roadmaps: It relays the top priorities or goals, notes the specific features or initiatives to prioritize, and gives a timeline progression of how to execute.
“I’ve used timed-to-do roadmaps as a tool to glean information from the VP, director, and other management on what should go into the strategic roadmap,” says Drey. “It is a sort of prioritization roadmap that you can lay out in a MoSCow format. It is timed, so people are subconsciously focused on the most important things that need to be delivered in a certain timeframe.”
Here is an example of one of Drey’s original timed-to-do roadmaps.
Now-Next-Later Product Roadmap
A now-next-later product roadmap shows priorities over a long period of time, with an emphasis on near-term tasks. This visual tool includes three columns: Now (immediate priorities), Next (upcoming priorities), and Later (farther out tasks that reflect high-level strategic goals).
A now-next-later roadmap is similar to a Kanban board. The Now column includes more detail about current tasks, and the Later column can be more vague, as you don’t need to pin down those tasks until you get to them. This type of roadmap works well for teams that work in a fast-changing environment and still want to know what’s likely to come next. It’s also a rare type of roadmap in that it’s suitable to share with customers, as it allows you to forecast upcoming features or releases without committing to a hard deadline.
This is a features-oriented roadmap, as it shows the progression of upcoming features to work on.
You can also display multiple work streams on a single now-next-later roadmap, as in the example below. In this one, each horizontal bar represents a different goal, with subtasks underneath it. This is a great way to gain an at-a-glance overview without getting too deep in the weeds.
Customizing Your Product Roadmap for Your Audience
Once you’ve decided which type of roadmap to create, customize it to provide maximum utility for your audience. Think about what each stakeholder needs to know and how to best present the information so they can easily understand it.
Part of a product manager’s role is to intuit who needs to have what information. It’s important to give each party the clear data, timeline, and plans that they require, without overwhelming them with too much information or information they don’t need.
“Product managers are liaisons and are required to speak many ‘languages,’” says Drey. “For example, you would not want to present a slide deck to engineers who are looking for details on how to build a feature.”
It’s important that you don’t create a product roadmap in a silo, even if you are the team leader or are responsible for the product itself. Instead, it should be a collaborative effort and take into account the team’s bandwidth, company objectives and priorities, costs, and what other products or releases are happening in other departments.
Ultimately, a product roadmap is a tool for creating alignment. Here are some common elements that different stakeholders tend to care about:
- Executives and Senior Leadership: These stakeholders require a high-level overview; big-picture goals, objectives, and priorities; a rough timeline; and an overview of the strategy and how it aligns with larger organizational goals.
- Development Team: The development team needs to know how to prioritize features and testing, as well as what they should work on in each sprint, epic, or other work cycle.
- Sales Team: This team requires an overview of which feature releases to expect and guidance for how to speak to each new development.
- Customers and the Public: This group of stakeholders requires a more generalized timeline of what to expect and a marketing-focused POV that generates public interest in your product.
you will present your roadmap. Will it be a slide presentation, a Kanban board, a Gantt chart, or a simple written chart?
Drey gives the following advice on how to think about this: “When it comes to communicating your roadmap outwardly, the audience will determine what document you will use to convey, present, or deliver the information in the roadmap. Executives like short, concise, broad strokes which are more readily delivered in PowerPoint or Google Slides. In contrast, sales teams are more revenue-focused, so a spreadsheet would be more applicable. The public would likely be best addressed in a Microsoft Word or Google Sheets document. It’s important to know your audience and to speak to them in a way that they are comfortable and familiar with. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing them.”
Create a Powerful, Intuitive Product Roadmap with Timeline View in Smartsheet
Timeline view in Smartsheet empowers users to plan, visualize, and collaborate on date-based work in real-time, enabling you to effortlessly organize tasks, track progress, and communicate status.
In just a few clicks, launch your project’s timeline on any sheet to visualize your work, understand the details, and adjust information, making it easy to track project progress, detect blockers, and communicate statuses.
Discover how timeline view in Smartsheet can help your team visualize date-based work and achieve greater efficiency and transparency across projects.
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