What are some innovative and feasible strategies for creating a product road map?

Hay que ir a lo basico - Identificar la necesidad - Describir el problema - Darle forma a la solucion - Crear una propuesta de valor - Ponerle un precio - Enviar esa propuesta al segmento que tiene el problema - Conseguir ese primer cliente, garantizando la devolucion del dinero con tal de obtener feedback - Validar con el cliente, obtener feedback e iterar - Replicar y seguir iterando - Ampliar el segmento - Dominar el mercado

Product Roadmap(PRM) is a simple summary of how Product portfolio will look like in future years. It is important to understand the value it conveys. Here are some important points to keep in mind: 1. PRM is not a static document, it's a dynamic document considering how fast technology is emerging in today's digitalized world. 2. It must incorporate the vision that an organization wants to deliver - product can adapt features around that vision supported features. 3. It must follow the principles of Design Thinking. Products captured in PRM are solutions to the complex modern life problems/requirements. Design thinking helps in developing products/solutions that meets the exact requirements and hence happy users.

A lean canvas can be limited by bias and preconception - it can, however, excel if it is conducted/led by a facilitator who understands a company's history, then leverages that towards amplifying their goals to achieve a previously intangible and visionary future. Practicality and conformity can be handbrakes in this process.

Chunk it all down. A mindmap can help. Here’s how to go from roadmap to tasks, or viceversa: Define top three objectives become quarterly milestones (3 for a year not 4). Plan buffer: Last quarter is for testing, launch and holidays. Then work on based on 3 themes or parallel lines per department (tech, marketing, product). Then work on 1 monthly goal that can be broken down into 3-6 tasks that can be done in a maximum period of two weeks. Add subtasks as needed for a tech spec. Done.

Incorporating a lean canvas into your product roadmap strategy provides a clear and concise framework that prioritizes agility and essential business model components. It encourages a focus on problem-solving, value creation, and direct customer feedback. By using this method, you can distill complex strategies into a single page that captures your product's value proposition, target customer segments, key metrics, and unique selling points. This approach not only streamlines the planning process but also facilitates easier communication and alignment across different teams within the organization.

Prioritizing outcomes versus outputs is easier said than done. Two approaches I have found helpful particularly in business areas where there is not an obvious current product or service to be benchmarked are: 1) Brainstorm prototype metrics for your new venture; and, further 2) ClaimStorm definitions for the outcomes in the categories of a) new behaviors, b) physiological benefits, c) relationship benefits, d) psychological or mental benefits, and e) system change benefits. Simply apply system change dynamics always identifies new platform opportunities.

In my experience, prioritizing Outcomes over Outputs is one of the most important tenets of a good roadmap. - Outcomes force us to focus on what matters most: the impact our products have on real users. It's not about checking off feature boxes; it's about solving problems and delivering value. - Outcomes align our product development efforts with the company's overarching goals. We're not building just for the sake of building; we're building to drive business success. - This enables us to achieve better product-market fit; it improves user satisfaction due to our focus on their needs; we remain adaptable to changing market conditions; and focus on data-based decision-making to drive impact.

To prioritise outcome and output, A well-structured product map should effectively bifurcate the below 1. new services, 2. enhancements, 3. bundling strategies, 4. exploratory initiatives The objectives and metrics for each category are different so as to align with customer needs. Objectives : New services may focus on market expansion, while enhancements aim to improve existing features. Metrics:For new services include market share capture, while enhancements could be evaluated based on user satisfaction improvements. Customer alignment : New services might target unmet demands, enhancements address pain points, bundling caters to convenience, and exploratory initiatives align with evolving customer expectations.

People are more likely to add something, such as a new feature, a more elaborate solution and so on. However, more can often be gained by removing items/hurdles/simplifying. “Less is more” is often heard amongst designers, but we tend to continue to add new features to products. Get better outcomes by considering both removing and adding in your process. Do not default to only adding new output requirements. Customers favour the product/service with the least friction.

It is important to work towards outcomes and drive outputs based on outcomes and not the other way around. These outcomes need to align with the company goals and overall vision as well thus moving towards the North Star.

Do it via a collaborative workshop. BEFORE the workshop you should 1)Define a clear goal within a reasonable timeframe. This should be done with the leadership team. 2)Define guiding principles to help make the team decide which ideas should be done sooner rather than later. DURING the workshop 1)State the goals and the guiding principles. 2)Remind people this process will be repeated in roughly 2 months, so perfection isn't the goal. 3)Use a whiteboard to make everything visible. 4)Walk through the relevant customer journeys and review the relevant data analysis. 5)Write all ideas down. 6)As a group, review the ideas for clarity and group them by theme. 7) Either dot vote the themes or plot them against your guiding principles

To implement themes effectively : 1. Ensure that each theme aligns with overarching business goals and contributes to the long-term vision of the product 2. Strive for a mix of themes that address immediate needs and those that contribute to the long-term sustainability and growth of the product 3. Encourage collaboration among different teams (development, marketing, design) to ensure a holistic approach in theme implementation 4. Themes should be flexible to adapt to changing market dynamics based on customer feedback, market trends, and technological advancements Eg User Experience Enhancement Theme, Market Expansion Theme, Innovation and Technology Adoption Theme, Efficiency & Scalability Theme, Customer Engagement & Loyalty Theme

Center your product road map on themes—big-picture areas like usability or security—rather than on granular features. Themes convey your vision clearly and offer flexibility in solution-finding, avoiding premature commitments to specifics. This approach prevents setting unrealistic expectations for your road map and keeps the focus on strategic value over feature specifics.

Simplemente, no-code/low-code. Vivimos en el mejor momento para crear soluciones apoyandonos en SAAS/PAAS para ofrecer cualquier producto o servicio. Si nuestra propuesta funciona podemos ir complejizándola.

In my experience and how we have grown my company is to really focus on the voice of the customer. We do that via understanding their problems and then reviewing use cases with them. We then poll and/or ask other customers which helps drive the priority. During our user conference this year, we did a retrospective activity with all of the participants and allowed them to vote. That helped us get themes of their problem statements to help drive further research and analysis that drove our roadmap.

Involving stakeholders is important but the focus across stakeholders should be more on the actual users of the product for whom one is trying to deliver value to. All other stakeholders are also important but might bring in their biases so weigh the inputs and then proceed accordingly.

If your team includes designers, I would like to point out that involving stakeholders is important during your product roadmap review. Design decisions often affect the overall user experience and, consequently, the product's success. Regular revisits to the roadmap allow designers to communicate their design rationale, progress, and any adjustments to stakeholders. This ensures that everyone involved, including non-design team members, clearly understands the design direction and its impact on the product's development.

Involving stakeholders is a highly important part of the innovation journey. Particularly when large changes are going to be implemented, involving (internal and external) stakeholders from the start onwards, will help them feel engaged and share certain challenges in their particular part of the business that change-makers might not have considered. It builds trust and stronger relationships.

I don't like the term stakeholders. You have users, you have contributors, different departments with different roles to create and distribute the product, partners, investors, competitors for budgets, etc. - they all have different roles and need to be managed accordingly. Most importantly, involve your users - in continuous discovery, initial research, feedback, and iterations. Manage your stakeholders according to their roles and impact on the product - and most importantly, help them empathise with your users: the ones who will decide whether you all will win or lose together.

Regularly reviewing and updating the product road map, is crucial for any project. With the help of these, customers and companies connect directly with their product thread. It creates lots of possibilities like modification in design, innovating new paths to achieve goals, understanding and simplified product uses which help to maintain and improve product life. "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford

Regularly review and adapt your product road map—it's a dynamic guide, not a one-time plan. Keep it current with new data and feedback, and openly communicate updates and their rationale to stakeholders. There's no need to wait for a quarterly review; frequent revisions allow for an innovative, yet agile response to evolving market demands and opportunities.

Cada iteracion tiene que aportar valor al cliente o mejorar la eficacia de la operacion para entregar mas valor al cliente. La forma mas comun de iterar es tener muy presente las necesidades de los clientes, revaluando el servicio, modificandolo, adaptandolo, en base al feedback y las tendencias del mercado para ofrecer incluso algo que aun no el cliente no sabia que necesitaba.

In teams where capabilities are shipped often, staying ahead of evolving requirements and user needs is imperative. By revisiting the product roadmap regularly, the team can ensure that upcoming features and enhancements align with the latest insights, feedback, and market trends. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of investing time and resources in features that might become obsolete or less relevant over time.

I have found the following useful 1) MVP = minimal viable product approach Priorits the making of MVP to get quick customer feedback and then add bells and whistles Release updates at intervals for the customer's engagement and reduce the time to market Iterate and refine product based on coninous feed back

I like to think product development roadmapping is like baking a cake for a cake sale. You don’t turn up to a bake sale not knowing how to bake a cake (aka you must deliver the minimal loveable benefit customers desire, one that puts you at least on par with other cake bakers). Secondly, your cake has some icing (aka these are your differentiating benefits from other bakers). And finally you add sparklers (aka the slam dunk benefit that lights up your audience to switch / try your product / service). Each component of the cake needs to have a here and now compelling emotional and rational benefit that solves a well understood hierarchy of problems for a customer and provides them an outcome, or feeling that they can’t access elsewhere.

Innovating a product roadmap involves customer feedback analysis, market research, and agile methodologies for flexibility. Foster cross-functional collaboration, encourage experimentation, and prioritize data-driven decision-making. Implement user-centric design, use prioritization frameworks, and embrace iterative planning. Stay updated on technology trends, map the customer journey, and proactively manage risks. Communicate transparently with internal teams and stakeholders to align expectations and build trust.

Más allá de la metodología de innovación que se aplique, considero que lo más importante es partir de una visión e intención diferenciadora, y al ser posible, disruptiva. La mayoría de productos salen al mercado con el único objetivo de superar ventas. Ejemplo: ?Y si dise?ásemos un producto con intención de servicio? ?Con intención de satisfacer las más profundas necesidades humanas y no las superfluas creadas por a?os en el mercado? ?Y si más allá del público objetivo consideramos las necesidades del contexto, cómo afecta nuestro producto a otras personas o seres sintientes o al mundo en general? Proponer preguntas diferentes da resultados diferentes, productos únicos.

I like to envision the use cases. Any possible one is welcomed at the beginning. Then understand the technology and design needs, performances. This has high impact on development roadmap. Then narrow it to the simplest MVP for the simplest market to enter. But key here is to build a product and the tech inside in a way that will enable fast pivots and iterations. For example, if one of the use-cases requires a miniaturize device or small/ one hand operation - you have to take this into account for the product roadmap, even if your MVP is a stationary big product. Easier to scale up than down.