Roadmapping Strategies

Capture Quick Wins

Product managers often gravitate towards fancy new features and functionality. However, simple, obvious, and maybe even boring improvements can frequently bring the biggest impact. One should not overlook basic gaps that may be hindering the product. Implementing small fixes can have a surprisingly large return. It is important to prioritize quick wins that provide concrete value.

Additionally, balance innovation with getting the fundamentals executed properly. Do not solely chase what seems exciting on the surface. First, ensure the product delivers on core jobs and needs. Consider focusing on inexpensive changes that make a substantial difference for users. Ultimately, this combination sets up products for authentic, sustainable success - not just the illusion or promise of innovation.

In other words, splashy innovation has its place, but it must be built on a foundation of addressing basic jobs and needs first. The work may seem mundane, but those small wins compound over time into products that users truly rely on in their daily lives.

A few ways to do this is through simple improvements like:

• Fixing buggy workflows - Smoothing out friction points through tiny tweaks can greatly improve user experience.
• Improving search relevance - Better matching users' query intent boosts discoverability.
• Increasing loading speed - Shaving seconds off page load time improves engagement.
• Clarifying messaging - Clearer in-product language reduces confusion.
• Refreshing dated UI - Small visual lifts modernize look and feel.
• Adding keyboard shortcuts - Enables power users to work faster.
• Segmenting notifications - Letting users customize and filter notifications reduces overwhelm.
• Enhancing discoverability - Minor tweaks showing key features helps adoption.
• Improving signup funnel - Subtle changes to forms, copy and flow can lift sign-ups. A/B test sign-up page elements like text and images.
• Internationalization- Make your product more accessible globally by incorporating translations, localizing content, adapting to cultural norms, and designing with international audiences in mind.
• Optimizing monetization pages- Focus on driving conversions by A/B testing pricing, offers, checkout flows, calls-to-action, and page content on key monetization pages like pricing, purchase, upgrade, and renewals.

These small fixes can really help to increase your metrics and help users. Even little enhancements like simplifying flows, clarifying messaging, and optimizing performance unlock outsized benefits. They lift key metrics like conversion rates, session duration and retention.

Saying 'No'
While it's challenging to say 'no', especially given cultural perceptions where it might be seen as rudeness rather than prioritization, it's a crucial skill for product managers. Articulating 'no' in the right way can actually prevent scope creep and ensure team alignment. It's important to communicate that saying 'no' is about maintaining focus on overarching goals rather than fulfilling every individual request. By being clear about your workload and strategic priorities, and setting expectations early on what can be realistically delivered, you can say 'no' in a manner that's polite yet transparent. This isn't about personal rejection; it's about making informed choices for the greater good of the project. For product managers, the art of diplomatically saying 'no' is key to keeping teams on track and focused on the most impactful tasks at hand.

Here are some tips on how to say no:

• Leverage Your Roadmap to Say 'No': A disciplined product roadmap provides necessary cover for declining additional work requests while preserving relationships and credibility. By documenting agreed priorities, timelines, dependencies and capacity levels, the roadmap visually confirms tradeoffs and commitments that make detours impossible. Product managers can point to well-grounded constraints in the plan to diplomatically say 'no' without personalizing it.
• Reframe 'No' as Healthy Prioritization: Saying 'no' feels uncomfortable but can be framed as helping others. Explain it protects teammates from overwork and distractions. Declining requests helps keep energy focused on top priorities. With empathy, 'no' becomes caring - you block extras to avoid teammate burnout. Frame 'no' as empowering colleagues to do their best work. It shelters team capacity and morale. A gracious 'no' shows commitment to guarding against fatigue. Reframing 'no' positively enables teams to stay replenished and focused.
• Make People feel good about your 'no': 'No' doesn't have to shut people down. Approach it with empathy and acknowledgement. Agree the problem is real before explaining your alternate plan. Say "I appreciate this suggestion. Our roadmap priorities make this tricky right now. Here's how I'm thinking about solving this." A gracious 'no' shows you hear them while explaining your reasoning. Explore partial solutions or future re-evaluation. The delivery and tone of your 'no' impacts acceptance. Make people feel valued, not rejected. With care, 'no' can guide focus while keeping morale intact.
• Learn from people that say 'no' tactfully: How to say 'no' differs by company culture. Some are blunt, some subtle. Before saying 'no', learn the culture's norms well. Ask peers for tips on declining requests politely. See what phrasing works vs what doesn't. Practice using language insiders respect.
• Set-up principles to make saying 'no' easier: Having official principles makes saying 'no' easier. You can point to agreed company policies that back declines. Declining requests is less confrontational when you can point to an official company-wide policy that frames the decision. Principles enable saying 'no' based on accepted criteria, not opinions. Principles provide consistent rationale to uphold roadmaps with confidence when saying 'no'.

What to do when executives come in with request
It is quite common for someone at the executive level to insist on having a handful of new features to deliver on a marketing campaign or a sales pitch. This is normal and inevitably will happen. A lot of the times a PM will think the executive is being unreasonable, but usually this isn't the case. Sometimes we get so caught up in our roadmap and focusing on the narrow view which is the 'customer benefit' that we dismiss the value of a marketing story or a sales pitch that could increase ROI by 20%.

💁‍♀️ Tip: In order to have full control of your roadmap you will need to understand the broader picture and be able to execute on it. It's important to ask questions and get executives to explain their point of view. Often, they'll have extra context or a different perspective that they didn't realize you were unaware of.

Here are a few options and tips when facing roadmap disagreements:

Options:

• Propose a trial or prototype to test the approach before full commitment.
• Suggest a phased rollout where you start smaller to evaluate.
• Offer to research it further and come back with revised data-driven recommendations.
• Identify an interim solution that partially meets the need.
• Request their guidance in deprioritizing something else to make room.

Discussion Tips:

• Emphasize you want to find solutions that work for everyone.
• Remain flexible and acknowledge limitations in your own views.
• Ask thoughtful questions to fully understand their perspective.
• Present your rationale calmly and avoid conflict.
• Focus the conversation on business goals and problem-solving.
• Follow up in writing to capture decisions and next steps.

Assume good intent in roadmap disagreements. Remember you share the same high-level goals. Disagreements often stem from varied information or prioritization. Take time to understand their viewpoint while politely sharing your own. Identify whether the conflict arises from differing data, priorities or assumptions. Approach issues with empathy, asking questions first. Align on goals, then determine if compromise is needed around tactics or timing to close gaps respectfully.

Balance your product portfolio
Avoid roadmap bottlenecks by taking a portfolio approach to prioritization. Rather than a single ranked list, allocate percentages of effort across strategic goals. For example, devote 50% to brand awareness, 30% to retention, and 20% to revenue. Or allocate 30% to customer requests, 40% to technical debt, and 20% to new opportunities. Google uses a 70/20/10 split sustaining the core business, related projects, and blue sky ideas.

This high-level portfolio balance enables decentralized prioritization within preset limits. Teams can locally rank work that ladders up to global priorities. Portfolio thinking speeds prioritization by empowering focused decision-making within broader guardrails. It optimizes the big picture view while avoiding getting lost in a single master list.

Don't forget ROI
When creating a roadmap, it is crucial to analyze the expected benefits versus the expected costs of the work. The ratio between the two is your return on investment (ROI). The ROI calculation examines the ratio between potential gain from a project and the resources required to deliver it.

For example, a project projected to bring $10 million in revenue may seem more valuable than one with $5 million. However, if the $10 million project takes 6 months to complete while the $5 million one takes only 1 month, the latter may be far superior in terms of ROI due to faster time-to-value.

This analysis extends beyond revenue projections- consider benefits like development timelines. For example, assess whether a project would still be worth it if the timeline took 5 times longer than expected. Account for the notorious inaccuracy of software estimates. Over time, develop intuition around which types of projects tend to have higher variability and uncertainty in timelines.

Out-come based Roadmaps
An outcome-based roadmap communicates more than just product features. It outlines the key results those features aim to achieve. Rather than simply listing features to build in set timeframes, an outcome-based roadmap describes the targeted impact for each timeframe. For instance, instead of "Build Feature X", it might say "Increase new user signups by 15% this quarter".

Shifting the focus to outcomes provides your roadmap with meaningful results, not just feature delivery. They provide direction to ensure teams are moving in alignment with business goals. An outcome focus adds value by connecting team efforts to real impact, rather than assuming shipping features alone constitutes success. With clear outcomes defined, teams can prioritize work that drives targeted results. This focus helps avoid wasted effort on features that may not deliver value.

💁‍♀️ Tip: Outcome-based roadmaps empower teams to think critically about how to move the needle on key metrics, not just build what they're told.

Final Words

Prioritizing an effective roadmap often involves identifying and implementing quick wins. These can range from fundamental product enhancements to straightforward UI adjustments, or other rapid, high-impact solutions. Effective prioritization also encompasses empathetically declining non-essential requests, adopting a holistic portfolio approach, assessing cost-benefit scenarios, and focusing on results rather than just features.

By prioritizing with both care and clarity, product managers can develop roadmaps that effectively juggle varied requirements, thereby maximizing overall value. This method of prioritization, which is both straightforward and considerate, ensures that teams remain dedicated to realizing the strategic vision through practical execution.

Next Steps

1. How Product Organizations Can Balance Big Bets Versus Short-Term Wins
2. How Product Managers Can Say No (and Still Get Invited to Lunch)
3. A Transition Guide Towards The Outcome Based Product Roadmap