In today’s competitive world, having a roadmap designed for your product is absolutely essential. A roadmap is not only a document that can prove to be helpful in setting up budget for your product, but it will also help you to convince your stakeholders and investors in regard to the profitability and feasibility of the project. In addition, a clear roadmap also plays a major role in keeping you as well as your team in figuring out the role of every individual. In this context, there are certain tips that you can keep in mind. Some of them are mentioned below.
Right steps for an agile product roadmap
- Figure out your target- This should be your first step towards creating an agile product roadmap. Like we know, it takes weeks of market research and business analysis when it comes to making a product roadmap. But, the dynamic nature of these factors might compel you to work more on your analysis and research results. As they would vary quite often, which is the reason why you need to set a goal right in the beginning. In this way, you and your team will not deviate from the path. As a result, you will be able to come up with better strategies.
- Set the benchmarks- Unless you set the standards for your upcoming product, you and your team will remain clueless about the roadmap. You should have complete idea about the quality of the competitive products in the market. Once you have set the standards, it will be easier for you to compare your results with the different aspects of your competitors, such as revenue and growth.
- Bring in combined inputs- At the time of creating a roadmap, it is vital to invite the key people from each and every department of your business, such as marketing, sales, development, designing, etc. This type of workshop and brainstorming sessions can prove to be quite effective and useful in providing you the right kind of vision for roadmap. In addition, it will also make your key people feel that they are also a part of the important project.
- Come up with a coherent story- In order to provide a better picture to your employees, it is vital to create a timeline which can showcase the growth of your product. It will make easier for you to reach the vision as well as figure out the role of each and every department. Hence, your key people will be able to get a better idea of their responsibilities. Keeping the coherent story or timeline as realistic as possible is also important.
- Keep it simple- Nobody likes to deal with loads of complicated stuffs. Hence, the product roadmap created by you should be easy to understand. In this way, the people from your key departments will not have to toil a lot in order to figure out your plan and vision. It would be better not to include too many details in the roadmap; the details can be used for the product backlog documents.
- Consider your users first- No matter how good your product and its features are; if you are not focusing on how the product or its features will prove to be useful for your target users, your product might not succeed in the market. So, at the time of building the roadmap, it is absolutely vital to take into consideration the responses you have obtained from your target consumers through market research. In this way, you will be able to deliver a product which is more value-oriented for your target customers.
- Jot down the problems and their solutions- The product you are planning to develop should have the ability to provide a solution to your target customers; and, it is important to mention the same in your product roadmap. The roadmap should clearly define the issues that are going to be solved by your upcoming product. Plus, jotting down the tangible benefits of the upcoming product is also crucial.
So, those were the seven major tips you should keep in mind at the tile of creating an agile product roadmap. In addition to them, it is also important to ensure the roadmap contains the essence of your upcoming product. Mentioning the dates or deadline of each and every stage of product development will also prove to be useful in this regard. After all, sticking to the deadline is very much important in ensuring the roadmap is followed properly.
In the present time, there are different certifications available which can make you a better project manager. Scrum master certification is one such option you can consider in this regard. So, if you are really interested in turning yourself into a better project manager, keep the above mentioned tips in mind and go for the certification too.
