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Outcome-Based Product Roadmaps

Swap the feature list with dates for a roadmap people trust. Learn to tie every item to an outcome, prioritise in the open and win buy-in from leadership, sales and engineering without promising deadlines you can't keep.

Free15 lessons~9 h 9 min of learning

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  1. Module 1

    Why roadmaps need a relaunch

    What a roadmap is for and how it differs from a release plan, why outcomes beat outputs, and the five primary components of a roadmap.

    1. 1.1What a roadmap is (and isn't)Why a feature list with dates fails as a roadmap, what a product roadmap is actually for, and how it differs from a release plan, a backlog and a Gantt chart.~33 min
    2. 1.2Outcomes over outputsThe difference between what a team ships and what changes because of it, how to climb from a feature request to a measurable outcome, and the traps that make an outcome useless.~33 min
    3. 1.3Anatomy of a roadmap: the five primary componentsThe five parts every useful roadmap needs (product vision, business objectives, themes, timeframes and a disclaimer), what each one does, and Sofia's first one-page roadmap for CatChow.~35 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  2. Module 2

    The why behind the roadmap

    Gathering inputs from the market, customers and stakeholders, writing a product vision and value proposition, and setting business objectives with key results.

    1. 2.1Gathering inputs: life cycle, market, customers, stakeholdersWhat to find out before drawing a roadmap: the product's life cycle stage, the market and customers behind every request, and what each stakeholder gives and needs, merged into one short list.~33 min
    2. 2.2Product vision and value propositionHow a mission, a product vision and a product strategy differ, how to fill in a value proposition template, and how Sofia compresses it into a one-line vision for CatChow.~35 min
    3. 2.3Business objectives and key resultsHow to turn business objectives into OKRs with key results that measure outcomes, the common ways OKRs go wrong, and version 2 of CatChow's roadmap with its full “why” layer.~35 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  3. Module 3

    From needs to themes

    Expressing customer needs as themes, choosing timeframes and a disclaimer instead of dates, and adding features, stage of development and confidence.

    1. 3.1Customer needs as themesHow to build roadmap themes from customer needs: journey maps and the critical path, system needs, the opportunity solution tree, job stories, and what to do with requests that serve no objective.~37 min
    2. 3.2Timeframes and the disclaimer: Now / Next / LaterHow to choose a timeframe format for your roadmap, what Now, Next and Later promise, how to answer “roughly when?” without inventing dates, and how the disclaimer changes for each audience.~37 min
    3. 3.3Going deeper: features, stage of development, confidenceWhen features belong on an outcome-based roadmap, how to show stage of development and confidence without false precision, which extras each reader needs, and version 3 of CatChow's roadmap.~36 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  4. Module 4

    Prioritizing with evidence

    Why gut feeling fails, how scoring frameworks such as value vs effort and RICE work, and how to make trade-offs and say no.

    1. 4.1Why gut feeling fails: criteria and biasWhy ranking by the loudest voice, the boss's hunch or the biggest client fails, what a feature costs after launch, and how to prioritize with explicit criteria, the critical path, Kano and three lenses.~38 min
    2. 4.2Scoring frameworks: value vs effort, RICE and friendsHow value / effort scorecards and RICE turn criteria into scores, how to keep confidence honest and read a ranking, where cost of delay and MoSCoW fit, and why a score only starts the conversation.~41 min
    3. 4.3Trade-offs and saying noWhich lever of the iron triangle to pull when work runs late, why adding people slows a project, how to say no to a founder, a colleague and a client without losing them, and version 4 of CatChow's roadmap.~42 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock

  5. Module 5

    A living roadmap

    Winning alignment and buy-in, presenting the roadmap to different audiences, and keeping it fresh as things change.

    1. 5.1Alignment and buy-in with stakeholdersWhy a roadmap needs alignment rather than consensus, how one-to-one conversations and a co-creation workshop win stakeholders' buy-in, and why a settled decision stays closed until new evidence arrives.~38 min
    2. 5.2Presenting the roadmap to different audiencesWhy share the roadmap at all, how one roadmap becomes a view for the board, sales, engineering and customers, and how to prepare a presentation without overpromising.~37 min
    3. 5.3Keeping it fresh and rolling it out in the organizationHow often to review a roadmap, how to size and explain a change, how to answer special requests and strategic forks, and how to roll out outcome-based roadmaps, ending with CatChow's full roadmap.~39 min
    Module examComplete 3 more lessons to unlock