A roadmap tells you how you are getting somewhere. That is all a map does when you are driving, and it is all this does. Scoping decides what is in your product at all, prioritising decides what comes first, and the roadmap is where that path gets written down.

For a first app, the version to use is now, next and later. Now is what you are building for launch, next is what follows it, later is everything you have decided is real but not soon.

Why I do not put dates on it

A roadmap is not a timeline. That is the most common misconception about them, and it is worth saying plainly, because most people picture January this, February that, March the other.

You could timeline one. I do not recommend it, because you do not know how long everything is going to take. That is the main reason software teams do not usually put a roadmap on a calendar.

A dated roadmap built before development starts is a list of promises made with the least information you will ever have. The dates then become the thing people manage, and they were invented.

Now, next and later carry the information that actually matters, which is the order, without pretending to carry information you do not have.

What goes in each

Now is your P0s and P1s: what you cannot launch without, and what you want to launch with.

Next is the P2s, and it is worth thinking about this earlier than feels necessary. Not for the MVP, not what you launch with, but very quickly after, I want to be thinking about what other parts of this person's job I can capture and make better, so the tool becomes something they want to use rather than something they are forced to use.

Later is real but distant. It is also where you put the good idea that keeps distracting you, so it stops distracting you.

Sequence for the story, not just the logic

There is a strategy element to the order, because you want people excited for each new release.

In my nanny app, I am first going to implement the time off is time off feature, where nannies do not get bothered when they are not working. Then as a follow-up I will implement message me anyway, because that is an additional feature I can do in the future. It is not needed at the same time as the first one, but it will be a nice addition.

Same two features, two different orders, two different stories to your users. The order is a decision, not an accident.

Things that are not on the roadmap at all

Be explicit about this, because it is how a roadmap stays useful.

There are features I have looked at and said: I am not going to do that. I might do it way in the future, but that is not what the product is launching with, and it is not on the roadmap at all.

Your interviews are the best source of those deletions. I use interviews not only to validate and invalidate, but also to completely wipe something off my future roadmap if I do not think it is worth it after talking to people.

It is going to change, and that is not a failure

These are all living documents and they are going to constantly change.

You might be thinking, but I do not know the whole thing yet. That is okay, because this is going to change. You have not started development yet, so it is still a work in progress. And once you do start development, it is still always changing.

The point of writing it down is not to lock the future in. It is so that when you change it, you can see what you are changing and why.

Keep reading

MoSCoW and P0 to P4: How to Prioritise Your App's Features

How Long Does It Take to Build an App, and Why Most Estimates Are Wrong

MVP vs. MLP: What's the Difference and Which One Should You Launch?

Learn this with me

The Now, Next, Later roadmap is the last thing in class 7 of From Passion to Product, my free six-week live course, after MoSCoW and the priority levels. It only works once you have decided what is in your first release, which is why it comes at the end of that class rather than the start.

Six weeks, live, free, and the roadmap you build is for your own app.

Join the waitlist to hear when the next free cohort opens. The App Strategy Workbook carries the whole course if you would rather work alone.