How To Define Your
Product Roadmap!
Dan Olsen June 29, 2017!
does your company have!
a product roadmap?!
does your company have!
a product roadmap?!
do you feel good about
your company’s!
product roadmap?!
n  Book	giveaway	on	Twi.er	
n  Tweet:	include	@danolsen	
n  Photos	of	slides	are	great	
n  Hashtags	
#growth	
#prodmgmt	
That’s	Why	I	Wrote	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
why do so few companies
have a good product
roadmap?!
why do so few companies
have a good product
roadmap?!
two main reasons:!
•  Focus on the short term!
•  Lack of a good framework!
What	is	a	Product	Roadmap?	
n  Your	plan	for	what	you	need	to	do	to	win	
n  Informed	by	compeLLve	analysis	
n  Looks	at	long-term	vs.	short-term	
n  Big	picture:	large	rocks	vs.	sand	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
What	is	a	Product	Roadmap?	
n  Your	plan	for	what	you	need	to	do	to	win	
n  Informed	by	compeLLve	analysis	
n  Looking	at	long-term	vs.	short-term	
n  Big	picture:	large	rocks	vs.	sand	
n  The	implementaLon	of	your	strategy	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Kano	Model	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Kano	Model	
Need	
not	met	
Need	
fully	met	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Kano	Model	
User	SaLsfacLon	
User	DissaLsfacLon	
Performance	
(more	is	be.er)	
Delighter	(wow)	
Need	
not	met	
Need	
fully	met	
Must	Have	
Needs	&	features	
migrate	over	Lme	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Product	Strategy	Grid	
Step	1:	List	customer	benefits,	one	per	row	
	
Must	Have	Benefit	1	
Performance	Benefit	1	
Performance	Benefit	2	
Performance	Benefit	3	
Delighter	Benefit	1	
Delighter	Benefit	2	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Product	Strategy	Grid	
Step	2:	Add	compeLtors,	one	per	column	
	
Compe&tor	A	 Compe&tor	B	 You	
Must	Have	Benefit	1	
Performance	Benefit	1	
Performance	Benefit	2	
Performance	Benefit	3	
Delighter	Benefit	1	
Delighter	Benefit	2	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Product	Strategy	Grid	
Step	3:	Rate	your	compeLtors	
	
Compe&tor	A	 Compe&tor	B	 You	
Must	Have	Benefit	1	 Y	 Y	
Performance	Benefit	1	 High	 Low	
Performance	Benefit	2	 Low	 High	
Performance	Benefit	3	 Med	 Med	
Delighter	Benefit	1	 Y	 -	
Delighter	Benefit	2	 -	 -	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Step	4:	Define	Your	Product	Strategy	
Compe&tor	A	 Compe&tor	B	 You	
Must	Have	Benefit	1	 Y	 Y	
Performance	Benefit	1	 High	 Low	
Performance	Benefit	2	 Low	 High	
Performance	Benefit	3	 Med	 Med	
Delighter	Benefit	1	 Y	 -	
Delighter	Benefit	2	 -	 -	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen	
n  Which	user	benefits	are	you	providing?	
n  How	will	you	be	be.er	than	compeLtors?
n  Which	user	benefits	are	you	providing?	
n  How	will	you	be	be.er	than	compeLtors?	
	 Compe&tor	A	 Compe&tor	B	 You	
Must	Have	Benefit	1	 Y	 Y	 Y	
Performance	Benefit	1	 High	 Low	 Med	
Performance	Benefit	2	 Low	 High	 Low	
Performance	Benefit	3	 Med	 Med	 High	
Delighter	Benefit	1	 Y	 -	 -	
Delighter	Benefit	2	 -	 -	 Y	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen	
Step	4:	Define	Your	Product	Strategy
“People	think	focus	means	saying	yes	
to	the	thing	you've	got	to	focus	on.	
	
But	that's	not	what	it	means	at	all.	
	
It	means	saying	no	to	the	hundred	
other	good	ideas	that	there	are.	
	
InnovaLon	is	saying	no	to	1,000	things.”	
	
	-	Steve	Jobs		
strategy means saying no!
How	to	Create	a	Roadmap	
1.  Define	Lmeframe	for	roadmap	(e.g.,	18	months)	
2.  IdenLfy	themes	(from	product	strategy)	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Roadmap	Template	
Theme	1	
Theme	2	
Theme	3	
...	
Time	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
How	to	Create	a	Roadmap	
1.  Define	Lmeframe	for	roadmap	(e.g.,	18	months)	
2.  IdenLfy	themes	(from	product	strategy)	
3.  For	each	theme:	
n  IdenLfy	highest	priority	feature	ideas	
n  Break	them	down	into	chunks	
n  Determine	the	sequencing	of	the	chunks	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
How	to	Create	a	Roadmap	
1.  Define	Lmeframe	for	roadmap	(e.g.,	18	months)	
2.  IdenLfy	themes	(from	product	strategy)	
3.  For	each	theme:	
n  IdenLfy	highest	priority	feature	ideas	
n  Break	them	down	into	chunks	
n  Determine	the	sequencing	of	the	chunks	
4.  EsLmate	the	Lme	required	to	build	each	chunk	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
How	to	Create	a	Roadmap	
1.  Define	Lmeframe	for	roadmap	(e.g.,	18	months)	
2.  IdenLfy	themes	(from	product	strategy)	
3.  For	each	theme:	
n  IdenLfy	highest	priority	feature	ideas	
n  Break	them	down	into	chunks	
n  Determine	the	sequencing	of	the	chunks	
4.  EsLmate	the	Lme	required	to	build	each	chunk	
5.  PosiLon	each	chunk	on	the	Lmeline	in	order	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Roadmap	Template	
Theme	1	
Theme	2	
Theme	3	
...	
Feature	
chunk	1.1	
Feature	
chunk	1.2	
Feature	
chunk	1.3	
Feature	
chunk	2.1	
Feature	
chunk	2.2	
Feature	
chunk	3.1	
Feature	
chunk	3.2	
Feature	
chunk	3.3	
Feature	
chunk	3.4	
Time	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Roadmap	Example	
n  Product	was	similar	to	Yammer	or	Cha.er	
n  Timeframe:	Q4	
n  Themes:	
1.  Enable	Users	to	Communicate	Be.er	
2.  Improve	UI	&	Usability	
3.  Be.er	&	More	Dynamic	Content	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
Theme:	Enable	Users	to	Communicate	Be.er	
n  Knew	we	wanted	to	build	Groups	funcLonality	
n  We	broke	down	how	to	get	there	
n  Feature	chunks:	
n  1-to-many	communicaLon	
n  Ability	to	define	and	save	subsets	of	users	
n  Discussion	boards	
n  Groups	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
1. Enable Users
to Communicate
Better
2. Improve UI
& Usability
3. Better & More
Dynamic
Content
1-to-many:
Ability to select
multiple users
Ability to define
subsets of users
Discussion
Boards
-Public
-Private
Groups
-Public
-Private
CSS cleanup
Header & Global
Nav cleanup
Gallery UI
cleanup
Profile cleanup
& extensibility
Messaging
UI cleanup
Photos:
Blogs: Link to
mine
Links to my
favorites
More & bigger
Links to most
popular
Write
posts
Q4 Product Roadmap
Product	Roadmap	Summary	
n  Think	about	long-term	and	big	rocks	
n  Use	Kano	model	to:		
n Analyze	your	compeLtors	
n Define	your	product	strategy	
n  IdenLfy	your	roadmap	Lmeframe	&	themes	
n  For	each	theme,	determine	feature	chunks	
and	sequencing	
n  Execute	on	your	roadmap	è	#Win!	
Copyright	©	2017	@danolsen
“How	to	Use	Analy&cs	to	Op&mize	
Your	Product	and	Business”	
	
June	27th	at	Intuit,	Mountain	View	
hJp://meetup.com/lean-product
Questions?!
@danolsen	
h.p://dan-olsen.com	
dan@olsensoluLons.com	
	
	
	
I’ll	contact	the	lucky	book	
winner	on	Twi.er

How to Define Your Product Roadmap by Dan Olsen