Comments on: You need a product road map

By: Rich Wilner

Rich Wilner — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:32:24 +0000

I have been managing a startup development project for the last year or so. A “roadmap” is the only single tool i’ve discovered that can make sense of any new feature or function as it relates to the whole. It’s also the only effective single tool that communicates priorities to a geographically distributed group of very talented people. Trying to keep a team of rockstars aligned is like herding cats, and my product roadmap is the most effective corral I’ve come across.

Like most generalizations, “product roadmaps are bad” is preposterous. Use the tools that work for you and your team, and discard and replace those that don’t.

p.s. Consider: “All generalizations are false” is the only generalization i believe to be true.

By: Thomas Hansen

Thomas Hansen — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:12:20 +0000

I agree with both you and 37signals, though you’re not talking about the same thing…
In the 37signals blog he was talking about a “detailed plan for execution over a long period” while you are talking about “a general idea about which direction to move in” so I don’t find your rhetoric contradicting each other.
A detailed “roadmap” (the way DHH means) basically puts way too much constraints on the developers on *most* projects and I think that’s the reason why DHH says what he says. It’s also quite funny since I gave the EXACT SAME arguments as DHH gave in his blog to our CMO a couple of months ago when he virtually begged me for a roadmap to “increase predictability for our existing and new customers”. My answer was basically; “sorry, not before hell freezes over”…
(in a way more polite tone though that is

By: Tyner Blain

Tyner Blain — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:50:04 +0000

Don’t Build a Stupid Product Roadmap!…

Logic is a funny thing. People can make the following argument: “Building a stupid product roadmap is bad, therefore, don’t build product roadmaps!” Ahem. [Author cracks knuckles] Read on for a rant.

The Argument Against [Stupid]…

By: Mike Schinkel

Mike Schinkel — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:48:42 +0000

I take anything from 37 Signals with several large rocks salt. They are far more interested in trying to feel important rather than addressing what actually works.

By: Dominic Messenger

Dominic Messenger — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:34:39 +0000

Couldn’t agree more. We use roadmaps with our customers to elicit feedback on what’s important to them. Ask them the question and they have no answer - give them a roadmap on what we think they think is important and you get great feedback.
It also helps us to avoid getting into the freedom-crushing business of customer-specific functionality. The roadmap helps us to keep customers at arms length when it comes to defining what goes into our product - and that is real important to us.

By: links for 2007-11-11 | The Marketing Technology Blog

links for 2007-11-11 | The Marketing Technology Blog — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:20:49 +0000

[...] Recursive Function Blog » Blog Archive » You need a product road map I enjoyed the 37signals book and agree with a lot of their philosophy, but was baffled by today’s article, You don’t need a product road map. (tags: software development productmanagement productroadmap roadmap) [...]

By: Jeff Lash

Jeff Lash — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:56:05 +0000

Agreed — my comment on the post said much the same. Maybe they’ve only seen roadmaps being used badly, I’m not sure, though even in the discussion they admit that they’re not against road maps, per se, just perhaps sticking too them steadfastly or publishing them too broadly.

The funny thing is that there’s lots of good resources about the benefits of sharing your roadmap and how to manage risks when sharing road maps.

Road maps are a tool, and like any tool, they can be used well or used poorly.

Jeff
My blog: How To Be a Good Product Manager

By: Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:46:47 +0000

I could not agree more, Ade. I enjoy having a ‘loose’ roadmap that doesn’t have clearly defined dates and deliverables. But it does have very solid priorities as well as grouping into sections. Once we decide to embark on a project plan and build requirements, I gather the applicable product ideas and build them in.

Often, our vision of our product is skewed by the loudest or the largest clients - and we lose control over what is best for the entire product to compete. A product roadmap provides us with a clear direction. It needn’t be the exact coordinates, but when everyone sees what ‘true North’ is, we wind up getting there much faster.