The hardest thing about roadmaps is making it clear to people that they will change -- and that change is not failure but a considered response to evolving conditions. Like a species that does not want to go the way of the dinosaurs, a roadmap must adapt to its environment.
One way to set this expectation is to add a confidence score to each item of the roadmap. For example, we might attach a 95% confidence to items weeks away, 50% confidence items further out, and 25% confidence to items months or quarters in the future. How do you set expectations with your stakeholders? Discuss.
I go into communicating confidence in Chapter 6 of my book Product Roadmaps Relaunched.
Roadmap Slides
Recently I was in London at the Business of Software conference, giving a Roadmaps Relaunched workshop. I thought I'd share my slides with you. Would appreciate your comments.
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