ROAD MAPPING: DEFINING THE PRODUCT’S FUTURE PATH

The term road map is used in many different ways. It may be used as a tool for technology management, strategic planning, product development and launch, feature prioritization, release schedule, product marketing, or project planning. As an analogy, the technology and strategic planning versions are broad “interstate” maps (to help define direction) whereas template-driven versions are narrower “city” maps (to aid scheduling and manage complexity). In a sense the strategic versions are upstream road maps, and the template-driven ones are downstream road maps. It’s important that product managers recognize the type of road map needed or expected by the company to attain their goals. In general road maps will be most appropriate when the product line is important to the company and/or requires significant resources, or when there is a recognized perceived threat in the marketplace.