Product Roadmapping

"Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." — Dwight D. Eisenhower

TL;DR

Builds strategic product roadmaps with evidence-based prioritization using RICE, MoSCoW, or Kano frameworks, aligned to business value streams and user needs. Use this skill when planning a new product, defining release strategy, or when the backlog needs strategic ordering beyond gut feeling. [EXPLICIT]

Procedure

Step 1: Discover

• Gather product vision, business objectives, and success metrics
• Inventory existing backlog items, feature requests, and technical debt
• Identify market pressures, deadlines, and competitive dynamics

Step 2: Analyze

• Apply prioritization framework (RICE: Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort)
• Categorize items using MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't) per release
• Map features to value streams and user journey stages
• Identify dependencies and critical path items

Step 3: Execute

• Create a time-horizon roadmap (Now / Next / Later) aligned to OKRs
• Define release themes with measurable outcomes, not just feature lists
• Build a prioritized backlog with scores and rationale for top items
• Document trade-offs and what was deprioritized with reasoning

Step 4: Validate

• Verify prioritization scores are data-driven, not opinion-based
• Confirm dependencies are feasible within the proposed timeline
• Check that each release delivers user-facing value (no pure-tech releases)
• Review with stakeholders for alignment on trade-offs

Quality Criteria

• Roadmap uses outcome-oriented themes, not feature laundry lists
• Prioritization uses a consistent, documented framework
• Dependencies are mapped and validated against team capacity
• Each roadmap horizon has measurable success criteria
• Evidence tags applied to all claims

Anti-Patterns

• Feature factory: roadmap as a list of features without strategic themes
• Date-driven roadmap that ignores scope uncertainty
• HiPPO prioritization (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) without framework

Related Skills

• cost-estimation — effort estimates feeding into roadmap feasibility
• requirements-engineering — detailed specs for roadmap items
• executive-pitch — presenting the roadmap to leadership

Usage

Example invocations:

• "/product-roadmapping" — Run the full product roadmapping workflow
• "product roadmapping on this project" — Apply to current context

Assumptions & Limits

• Assumes access to project artifacts (code, docs, configs) [EXPLICIT]
• Requires English-language output unless otherwise specified [EXPLICIT]
• Does not replace domain expert judgment for final decisions [EXPLICIT]

Edge Cases

Scenario	Handling
Empty or minimal input	Request clarification before proceeding
Conflicting requirements	Flag conflicts explicitly, propose resolution
Out-of-scope request	Redirect to appropriate skill or escalate