Plan the roadmap
The roadmap is a curated promise surface. It should show committed direction, not every idea in the backlog.
What belongs on the roadmap
Promote work when you are ready to communicate intent. A popular request can stay in triage until the team has enough confidence to show it publicly.
Roadmap cards should be written for customers. Use outcome language instead of internal implementation names.
Step-by-step
- 1
Choose committed requests. Do not promote everything with votes.
- 2
Use simple lanes. Planned, In Progress, and Complete are enough for most customers.
- 3
Write clear titles. The card should explain the customer-facing improvement.
- 4
Add ETA only when reliable. Month or quarter timing is better than false precision.
- 5
Move shipped work to Complete. Then link it from a changelog entry when announced.
Details to remember
- A roadmap is a communication surface, not the entire backlog.
- Leaving uncertain items off the roadmap is better than overpromising.
- Complete items should prove momentum, not become an archive dump.