What is a Feature-Less Roadmap?
A feature-less roadmap is a roadmap designed to function as a strategic blueprint. Feature-less roadmaps enable product managers to deliver a product that both solves customer problems and supports the broader goals of the company.
In contrast, a product roadmap arranged as a list of features will fail to accomplish the central objective of any roadmap: to articulate a strategic vision and plan. However, when they adopt a feature-less roadmap—and plan their development around major strategic themes and goals—product teams can be more outcome-focused and successful.
When is the Right Time for a Feature-Less Roadmap?
There are many situations in which a feature-less roadmap will make more sense for a product management team. Here are a few of the main reasons.
1. You want to communicate strategy, not tactics
For most product managers, the goal is to align the cross-functional team around a big-picture strategy for the product. Therefore, you will want to build your roadmap on a foundation of broad strategic themes, not features.
2. You want to keep your team flexible and able to adapt to changing realities.
At any point, user feedback, a competitor’s product launch, or other new realities could demand your team pivot and adjust your strategy. So, when you arrange your roadmap as a strategic story rather than a set of features to build, your team can focus on the big-picture strategy. That means they’ll be in a better position to adjust that strategy if necessary quickly.
3. You want your team to have a strategic blueprint to guide their development
The main reason not to build a feature-laden product roadmap is that such a roadmap fails to answer the big-picture question: Why? Why is your company building this product? Why should the market care? Why would a customer find the product useful enough to pay for it? This is the reason you develop and share a product roadmap in the first place: to align your team around a high-level plan to solve a market problem and build a product that makes money.
