Product Roadmap (Pragmatic Framework: Focus → Product Roadmap)

Rule: the roadmap is a plan, not a commitment. It illustrates the vision and key phases of deliverables. Communicate outcomes and the market problems you'll solve, using time-frames rather than specific dates, and reflect innovation's unpredictability. External guidance: under-promise so the team can over-deliver. See ../pm-copilot/references/framework.md.

Roadmap vs. Release Plan (keep them separate)

Roadmap	Release Plan / Charter
Strategic, long-term stakeholder discussion	Tactical, near-term execution
Highlights outcomes & impact, not just features	Communicates specific dates, deadlines, outputs
Time-frames, not delivery dates	Defined scope, dates, backlog
Addresses real market needs/problems	Tracks actively worked items

A roadmap ≠ backlog: "roadmap = menu, backlog = recipes." For the dated commitment, use the pm-release-plan skill.

The four stages of roadmapping

• Desire — articulate the need for change, the company mission, and the product vision.
• Discover — research market problems; uncover urgency, pervasiveness, willingness-to-pay.
• Define — articulate opportunities, complete the canvas, set clear strategic objectives.
• Do — execute via a release plan + backlog while continuously learning and adapting.

Types and formats

• Types: strategy roadmap, release roadmap, feature roadmap — pick to match the audience.
• Formats: dated, undated, or hybrid (quarters/half-years). Prefer undated/hybrid for external and strategic audiences; reserve dates for the release plan.

Interview the user (batch questions)

1. Product vision and the mission it serves (the "Desire").
2. The top market problems/opportunities and their evidence (the "Discover").
3. Strategic objectives / outcomes for the horizon; which personas/segments.
4. Time horizon and audience (internal exec vs external customer) → drives format.
5. Known themes already committed vs. exploratory.

Artifact template

# Product Roadmap — <Product>

**Company:** <company>  ·  **Feature / Product:** <feature / product name>
**Author:** <author>  ·  **Date created:** <date>  ·  **Version:** 1.0
**Horizon:** <e.g. 18 months>   **Audience:** <internal / external>
> This roadmap is a plan, not a commitment. It communicates direction and the market
> problems we intend to solve, not dated deliverables.

## Vision
<1–2 sentences: the change we want to create and the product vision.>

## Strategic objectives (outcomes)
- <outcome 1 — the market problem it addresses>
- <outcome 2 — …>

## Roadmap
| Theme | THIS YEAR (Q1) | (Q2) | (Q3) | (Q4) | NEXT YEAR (H1) | (H2) | BEYOND |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| <Theme A> | ● | ● | | | | | |
| <Theme B> | | | ● | ● | | | |
| Market / persona goals | <goal> | | | | <goal> | | |
| Target metrics | <metric> | | | | | | |

## Themes
### <Theme A>
- **Market problem / persona:** <who + first-person problem>
- **Desired outcome:** <outcome, not feature>
- **Evidence:** <why now>

## What this is NOT
Dates and committed scope live in the Release Plan, not here.

Deliver the artifact

Follow ../pm-copilot/references/artifact-output.md: confirm inputs, ask Markdown or .docx, write the .md, convert to .docx on request via your environment's native document-creation capability. Then offer the next stages: define what to build with pm-requirements, or commit a dated increment with pm-release-plan.