A roadmap is a visual strategic document that documents both the goals and the executive strategy of the product. It reflects the product’s vision, goals, strategy, functionality, features, and timeframes. A roadmapping tool assists in creating the perfect roadmap of a product with its different set of features, such as ready-made templates, drag and drop support, multiple views, click-based settings of containers and themes, and similar other features.
In any company, product managers have a key role to play, as they are involved in planning the project, coordinating different activities, collaborating with multiple teams, and tracking all the progress. In short, project managers have to manage everything from the ideation to the completion of the product. Roadmapping tools can be of great assistance to them and also to the development team and stakeholders. In this article, we will discuss what is a roadmapping tool and also talk about the key features to look for.
What Is a Roadmapping Tool?
A roadmap is a visual strategic document that documents both the goals and the executive strategy of the product. It reflects the product’s vision, goals, strategy, functionality, features, and timeframes. A roadmapping tool assists in creating the perfect roadmap of a product with its different set of features, such as ready-made templates, drag and drop support, multiple views, click-based settings of containers and themes, and similar other features.
Why and When Does a Product Manager Need To Use a Roadmapping Tool?
During any product development, there is a sequence of stages to go through. At first, the company finds what’s its vision for the product. Afterward, the product team transforms the vision into strategic objectives that a company is meant to achieve for that product over a cross of time. This phase is where the team develops the roadmap. Once done, different groups, such as project managers, stakeholders, developers, and other personnel turn the roadmap into tasks.
In short, a roadmap is like a bridge that connects the company’s vision for the product with actionable tasks to turn the product idea into a reality. That’s why a reliable and intuitive roadmapping tool can help the product manager and the team to present a high-level strategic framework of the product that is easy to understand for the rest of the groups.
What Features To Look For In a Roadmapping Tool?
There are many roadmapping tools available today, so it is a time-consuming and complex process to pick the right one. But there are some key features that a roadmapping tool must offer, as follows:
- Drag & Drop Editor: It should be easy to use and offer a simple drag and drop editor to quickly develop and edit visual roadmaps.
- Customizable Layouts: It should allow you to present a roadmap in different customizable layouts, such as portfolio, table, list, timeline, etc.
- Easy Collaboration: You should be able to share the roadmaps with others by simple clicks or collaborate with others in real time.
- Better Product Meetings: It should give flexibility on what to present and what to exclude in a meeting. So, during executive, stakeholders, or team meetings, you should be able to customize the roadmap instantly and make it look easy for the other party to understand.
- Secure: Since a roadmapping tool will hold sensitive company data, it must offer top-notch security. It should offer a secure login and give you full control over how and when you share the roadmap. Moreover, support for publishing roadmaps with a secure private link is a plus.
In short, the best approach is to shortlist the key features you need and then hunt for the right roadmapping tool accordingly.