Slide Decks and Spreadsheets are Probably Holding Your Product Roadmap Back

Note: This post was adapted from a longer article on product roadmap tools. Read the full version at www.productplan.com.

“It’s hard to engage your audience with the same old PowerPoint template.”

This, unfortunately, seems to be an all too common sentiment among product managers.

Indeed, when we held a panel discussion on product management challenges, just about all of our panelists became most animated when they talked about the software applications they use for building and communicating roadmaps. In most cases, their comments were negative. Nothing they’re currently using (usually some combination of slide decks, spreadsheets and SharePoint) seems to quite deliver what they need in a product roadmap tool.

Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

• Project Management Software: “There’s a roadmap plug-in in the project management application our company uses, and I’ve tried it. But it really just lets you draw a couple of boxes.”
• Issue Tracking Software: “I’ve also tried using our company’s ticket-tracking system to build and create our roadmaps. The problem here is, it doesn’t present anything visually. I really need something visual, especially for my executives.”
• Spreadsheet Software: “Tools like Excel are good at letting you show the details, but again, nothing visual. I don’t think this is best way to present the information at the roadmap stage.”
• Presentation Software: “How do you show an appropriate level of detail with a presentation tool like PowerPoint? Even though this is a more visual application, it doesn’t let me communicate a lot of information quickly, which I also need at this stage.”

Enter Purpose-Built Roadmap Tools

Want to get executive buy-in and broad consensus on product direction? Bring your roadmap to life.

“The key to a successful roadmap is its ability to effectively communicate the product’s reason for being, its goals, and the persona of its target customers. If you can effectively portray your customers’ needs, how the product addresses those needs, and how and why the product will succeed in the marketplace — those are the things that bring the product and the roadmap to life.”

In general, a visual, easy-to-understand roadmap is essential to effectively engaging your stakeholders and communicating your story. Purpose-built product roadmap software like ProductPlan can help you ensure that relevant teams are on the same page and working toward the same goals.

Needless to say, tools like Excel and PowerPoint, although versatile and valuable, don’t offer you the ability to turn ground-level plans into high-level, visually appealing roadmaps.

Read the full version of this post for more thoughts on how product managers can build better roadmaps. And be sure to download our guide to product roadmaps for example roadmaps and prioritization frameworks.