Roadmaps

In this video, user researchers discuss roadmaps.

What is a roadmap?

A roadmap is a communication tool. It is a strategic, living tool that prioritises and communicates future work.

‘Strategic’ means it describes strategy, or long term plans. ‘Living’ means that it is constantly changing and being updated to reflect changes in the circumstances of the project.

A roadmap should not refer to specific features or have release dates. Rather than being a project plan that is focused on execution and outputs, the roadmap should capture the overall strategy for achieving the project’s vision.

A roadmap of product or service milestones also helps us to plan our user research, to ensure insights are brought into the decision making at the best times and enable the team to change in response to findings.

User researchers need to do a lot of work with limited time. Parts of the research process, such as recruiting participants or conducting analysis, can sometimes take longer than expected. Creating a user research roadmap, which communicates the team’s future work and problems to solve, will help tie together the different project phases and rounds of research.

There is no standard format or layout for a roadmap.

One of the most important things to remember is that a roadmap is not just for communication between members of a knowledgeable team who already understand the process.

A roadmap is a strategic communications document designed to clearly and accessibly present information to all stakeholders, internal and external. You should always consider the varied needs of the audience when choosing a format.

Task

Have you ever worked with a roadmap? Share and discuss your experiences with using them in the comments below.