ROADMAP PERSONAS: THE BEST WAY TO SET EXPECTATIONS FOR TEAMS, CLIENTS, AND LEADERSHIP WEBINAR EXCLUSIVE WITH JOHANNA ROTHMAN - MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, ROTHMAN CONSULTING GROUP MODERATOR: RAYVONNE CARTER WEBINAR PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TODAY FEBRUARY 28, 2023 12:30 PM PT 3:30 PM ET 8:30 PM GMT

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ROADMAP PERSONAS: THE BEST WAY TO SET EXPECTATIONS FOR TEAMS, CLIENTS, AND LEADERSHIP WEBINAR EXCLUSIVE WITH JOHANNA ROTHMAN - MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, ROTHMAN CONSULTING GROUP

Johanna Rothman @johannarothman www.jrothman.com Roadmap Personas: Set Expectations for Teams, Clients, and Leadership

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Our Agenda • Problems with current roadmaps • Personas and principles 1. Teams 2. Customers 3. Senior leaders • Bare minimum for how to in fl uence senior management 6

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Roadmaps are an information product. Different personas have different needs. 7

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Car Roadmaps != Product Roadmaps • The term roadmap invites confusion between directions and products • Maps show us the way to get from Point A to Point B • Physical roads & bridges rarely change • Even if we change our driving goal, we still use established roads • Product goals can change (no longer Point B, but C, D, or E) • Creates backlog changes • Change which problems to solve and when 8

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Product Roadmap Problems • Typical assumptions: • Even distribution of features across the backlogs (feature sets) • Feature arrival rate is predictable • Value of all features is similar 9

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Roadmap Reality • Some feature sets become much more valuable, some less so • Arrival rates vary • Finishing rates vary 10

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Long-Term Roadmaps Create More Problems • Lead to increased certainty about product strategy • Increase project/product WIP (Work in Progress) • Can lead to push-planning (stuff the desired work into a speci fi c time) • Decrease innovation • Instead of clarifying, we create clutter 11

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Our current roadmaps do not serve anyone’s needs 12

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Roadmaps Serve Several Personas • Roadmaps are an information product • Focus the team (near term) • Show customers/clients (and sales) our best future guess for the product • The big picture which often includes a forecast for senior leadership 13

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman The Problems We Think Roadmaps will Solve • Many people still think roadmaps will help “Plan the work and work the plan” • But all product development is a function of what we have learned together • As we complete work, we check and adjust in the team • We also check our assumptions (broader than the team) • And we have the opportunity to change our mental model of what this product is and who it’s for 14

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Think back to the past six months. How much certainty could you plan on? 15

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Work changes. The market changes. Your customers change their minds about what they want or need. * 16 * Especially if you release often.
 If you don’t release often, customers might not care anymore.

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Roadmap Success Principles • The route to a successful product can, should, and will change • The more often we fi nish and release, the more options we have for the next bit of work: • At the team level • For the product roadmap • For the project portfolio and corporate strategy • Therefore, we need to plan minimally, show our options, and use rolling wave planning to replan 17

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Product Minimums • Minimum Viable Experiment (MVE): The smallest thing we can deliver to learn. • Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The smallest thing we can deliver to validate a business hypothesis. • Minimum Marketable Feature (MMF): Something of value to us: gain revenue or acquire a customer or capitalize the expense. Maybe all three. • MIFS: Minimum Indispensable Feature Set: the minimum number of MMFs to satisfy a customer. (Cell phone that only texts) • MAFS: Minimum Adoptable Feature Set. Useful if you need to replace a product. 18

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Three Personas • The team(s) doing the work • A look-ahead for the customers and salespeople • Senior leaders and the tension between predictability and options 19

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 1. Roadmaps to Focus a Team • Teams need to know: • Overarching product goal. Set this with product vision and project charter. • Which users fi rst, second, and third for now? (rank the stories) • Stories can provide any of these values: • Increase knowledge • Decrease risk • Generate useful feedback 20

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Time-Based Team Roadmap • The question marks mean “Expected at that time” • But too often, people push-plan as much as possible into a given time. • We expect to ship “all of it” at the end of the month (and quarter) 21

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Consider Pull-Based Team Roadmap • “Same” data, less certainty • Notice the big black line • As the team completes its work, they can pull from below the big black line • The product leader can change everything below the big black line at any time 22

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Team-Based Roadmaps of Any Type • Show what’s up next • Anticipated look-ahead for the next bit of work • Along with the product goal, supports the team in creating great products 23

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Differences Between Time- and Pull- Roadmaps • Time-based roadmaps assume we know: • Where we want to go (destination) • How we will get there (route) • Pull-based roadmaps assume: • We have an outcome (maybe not a fully realized destination) • We know the minimal route for now • We will replan when we need to 24

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 2. Look Ahead Roadmaps for Customers • Technology adoption curve helps you see what your customers might want and when • The earlier your product is in its lifecycle, the more your customers want to know what’s coming next • Once you hit the Mainstream, very few customers care what you offer, as long as everything still works 25

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Customers ask for roadmaps when they don’t trust you to release “necessary” features 26

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman If your customers don’t need dates, don’t give them dates.* 27 * And if your salespeople want dates, ask them why they’re not selling what is already in the product.

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Customers want to know which problems you plan to solve “next” or reasonably “soon.” They believe when you release often enough. 28

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Future-Oriented Dateless Roadmap 29

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Possibility-Oriented Dateless Roadmap 30

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Why I Recommend “No Dates” • Things change: for the customers, the product, and the market • You need the resilience to manage these changes and not have to apologize to customers for your premature commitments • Update and release the roadmap every 4-6 weeks • Build trust with more releasing • You succeed with trust when few people check the roadmap 31

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Questions to Guide Your Roadmap Choice • What do you want your users to know about in advance and in how much detail? • Do you want your customers to offer feedback on the product or the strategy? (Future-oriented might work) • How much, or how little, do you want to commit to on the roadmap? (Do you think your product strategy will change?) (If you expect change, consider Possibility-oriented.) 32

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman 3. Senior Leadership: Predictability and Options • The senior leaders I know want lots of predictability. • But adaptability requires more information about options as the product development proceeds. • What kind of innovation does your product require? 33

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Long Roadmaps Trigger Little’s Law • The more work you have in progress, the longer it takes to fi nish it. • That increases the average lead time (cycle time) • This holds true at all levels of the organization • The more extensive your roadmap, the higher the WIP and the longer everything takes 34 Average Lead Time = Average Work in Progress Average Throughput

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman If you want a long-term roadmap, the team needs a relatively short cycle time* 35 * But the more they see in the future, the longer everything will take. No one can avoid Little’s Law.

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Lean Roadmaps for a Longer Time View • If you must have a longer time view: • Specify problems, not features • Create Minimums for each problem • Show options, at the very least, below the big black line • Pull from below the big black line 36

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Minimum Roadmap for Full Innovation • The more innovation your product needs, the shorter the roadmap must be • Clarify product strategy and product goal for now • Create shorter-term projects so you can stop when you have enough for now • Specify experiments to give you more information • Consider a 4-6 week roadmap with a 2-3 week rolling wave plan 37

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Consider Personas for Effective Roadmaps • Roadmaps are an information product • Which personas do you want to serve and when? • Consider how you will show options and when to which personas 38

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman How to Convince Your Management to Change • All about trust and in fl uence • Earn trust by fi nishing & releasing more often • Also proves competence • You’ve built rapport with the other person • Explore shared interests, short-term and long-term • Tell stories for connection. Data rarely changes anyone’s mind. 39

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Takeaways • Plan for alternatives (show options) • Show problems at all levels: • Team • Product roadmap • Project portfolio and corporate strategy • Rolling wave planning with frequent releases 40

© 2023 Johanna Rothman @johannarothman Let’s Stay in Touch • Please link with me on LinkedIn • For questions, please email jr@jrothman.com • Pragmatic Manager: www.jrothman.com/ pragmaticmanager • Roadmap series: https://www.jrothman.com/ roadmaps • Flow roadmapping series: https:// www.jrothman.com/ fl owroadmapping • The feedback loops presentation: https:// www.productmanagementtoday.com/frs/ 21758457/short-and-sweet--a-deep-dive-into- concise-feedback-loops/ 41