ProductPlan conducted a product roadmap survey in September 2015. The survey of product managers outlines the goals and challenges that product managers have with product roadmaps. Some key results: Most roadmaps are executive facing. The secondary audience is the product team. The primary objective of most roadmaps is to communicate product strategy. A secondary objective is to help plan and prioritize. Coincidentally, the top challenges match the top objectives. Product managers struggle with communicating product strategy and prioritizing. Most roadmaps are updated monthly or weekly. Despite new tools on the market, most product managers still use presentation software and spreadsheets to manage their roadmaps. The top issues with managing roadmaps is the amount of time they take to update. A second issue is that they are not visually compelling.

1. Product Roadmap Trends:
What Product Managers are Doing Today
2015 Product Roadmap Survey Results
Sponsored by:

2. ProductPlan Surveyed Product
Managers in September 2015

3. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Survey Included Product Managers
From Companies of all Sizes
< 50 Employees
51-200 Employees
201-1,000 Employees
1,001-5,000 Employees
> 5,001 Employees

4. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Most Had Several Years of
Roadmap Experience
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
5 years +
2-5 years
Under 2 years
Just Starting

5. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Executives are the Primary
Audience for Roadmaps
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Executives
Product Team
Sales
Company
Marketing
Customers
Other Option

6. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Primary Roadmap Objective:
Communicate Product Strategy
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Communicate Product Strategy
Help Plan and Prioritize
Get Consensus on Product Direction
Communicate Milestones
Manage Product Backlog
Other Option

7. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Top Roadmap Challenges:
Communicating and Prioritizing
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Help Plan and Prioritize
Communicate Product Stategy
Get Consensus on Product…
Manage Product Backlog
Communicate Milestones
None
Other Option

8. Top Roadmap Goals:
Communicate Product Strategy
Plan and Prioritize
Top Roadmap Challenges:
Communicate Product Strategy
Plan and Prioritize
PMs Are Not Achieving Roadmap Goals

9. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Most Update Roadmaps Frequently
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
MonthlyWeeklyQuarterlyYearlyDaily

10. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Primary Roadmap Tool:
PowerPoint & Spreadsheets Still Popular
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Presentation Software
Spreadsheets
Roadmap or PM Software
Other Option
Whiteboard or Paper
Drawing Tools
Project Mgmt Software (e.g. MS…

11. Product Roadmap Survey Results |
Roadmaps Issues: Too Much Time to
Create and Update
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Too Much Time to Create & Update
Not Visually Compelling
Stakeholders w/ Outdated Info
Doesn't Have Enough Info
Doesn't Help us Prioritize
Contains Too Much Info
Other Option

12. Get out of spreadsheets and PowerPoint
Easy to get started
Visually compelling
Executive facing
Prioritization features
Easy to update
Easy to share
Integrate with JIRA
Why ProductPlan?

13. Thank You!
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