The Map on the Wall

Who this book is for

Người làm sản phẩm ở doanh nghiệp Việt Nam: product manager, product owner, trưởng nhóm sản phẩm ở công ty phần mềm, ứng dụng di động, sàn thương mại điện tử, fintech và bộ phận số của doanh nghiệp truyền thống; làm việc hằng ngày với kỹ sư, thiết kế, đội bán hàng và chăm sóc khách, thường không có đội nghiên cứu người dùng hay phân tích dữ liệu riêng.

Sound familiar?

• The roadmap is a spreadsheet of features by date, and every date slips.
• Sales promises customers whatever they see on the roadmap as if it were certain.
• The roadmap is rewritten from scratch every quarter because the old one no longer holds.
• The boss wants a firm date while engineering can't yet estimate.

Each chapter answers one question

1. Chapter 1: Is a roadmap a promise or a decision tool?

   What do readers of my roadmap need it to decide?

   A good roadmap helps others make decisions on their own without asking again.

2. Chapter 2: Can a roadmap admit what it doesn't know?

   Which parts of my roadmap are certain and which are still guesses?

   Certainty fades with time, and the roadmap should say so honestly.

3. Chapter 3: Which roadmap item can't answer the question why?

   Which company goal does each roadmap item serve?

   A roadmap item that cannot answer why will be the first to be cut.

4. Chapter 4: One roadmap, why tell it three different ways?

   How does presenting the roadmap to leadership differ from presenting it to sales?

   The same roadmap needs to be told three ways for three audiences.

5. Chapter 5: Does changing the roadmap really break trust?

   When the roadmap has to change, who do I tell and what do I say?

   Roadmaps changing is normal; changing without explaining why is what loses trust.