What is a good product roadmap process for a seed stage (SaaS) company?
We are thinking of implementing a product roadmap process something like what is described in this article:
http://firstround.com/review/This-Product-Prioritization-System-Nabbed-Pandora-More-Than-70-Million-Active-Monthly-Users-with-Just-40-Engineers/
Curious if anyone has implemented a similar system. If so, what worked well, what would you change? Does this type of approach promote positive dynamics between business and technology sides of the company?
Comments
Personally, we've only ever implemented something of an ideas board but we also measured the cost of implementation and impact to the business. It has been useful in helping us figure out where we should focus our efforts on. I do think this system has value especially for seed stage companies with constraints. I do plan to apply this methodology on a personal level to see how things work - better prioritization means less time wasted doing non-essential work. After all, we only have 2 guys and a ton of constraints on our time. Thanks for bringing it up!
From my experience as a consultant, the way to develop positive dynamics between the business and technology side of things is to get them to talk and discuss what's on the table. The business should be familiar with what the customers want or asking for and the technology side should be familiar with what's needed to make things happen. There needs to be lots of discussion all round to get the positive flow happening and everyone agreeing on one direction. Otherwise, it's just a scattered piece-meal mess. It seems like this process would help get everyone on the table so in theory, this approach should help.
Good luck! Would love to hear how it goes.