Ecosystem Roadmap
An ecosystem roadmap is a high-level visual representation that maps out the direction of all of the products within the ecosystem over time. It serves as a strategic document that aligns stakeholders on what is being built.
Purpose
The purpose of an ecosystem roadmap is to provide transparency into the ecosystem's strategic direction and communicate how the team plans to achieve its goals. It helps align stakeholders, plan and prioritise funding decisions, and guide strategic decision-making.
Format
The Ecosystem Roadmap is a roll-up of the Kanban Boards of the aligned Product, Internal Product and Enabling Teams.
| Column | Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritised Opportunities | Lists all of the grouped assumptions for each opportunity that the team has identified and prioritised. |
|
| In Validation | Lists all of the solution assumptions that we are currently evaluating. |
|
| In Progress | Lists the validated solutions that the team is currently building |
|
| Released | Lists the validated solutions that the team has released |
|
| Verified | Lists the released solutions that the team has analysed to verify that they have delivered the expected outcomes |
|
Other Formats
We do not recommend the following formats as they are often top-down imposed and lock in solutions which limit the ability of teams to iterate towards the best solution.
- Timeline Roadmap: A linear representation of features and initiatives over time.
- Theme-based Roadmap: Organised around themes or objectives rather than specific features.
- Portfolio Roadmap: Shows how multiple products or features fit together in a broader portfolio.
- Outcome-based Roadmap: Focuses on the desired outcomes or goals rather than specific features.
Anti-Patterns
- Defining Features Instead of Problems: Focusing on features rather than the problems they solve can lead to building the wrong solutions.
- Roadmap as a Plan: Treating the roadmap as a fixed plan rather than a report of the progress of the Stream Teams.