product development business plan template

7 ultimate templates for every stage of the product development process

This post is also available in: German

What is product development?

Product development is the driving force of any product-driven company. From conception, to design and ultimately execution, a great new product helps you stay one step ahead of the competition, capture new markets and drive profits.

However, new product development is not a simple process. With multiple stakeholders involved throughout the process, it can quickly get messy. Following a clear, systematic approach will help maintain control and efficiency, creating less friction along the way.

To help you structure your ideas and create a clear, strategic overview, we’ve created templates for each step of the new product development process.

What is an example of new product development?

Apple inventing the iPhone is an example of new product development. Nike’s new Go FlyEase shoes that can be put on without using your hands is another example of new product development.

What are the 7 stages of product development?

To help you navigate this complexity, it helps to break the product development process up into seven stages. The seven stages are:

• Concept/Ideate – Generate new ideas
• Feasibility study and design planning – Making the right choices
• Design & development – Building the vision 
• Testing & verification – Prototype, iterate, rinse, repeat 
• Validation & produce collateral, validate against customer needs
• Manufacture/launch – Building your product
• Continuous improvement – Feedback and review

7 free Product Development templates 

To help you navigate each stage, our free templates will help you focus on the big picture, visually organize your ideas and work collaboratively with your team. They are perfect for teams following Agile methodologies , or models such as Waterfall or the Stage-gate process .

And of course, as they are all available on our collaborative online whiteboard, they are suitable for remote or distributed teams.

So let’s take a look at the seven product development stages and corresponding templates.

1. Concept/Ideate – Generate new ideas 

The product development process begins with extensive ideation brainstorming sessions . This stage involves all stakeholders and participants engaging in ‘ Blue sky thinking ’- brainstorming without limits! The objective of this stage is to spark inspiration. 

Given the sheer volume of ideas generated, it is important to have the right tools to facilitate this. The   Crazy 8s template is an excellent technique to produce a wide range of diverse ideas from the whole team. Give each team member eight minutes to sketch out eight ideas on a Crazy Eights template.

T he frenzy that follows can produce some pretty wild, unfiltered ideas, and one of them might just be your new product. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

Use template

2. Feasibility study and design planning – Making the right choices

After extensive brainstorming and idea generation, product managers look for actionable insights that can translate into products and features. This stage in the product development process is perhaps most critical to the product’s long-term success. 

The sheer volume of ideas generated can be overwhelming for product managers, so how do you choose the right product that matches the set goals?

This simple Priority Matrix template helps prioritize from within a list of possible product ideas and organizes them in a convenient matrix. Prioritize products with greater product/market fit and shelve low-priority ideas with this simple yet powerful tool.

Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

3. Design & development – Building the vision 

Envisioning the purpose of a product, the intention behind creating it and how customers will use it prior to building it will ensure everyone starts off in the right direction. 

The Product Vision Board is a simple template that focuses on five key components of the desired product: The overarching vision for the product, the Target Audience , why their needs, the key functions of the product and how it achieves the business goals. 

By completing this before, you get too far down the process, you will ensure you are designing a product with customers in mind. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

4. Testing & verification – Prototype, iterate, rinse, repeat 

Now it’s time to put your hard work to the test. Take the prototype to your customers and collect their feedback to identify any possible issues or roadblocks. Whether it’s a new website, or a new piece of technology, it’s important to show, not tell. 

By putting it to the test in, you can gather real feedback. Don’t be afraid of feedback, both positive and negative, will help you continually refine your product. 

A useful template to compile the feedback of each test phase is the Retrospective canvas . It prompts you to answer: What went well? What was bad? Further ideas? Possible actions?

5. Validation & collateral production

User panels help you better understand product-market fit and make last-minute tweaks to the product. A customer journey map not only captures feedback during test panels, but also helps you garner a deeper understanding of your customer’s motivations, needs and pain points. 

Use this opportunity to understand preferred touchpoints and refine the go-to-market strategy for the product launch. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

6. Manufacture/Launch – Building your product

Now that all stakeholders are aligned on the project milestones and responsibilities have been assigned, it’s time to get down to business! It falls to the Product Manager to ensure all deliverables adhere to projected timelines. 

The sheer number of moving parts in this stage can make it a project management nightmare. The Product Management Canvas is a product manager’s best friend. Designed to act as a checklist when undertaking product planning, but it’s also the perfect tool to capture the current state of an evolving product, especially when multiple departments are involved.

Use template now

7. Continuous improvement – Feedback and review 

While we’ve outlined the important stages in the product development process, the process itself is by no means linear. Constant user feedback and analysis of usage data should feed into the development at every stage. This is especially true post-launch. Once the product has been launched, it is time to revisit the process and understand opportunities for future optimization. 

While it is important to recognize and acknowledge what went right, it is equally important to understand and analyze what went wrong. 

The Lessons Learned template is one of our most popular retrospective templates to capture feedback. It promotes positivity as it places equal emphasis on documenting the failures as well as the wins, so they can be replicated for future projects. Alternatively, check out one of our other popular retrospective templates here .

The templates outlined are extremely useful in the product development process as a means of organizing, prioritizing and presenting complex information. Feel free to explore our entire template library to see what other templates can help you, or read some of our recent articles:

• 11 best retrospective templates for sprint & project retrospectives
• 15 brainstorming techniques & templates for 2023
• 3 collaborative product roadmap templates that drive agile principles
• 9 virtual icebreaker games for remote teams & meetings

Conceptboard is an online-whiteboard that helps you collaborate visually and seamlessly with your team, regardless of location. Discover how to simplify your product development workstream on a daily basis using Conceptboard here . 

Give Conceptboard a try by signing up for a free 30 day trial now.

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11 Comments . Leave new

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What an invaluable resource for product development teams! These templates are a game-changer at every stage of the process. Thanks for sharing these ultimate tools that streamline and elevate product development. Let’s create exceptional products together!

Glad you found the templates helpful! Collaboration makes exceptional products happen—happy innovating! 😊

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How to write a business plan (with template)

We all know that as a product manager you’re also the CEO of the product. While you own the product backlog, you’re also responsible for expanding the product and adding new features to increase value for users and the business. Whether you work in a start-up or are a PM in a large organization, creating a business plan is crucial before pitching in any new idea.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the problem, the solution, market outreach possibilities, potential threats, a clear goal, and a measurable return on investment with a year-on-year growth strategy.

Significance of a business plan

All product organizations have started seeing the importance of a business plan before approving a new product idea. A good business plan has numerous benefits, the most fundamental being an opportunity to think through the idea before investing time and resources.

The following are the key traits of a good business plan.

Clarity of vision

Taking the time to write down an idea can bring greater clarity to your vision. It allows you to better understand the problem at hand and reveal all possible solutions. This is because writing forces you to slow down and think everything through, resulting in a more evident thought process.

Strategic guidance

When creating a business plan, including financial projections and forecasts is useful. This helps develop a strategic plan by considering marketing strategies, launch plans, development costs, and expected return on investment. However, conducting proper research and due diligence is crucial to ensure that the predictions are as accurate as possible. This process can lead to gaining more insights, taking necessary steps beforehand, and fostering collaboration.

Risk management

A business plan is crucial as it allows you to identify potential risks beforehand. As part of creating a business plan, conducting a competitor analysis, identifying your target market, performing a SWOT analysis (focusing on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and determining your unique selling points is essential. By analyzing these factors, you can gain valuable insights into potential risks and market trends and create an effective risk management plan to ensure success.

Operational planning

While creating a business plan, it becomes essential to forecast, plan milestones, and produce a roadmap. This involves looking into the development timeline, launch plan, and marketing strategies. By doing so, you can outline an operational plan and calculate the resources required to complete the project within a specified deadline. Measuring the rollout plan and determining the appropriate launch plan is crucial.

Measurable objectives and milestones

In addition to a roadmap and milestones, it’s essential to provide critical metrics to measure success. This will help product teams clearly understand the overall roadmap and milestones and ensure that the key results are defined to determine if the product is successful.

Components of a business plan

The business plan will look different for different products depending on the business, product area, and other factors. Still, a few common elements must be a part of each business plan.

Problem statement

Defining the problem in the right way is the most crucial thing. While defining the problem, always consider backing up the claims by data. Use surveys and user testimonies to construct the problem statement in the most relatable manner:

Solution description / mission statement

When presenting a solution, it’s important to avoid using technical jargon and instead describe it in a way that’s easy to understand for anyone, regardless of their technical background. If specific technical details need to be included, put them in an appendix for those who want to read more.

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Creating a clear mission statement outlining what you aim to achieve with your solution is also essential. Avoid using vague language and be as specific and straightforward as possible. The more specific your goal, the better.

Market analysis

This section requires a comprehensive and detailed analysis of various aspects crucial to any product’s success in the market. The four main areas addressed are product-market fit , target customers, total market share, and unique selling proposition (USP).

Product-market fit is about identifying the gap that exists in the market and how your product can bridge that gap.

Defining target customers includes understanding their demographics, behavior, preferences, and needs. It’s also essential to identify any secondary customer base that can be targeted, which can help expand the product’s reach and appeal:

Total market share, or the total available market, refers to the overall revenue opportunity available for a product or service if 100 percent market share is achieved. It gives a clear idea of the scope of expansion for the product after launch.

Unique selling proposition (USP) is a critical aspect of any product’s success that defines why customers should choose your product over others. It’s what sets your product apart from the competition and makes it stand out. Identifying and promoting your USP can help to differentiate your product and create a sense of confidence among sponsors.

Competitor analysis

When analyzing competitors, people tend only to consider direct competitors. However, a great product stands out by taking customers away from even indirect competitors. For example, TikTok and Reels are taking up viewership time that Netflix and other streaming services previously held. Therefore, Netflix’s competitors are not limited to other streaming services but include other platforms providing quick and engaging content:

Projection and forecast

Creating a comprehensive and effective business plan, including a detailed projection of operational costs and a sales and revenue generation forecast is crucial. You can enhance the plan by providing a summarized version of the roadmap and revenue plan and giving sponsors a quick overview of the expected development time, launch dates, and other essential details. Doing so can ensure that your business plan is constructive and comprehensive, in turn laying out a clear path to success.

This is a section of the business plan where you can finally reveal your expectations towards the sponsor or the investors. You have established a business model and the effect of your product. Now, it’s time to be clear and specific about the investment required to reach the goal, including the expected time frame.

The aim is to clearly outline the expected returns so that any potential sponsor or investor can decide whether the opportunity aligns with their goals. This is a mutually beneficial partnership; you can establish a foundation for a good relationship with transparency.

Business plan template

Here’s a one-pager template for a business plan that suits most products:

Here you can find the full PPT template for the business plan, including all the components.

Final thoughts

A business plan is a crucial document that outlines the entire product lifecycle from inception to launch. It aims to align stakeholders, minimize uncertainties, and increase the likelihood of product success in the market. Effective business plans are those that demonstrate a compelling opportunity backed by thorough research and a clear strategy for execution and growth.

These templates can make your next pitch easier!

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One Reply to "How to write a business plan (with template)"

The article provides a good starting point for anyone who is looking to write a business plan. It covers the essential components of a business plan and offers some helpful tips on how to write a clear and concise plan.

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Forming a new product development business plan

Table of Contents

Creating a product idea 

Outline the concept and idea, do market research , create a pitch, business planning for your new product development , creating the product, consider the finances, determine a price point , research profitability, marketing your new product  , product launch , create incentives , keep your finances in good shape.

Introducing new products can be a good way to grow your small business. In fact, a survey with Neilson found that 63% of those surveyed liked when businesses offered new products. These products can bring awareness to your brand and fit a consumer’s needs. They’re also a good way to earn more income. 

But product development can be time-consuming and lead to profits if it’s not well-planned. 

This guide will discuss how to create a new product development business plan, including: 

• Marketing your new product 

If you’re wondering how to create a new product development business plan, you may want to start with brainstorming.  

The idea for your new product is the first step in developing new things to sell for your business. These ideas should keep your target customer and market in mind. Try to consider what your customer wants from your product . For example, if you have a baking business, you may think of ideas for baked goods or baking tools. 

The idea will be the actual product you may develop, whereas the concept is its purpose and plan. You may want to create a list of ideas to narrow down to a final concept. 

When considering your ideas, outline a few key factors for its development. Ask yourself about the functionality of the product. Is it solving a problem or answering a question? Would your customers be interested in buying it? Is it realistic to create and sell? 

Once you narrow down your idea and concept, do market research to understand the product’s marketability. You might look at similar product listings, prices, and reviews to get an idea of demand. 

Compile some information on your target audience . Determine how stable this market is and how long it may last. If the trend doesn’t last long, you may not be able to profit from the interest before it goes away.  

Also, outline potential competitors to see how difficult it may be to convince buyers to pick your product. Then, determine what you can do to stand out. 

With your idea and concept, put together a pitch. This pitch can be the beginning of your new product development business plan. The pitch will include a product description , a development plan, and potential customer benefits. You could also put together a sample.

Then, give this pitch to a few people you trust. If they agree that it could be a beneficial and successful product, you can get started on a more detailed business plan for the product development. 

The development plan will outline how you’ll create the product and sell it to customers to earn money from it. We’ll cover a few things you may want to consider in this business plan. 

First, determine what you’ll need and how you’ll put the finished product together. You may want to get quotes from vendors to get materials for your new product. If it’s more of a service than a product, outline what it will offer and how you’ll successfully achieve the service for customers. 

To develop your product, you’ll need to determine the money you’ll need. Start by deciding how much it will cost to make the new product. Then, decide how many you might make for a release. 

Use your vendor quotes to estimate the cost of production. When putting together a budget for your development plan, look at startup costs and ongoing expenses for the new product. Then, determine if your business’s cash flow can support these. If not, you may need to consider funding options or start saving for the product development. 

Once you outline the cost of production, use that information to determine how much you’ll charge for your new product. You may want to establish a competitive price so buyers may choose yours over competitor’s. 

Your pricing will need to promote profitability. To do this, establish a profit margin, or markup, which is the product’s price divided by the cost of the production. This might be about 10-20% or more, depending on the industry and the demand.   

After deciding on your product price, project how much you could earn from it. Consider how many products you might sell in the first few months. Plus, decide how many you’ll need to sell to cover your startup costs and begin earning revenue from that new product.

You may also want to consult your current customers to see if they’re interested in the product. In addition, consider putting together a focus group to see what a sample of people thinks of the new product. With this new information, you can set sales goals and create a timeline towards profitability.   

The last part of your new product development business plan will be to decide how you’ll market that product to earn sales. You’ll need to create buzz around it’s release. 

To build awareness and promote sales, you can create a product launch event that celebrates the product and demonstrates its usefulness. Consider sending out a newsletter that announces it’s release or posting on social media with a launch countdown. 

Since it’s a new product, you may want to incentivise it to potential customers to try it. You could offer existing customers a discount or free trial of the new product. A trial can help you understand the product’s effectiveness and see if it needs any tweaking. Then, consider asking these customers to review the product for others to see how well it works. 

As you plan for new product development, you’ll need to manage your finances to support your business growth. Financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here .

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A Comprehensive Product Business Plan Template for Success

In today's competitive business landscape, having a well-thought-out product business plan is crucial for success. A product business plan serves as a roadmap that outlines your goals, strategies, and financial projections, ensuring that you stay focused and on track towards achieving your objectives. In this article, we will delve into the importance of a product business plan and explore the key components necessary for crafting an effective plan. We will also provide valuable tips for implementing and monitoring your plan to maximize its effectiveness.

Understanding the Importance of a Product Business Plan

Before we dive into the intricacies of crafting a product business plan, let's first understand why it is so important. A product business plan serves as a blueprint for success, providing a clear and concise overview of your business and its objectives. It acts as a guide to not only attract potential investors but also to align your team's efforts towards a common goal. Additionally, a well-defined plan helps mitigate risks and makes it easier to measure progress and make necessary adjustments along the way.

When it comes to starting a new business or launching a new product, having a solid plan in place is crucial. A product business plan serves as a roadmap, outlining the steps you need to take to achieve your goals. It helps you stay focused and organized, ensuring that you don't lose sight of your vision amidst the chaos of running a business.

Defining a Product Business Plan

So, what exactly is a product business plan? Essentially, it is a document that outlines your product, target market, business strategy, financial projections, and the steps you will take to achieve your goals. It encompasses various elements that work together to give your business direction and purpose. With a clear plan in place, you increase your chances of success by having a roadmap to follow throughout your journey.

When crafting a product business plan, it's important to consider all aspects of your product and its market. Start by defining your product and its unique selling proposition. What problem does it solve? How is it different from existing solutions? By clearly identifying what sets your product apart from the competition, you can effectively position yourself in the market and attract customers.

Another crucial component of a product business plan is conducting thorough market research and analysis. This involves understanding your target market, identifying customer needs and preferences, and evaluating the competitive landscape. By gaining insights into your target market, you can tailor your product and marketing strategies accordingly, increasing your chances of success.

Why a Product Business Plan is Crucial for Success

There are several reasons why having a product business plan is crucial for success. Firstly, it helps you define your product and its value proposition. By clearly identifying what sets your product apart from the competition, you can effectively position yourself in the market and attract customers. A well-defined value proposition helps create a strong brand identity and builds trust with your target audience.

Secondly, a product business plan provides valuable insights into your target market through extensive market analysis. This allows you to understand customer needs and preferences, enabling you to tailor your product and marketing strategies accordingly. By aligning your offerings with customer demands, you increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining customers.

Furthermore, a well-crafted product business plan outlines your operations and management plan, helping you streamline your processes and ensure efficient execution. It provides a clear overview of your organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, and key operational processes. This helps you identify areas for improvement and optimize your operations for maximum efficiency.

In addition to operations, a product business plan also includes financial projections and funding requirements. This gives investors a comprehensive understanding of your business's financial viability and growth potential. By showcasing your financial projections, you demonstrate that you have carefully considered the financial aspects of your business and have a plan in place to achieve profitability.

In conclusion, a product business plan is a crucial tool for success. It provides a roadmap for your business, helps you define your product and target market, and ensures efficient execution through streamlined operations and financial projections. By investing time and effort into crafting a well-defined plan, you increase your chances of achieving your business goals and attracting investors.

Key Components of a Product Business Plan

A successful product business plan comprises several key components that work together to form a cohesive and comprehensive document. Let's explore these components in more detail.

Product Description and Value Proposition

The first component of a product business plan is a clear and detailed description of your product or service. This includes its features, benefits, and how it solves customer pain points. Additionally, you need to define your unique value proposition - the compelling reason why customers should choose your product over competitors.

For example, if you are developing a new smartphone, your product description would include details about its design, specifications, and user interface. You would highlight how your smartphone offers innovative features, such as a longer battery life or a more intuitive user experience, that set it apart from other smartphones in the market. This value proposition would appeal to customers who are looking for a high-quality, user-friendly device that enhances their daily lives.

Market Analysis and Strategy

Next, conduct a thorough market analysis to gain a deep understanding of your target market, industry trends, and competitive landscape. This will help you identify market gaps and opportunities, allowing you to develop a winning marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy should outline how you will reach your target audience, the channels you will utilize, and the tactics you will employ to increase brand awareness and drive sales.

Continuing with the smartphone example, your market analysis would involve researching the current smartphone market, including the size of the market, key players, and consumer preferences. By analyzing this data, you can identify potential niches or untapped segments that your product can target. Your marketing strategy would then outline how you plan to position your smartphone as the go-to choice for tech-savvy individuals who value cutting-edge technology and sleek design.

Operations and Management Plan

The operations and management plan details how your business will run on a day-to-day basis. It covers areas such as production processes, supply chain management, inventory management, and quality control. Additionally, it outlines the organizational structure of your company, including key roles and responsibilities.

In the case of a smartphone business, your operations and management plan would include information on the manufacturing process, from sourcing components to assembling the final product. It would also outline your supply chain management strategy, ensuring a smooth flow of materials and timely delivery to meet customer demand. Furthermore, you would detail your quality control measures to ensure that every smartphone meets the highest standards of performance and reliability.

Financial Projections and Funding

A crucial aspect of any product business plan is the financial projections and funding requirements. This section should provide a clear overview of your expected revenue and expenses, allowing you to assess the financial feasibility of your business. Furthermore, it should outline your funding requirements, including how much money you need to start or scale your business and how you plan to secure it.

For the smartphone business, your financial projections would include estimated sales volumes, pricing, and production costs. This would give you an understanding of your potential revenue and profitability. Additionally, you would outline your funding requirements, such as the amount needed to set up manufacturing facilities and marketing campaigns. You might explore options like seeking investment from venture capitalists or securing a business loan from a financial institution.

By including these key components in your product business plan, you can create a comprehensive and compelling document that showcases the potential of your product and sets a clear roadmap for success.

Crafting an Effective Product Business Plan

Now that we understand the importance of a product business plan and its key components, let's discuss how to craft an effective plan that sets you up for success.

Setting Clear Objectives

The first step in creating an effective product business plan is setting clear and measurable objectives. Clearly define your short-term and long-term goals, ensuring they are specific, realistic, and aligned with your overall business vision.

Conducting Thorough Market Research

A comprehensive market research is vital to understand customer needs, market trends, and the competitive landscape. Gather relevant data, analyze it, and use the insights to inform your product development, marketing strategy, and pricing decisions.

Developing a Strong Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy should outline how you will position your product in the market, target your ideal customers, and communicate your value proposition effectively. Utilize various marketing channels such as social media, content marketing, and search engine optimization to maximize your reach and impact.

Preparing Realistic Financial Forecasts

Accurate financial forecasts play a crucial role in determining the financial viability of your business. Consider factors such as production costs, pricing, sales projections, and operating expenses to create realistic financial forecasts. Regularly review and update these forecasts to ensure they remain aligned with your actual financial performance.

Tips for Implementing Your Product Business Plan

To maximize the effectiveness of your product business plan, follow these tips for successful implementation.

Regularly Review and Update Your Plan

A product business plan is not a static document. It should evolve and adapt as your business grows and market conditions change. Regularly review and update your plan to ensure it remains relevant and aligned with your business objectives.

Communicate Your Plan to Your Team

Your entire team should be aware of the product business plan and understand their role in its execution. Regularly communicate the plan and its updates to ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.

Monitor Your Progress and Adjust as Necessary

Continuously monitor your progress against the objectives and milestones set in your plan. Identify areas of improvement and make necessary adjustments to keep your business on track and ensure long-term success.

By following these guidelines and creating a comprehensive product business plan, you will set yourself up for success in the competitive business landscape. Remember, a well-crafted plan acts as a roadmap, guiding your business towards its goals and helping you adapt and thrive in an ever-changing market.

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Product development process: The 6 stages (with examples)

The product development process is a six-stage plan that involves taking a product from initial concept to final market launch. This process helps break down tasks and organize cross-departmental collaboration. Find out how to implement a process of your own.

Product development is both an exciting and difficult endeavor. From initial ideation to research and prototyping, no two product launches are the same. However, there’s a general process that can help you get started with the product development process. 

The product development process describes the six steps needed to take a product from initial concept to final market launch. This includes identifying a market need, researching the competition, ideating a solution, developing a product roadmap, and building a minimum viable product (MVP).

The product development process has evolved in recent years and is now commonly used by dividing each step into six separate phases. This helps better organize the process and break individual deliverables into smaller tasks.  

What is product development?

Is product development the same as product management.

Though they sound almost identical, there's an important difference between product development and product management. Product development describes the process of building a product, where product management is the overseeing of that work. It's a slight difference, but an important distinction. A product manager, who often oversees a team that is in the product development process, will lead product management.

The 6 stages of product development

Not only does the product development process help simplify a launch, but it also encourages cross-team collaboration with teamwork and communication at the forefront of the process. 

Let’s dive into the product life cycle and define the six product phases. All of which can help you successfully launch your next product. 

1. Idea generation (Ideation)

The initial stage of the product development process begins by generating new product ideas. This is the product innovation stage, where you brainstorm product concepts based on customer needs, concept testing, and market research. 

It’s a good idea to consider the following factors when initiating a new product concept:

Target market: Your target market is the consumer profile you’re building your product for. These are your potential customers. This is important to identify in the beginning so you can build your product concept around your target market from the start.  

Existing products: When you have a new product concept, it’s a good idea to evaluate your existing product portfolio. Are there existing products that solve a similar problem? Or does a competitor offer a product that doesn’t allow for market share? And if yes, is your new concept different enough to be viable? Answering these questions can ensure the success of your new concept.

Functionality: While you don’t need a detailed report of the product functionality just yet, you should have a general idea of what functions it will serve. Consider the look and feel of your product and why someone would be interested in purchasing it.

SWOT analysis : Analyzing your product strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats early in the process can help you build the best version of your new concept. This will ensure your product is different from competitors and solves a market gap. 

SCAMPER method : To refine your idea, use brainstorming methods like SCAMPER , which involves substituting, combining, adapting, modifying, putting to another use, eliminating, or rearranging your product concept.   

To validate a product concept, consider documenting ideas in the form of a business case . This will allow all team members to have a clear understanding of the initial product features and the objectives of the new product launch. 

2. Product definition

Once you’ve completed the business case and discussed your target market and product functionality, it’s time to define the product. This is also referred to as scoping or concept development, and focuses on refining the product strategy. 

During this stage, it’s important to define specifics including:

Business analysis: A business analysis consists of mapping out distribution strategy, ecommerce strategy, and a more in-depth competitor analysis. The purpose of this step is to begin building a clearly defined product roadmap.

Value proposition: The value proposition is what problem the product is solving. Consider how it differs from other products in the market. This value can be useful for market research and for developing your marketing strategy.

Success metrics: It’s essential to clarify success metrics early so you can evaluate and measure success once the product is launched. Are there key metrics you want to look out for? These could be basic KPIs like average order value, or something more specific like custom set goals relevant to your organization. 

Marketing strategy: Once you’ve identified your value proposition and success metrics, begin brainstorming a marketing strategy that fits your needs. Consider which channels you want to promote your product on—such as social media or a blog post. While this strategy may need to be revised depending on the finished product, it’s a good idea to think about this when defining your product to begin planning ahead of time. 

Once these ideas have been defined, it’s time to begin building your minimum viable product (MVP) with initial prototyping.

3. Prototyping

During the prototyping stage, your team will intensively research and document the product by creating a more detailed business plan and constructing the product.

These early-stage prototypes might be as simple as a drawing or a more complex computer render of the initial design. These prototypes help you identify areas of risk before you create the product.

During the prototyping phase, you will work on specifics like:

Feasibility analysis: The next step in the process is to evaluate your product strategy based on feasibility. Determine if the workload and estimated timeline are possible to achieve. If not, adjust your dates accordingly and request help from additional stakeholders.

Market risk research: It’s important to analyze any potential risks associated with the production of your product before it’s physically created. This will prevent the product launch from being derailed later on. It will also ensure you communicate risks to the team by documenting them in a risk register . 

Development strategy: Next, you can begin working through your development plan. In other words, know how you’ll be assigning tasks and the timeline of these tasks. One way you can plan tasks and estimate timeline is by using the critical path method . 

MVP: The final outcome of the prototyping stage is a minimum viable product. Think of your MVP as a product that has the features necessary to go to launch with and nothing above what’s necessary for it to function. For example, an MVP bike would include a frame, wheels, and a seat, but wouldn’t contain a basket or bell. Creating an MVP can help your team execute the product launch quicker than building all the desired features, which can drag launch timelines out. Desired features can be added down the road when bandwidth is available.

Now it’s time to begin designing the product for market launch. 

4. Initial design

During the initial design phase, project stakeholders work together to produce a mockup of the product based on the MVP prototype. The design should be created with the target audience in mind and complement the key functions of your product. 

A successful product design may take several iterations to get just right, and may involve communicating with distributors in order to source necessary materials. 

To produce the initial design, you will: 

Source materials: Sourcing materials plays an important role in designing the initial mockup. This may entail working with various vendors and ordering materials or creating your own. Since materials can come from various places, you should document material use in a shared space to reference later if needed.  

Connect with stakeholders: It’s important to keep tight communication during the design phase to verify your initial design is on the right track. Share weekly or daily progress reports to share updates and get approvals as needed. 

Receive initial feedback: When the design is complete, ask senior management and project stakeholders for initial feedback. You can then revise the product design as needed until the final design is ready to be developed and implemented. 

Once the design is approved and ready to be handed off, move onto the validation phase for final testing before launching the product. 

5. Validation and testing

To go live with a new product, you first need to validate and test it. This ensures that every part of the product—from development to marketing—is working effectively before it’s released to the public.

To ensure the quality of your product, complete the following:

Concept development and testing: You may have successfully designed your prototype, but you’ll still need to work through any issues that arise while developing the concept. This could involve software development or the physical production of the initial prototype. Test functionality by enlisting the help of team members and beta testers to quality assure the development. 

Front-end testing: During this stage, test the front-end functionality for risks with development code or consumer-facing errors. This includes checking the ecommerce functionality and ensuring it’s stable for launch.

Test marketing: Before you begin producing your final product, test your marketing plan for functionality and errors. This is also a time to ensure that all campaigns are set up correctly and ready to launch. 

Once your initial testing is complete, you’re ready to begin producing the final product concept and launch it to your customer base. 

6. Commercialization

Now it’s time to commercialize your concept, which involves launching your product and implementing it on your website. 

By now, you’ve finalized the design and quality tested your development and marketing strategy. You should feel confident in your final iteration and be ready to produce your final product. 

In this stage you should be working on:

Product development: This is the physical creation of your product that will be released to your customers. This may require production or additional development for software concepts. Give your team the final prototype and MVP iterations to produce the product to the correct specifications. 

Ecommerce implementation: Once the product has been developed and you’re ready to launch, your development team will transition your ecommerce materials to a live state. This may require additional testing to ensure your live product is functioning as it was intended during the previous front-end testing phase. 

Your final product is now launched. All that’s left is to measure success with the initial success metrics you landed on. 

Product development process examples

Now that you understand the six stages of the product life cycle, let’s look at real world examples of some of the most successful product development strategies of iconic startups to inspire your own.

Example 1: How Figma expanded their product features

Originally started in 2012, Figma was the first professional-grade UI design tool built entirely in the browser. Today, Figma has grown into the leading competitor for design web applications.

Their mission is to make design accessible to more people and help them bring their creativity to life. They’ve shown this by continuously adding new product features—like multiple flow capabilities, a brainstorming timer, and an interactive whiteboard—coordinating successful software releases, and building trust through transparency.

Read our case study to learn how Figma uses Asana to manage development backlogs. 

Example 2: How Uber solved a market gap

While today we think of Uber as the biggest ride-sharing service, that wasn’t always the case. They too started with a compelling product strategy that made them into the innovative company they are today. 

Uber’s strategy began by solving a gap in the existing taxi industry: creating an easier ride-hailing process with simplified payment processing. But they didn’t stop there: they continued to innovate their product portfolio by developing ride tiers ranging from luxury to budget-friendly. 

While each situation varies slightly, with the right product strategy, you too can create an innovative portfolio. 

Who is part of the product development team?

There are many stakeholders and various teams that assist with the product development process. The main leader is the product manager, who oversees all product tasks related to ideation, research, development, and product launch. 

Additional important stakeholders include:

Product management: A product manager oversees all areas of the product life cycle and works to bridge communication gaps between various internal and external teams. The product manager works to initiate new product launches and initiates product ideation and market research.

Project management: A project manager may be involved in the product development process to assist with cross-departmental communication. They might also assist with task delegation and goal tracking.

Design: The design team helps during the prototyping and designing phase to support the visual product concept. It’s important to connect product designs with brand guidelines and UX best practices. 

Development: The development team helps with the implementation of the product on your website. Most commonly, a team of developers will work together to build the new product offering depending on the complexity of the concept.

Marketing: The marketing team will assist with developing the marketing strategy and testing it before the product goes live. They will also measure the success of the marketing initiatives.

Sales: The product manager works with the sales team to come up with an effective strategy and report on success metrics after the product has been implemented. 

Senior management: Senior stakeholders may need to give final approval before the product can go to launch. 

In addition to these important roles, other teams that may be involved are finance, engineering, and any other related stakeholders. All of which can play a role in the process depending on the complexity of the concept. 

The process that simplifies product development

The right product development process can help you streamline each step with organized tasks and team collaboration. The six stages outlined above will get your team through all steps of the process, from initial idea screening to the development phase. 

But you might need help along the way. Coordinate tasks and organize your product development process with Asana for product management . Asana can help get your products to market faster by tracking workload and simplifying planning.

Related resources

Everything you need to know about requirements management

Waterfall, Agile, Kanban, and Scrum: What’s the difference?

What is technical debt and how to pay it off (with examples)

6 ways to develop adaptability in the workplace and embrace change

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10 Product Strategy Templates for Product Teams in 2024

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

February 14, 2024

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Navigating an ocean without a compass is as risky as it sounds. 

Your product strategy is that compass, providing direction amidst the choppy seas of the marketplace. 

It points your product strategy team toward its true North, keeping your product vision, cost strategy, business goals, and the value you want to deliver to customers in focus. With it, you can avoid drifting aimlessly, losing sight of your destination.

Let’s dive into 10 product strategy templates that can serve as your compass, guiding your product strategy team to the land of success in 2024.

What is a Product Strategy Template?

What makes a good product strategy template , 1. clickup product strategy template, 2. clickup new product development template, 3. clickup product roadmap template, 4. clickup product brief template, 5. clickup product launch checklist template, 6. clickup go-to-market strategy template, 7. clickup project strategy template, 8. clickup production tracking template, 9. clickup website production plan template, 10. clickup feedback form template, new product strategy examples.

An effective product strategy template is a comprehensive, structured document or tool that aids product managers in planning, developing, and implementing their product strategy. It typically includes key sections that guide you through establishing the overall product vision.

This can include things like the product strategy, identifying target customers, defining the unique selling proposition, setting objectives and key results, and outlining the go-to-market plan.

The purpose of a product strategy template is to provide a systematic approach to creating a product. A quality strategy maintains a clear, consistent direction for a successful product strategy team and stakeholders. It helps everyone align on the product’s business goals, the problems it aims to solve, and how it will create value for customers.

A well-defined product strategy template is an effective tool that should be part of any product management software’s arsenal. These templates provide structure and guidance while remaining adaptable to your product’s unique needs and how they align with the company vision .

Here are some key qualities that define a stellar product strategy template:

• Comprehensiveness:  It should cover all essential elements of an effective product strategy, including vision, target audience, differentiation strategy, unique selling proposition, key features and benefits, competitive analysis, a set strategy for pricing, go-to-market plan , and timeline
• Flexibility:  Each product, vision statement , product strategy, and target market is unique, so a good template provides a structure that can be adapted to fit different situations and needs
• Actionability:  A useful product management template should inspire action and decision-making. It should help you clearly define your company’s goals and business objectives and outline the steps required to achieve them
• Alignment:  It should help align all stakeholders, from the product development team to the marketing and sales teams, to executives and investors see the big picture for success
• Customer-centric:  A great product strategy always keeps the customer at its core. It should help you deeply understand your customer base or target audience and how your product strategy will solve their problems or meet their needs

10 of the Best Product Strategy Templates to Use in 2024

Steer your product marketing strategy in the right direction with these 10 templates:

ClickUp’s Product Strategy Template is a comprehensive tool for product management that streamlines the product strategy and design process. It includes a hierarchical structure with a main Product Strategy Folder, which contains three crucial lists: the Features list, the Timeline list, and the Team list.

The Features list is where new product initiatives are brought to life. You can create a new task for each feature and fill out custom fields like Feature Category, Effort, Priority, and Kickoff Date.

The list also features a submission form for new feature ideas and various views like the All Features table view and the Priority board view to help you manage and prioritize these features among your product team. And the Timeline list focuses on scheduling and tracking the progress of feature development and launching.

It includes a List view, a Board view, and a Gantt chart to represent the project timeline visually. The Team list categorizes people involved in the project by their roles.

If you like this approach, you’ll love the breakdown of our favorite strategic planning templates loaded and ready to use on ClickUp.

ClickUp’s New Product Development Project Plan  template assists product managers with the entire product development journey, from initial concept to product launch. It’s a perfect match for our step-by-step guide to product development .

Custom fields like Phase, Task Complexity, Task Effort, Impact Level, Team, and Duration (Days) further enhance the template’s efficiency. The product strategy template also recommends adding a formula field to calculate the duration of a task in days.

The New Product Development Project Plan Template from ClickUp is a powerful asset for a product manager. Its different views and custom fields ensure a holistic understanding of the project, allowing managers to keep their finger on the pulse of the project’s progress. 

This template leads to quicker product development times, a better response to user needs, an increased likelihood of success in the broader market, and decreased investment costs.

ClickUp’s Product Roadmap Template  enables the prioritization of product ideas, the creation of a unified product roadmap, and the provision of regular execution updates. This is a great tool for identifying and solving resource constraints early in product development.

The template promotes efficiency and collaboration, reducing the need for multiple meetings and tools. It includes a hierarchy of lists:

• Product Roadmap
• Template Guide
• Weekly Execution
• Product Master Backlog

The template includes workflow automation and critical features like Views, Custom Fields, and Docs. It facilitates user-friendly operations like task creation, tracking, prioritizing, and updating, making communication with stakeholders and leadership seamless. 

The customizable product roadmap template allows product teams to modify their workspace experience to fit their needs and the product’s requirements. This template makes product development and management more organized, collaborative, and efficient.

ClickUp’s Product Brief Template  organizes product specifications, feedback, and tasks for product managers. Now, you can outline objectives, solutions, and specs consistently.

Add nested pages for supportive information and draft histories, and customize the formatting and document tags to suit your purposes.

The template also features a comment section for real-time collaboration and task assignment, reducing the risk of lost edits or feedback.

The product brief template aligns your product team around the scope of work at the start of a project, streamlines collaboration, and provides a structured approach to product development. It is a single source of truth, consolidating key elements of the product initiative into one document.

ClickUp’s Product Launch Checklist Template  is designed to streamline product launches, encompassing a Gantt chart, a timeline, and a list of launch activities. It is one of many product launch templates available through ClickUp.

Task views include list view, board view, Gantt view, and timeline view, each offering a unique visual representation of tasks and their progress. 

Custom fields such as dropdown, people, date, and formula are included to tailor tasks to specific project needs.

The checklist template features lists for various views like activities, milestones, task categories, and Gantt views, each providing a different perspective on the product launch process. Custom fields facilitate tracking task status, category, start and due dates, and duration.

ClickUp’s Go-To-Market Strategy Template  will help you build a detailed plan for your next product launch.

Custom fields such as dropdown and text areas allow for all the details to be captured during the strategic planning stage .

The GTM Strategy Template facilitates a systematic approach to launching successful products, encouraging collaboration across teams within a shared workspace. It allows for a clear strategy and detailed task descriptions.

Go-To-Market Strategy List view

List view is the most flexible view for grouping, sorting, and filtering your GTM strategy. Get a high-level overview of all tasks across your Workspace, or drill down and group together just the tasks you need to accomplish right now.

This structured approach to planning and marketing campaigns helps minimize risks, optimize marketing expenses, and ensure the maximum market impact of new product launches.

ClickUp’s Project Strategy Template  is a comprehensive tool designed to manage projects of any size and complexity, informing all stakeholders about progress updates. 

The template incorporates several custom fields, such as Project Phase, Progress Rate, RAG Status (Red, Amber, Green), Impact Level, and Risk Level. These fields enable detailed task categorization and status updates, enhancing project management efficiency.

A Project Strategy Template is crucial for outlining a project’s overall business goals and implementation strategy. It streamlines project management, ensuring transparent and timely communication with all stakeholders. It aids in organizing and prioritizing tasks, reducing the potential for oversights or delays. It also allows for effective risk and impact assessment, which can help decision-making and contingency planning. 

The different views provide a multifaceted perspective on the project’s progress , so you can monitor timelines, and protect limited resources, dependencies, and milestones closely.

The  ClickUp Production Tracking Template  is meticulously designed to optimize multimedia production processes.

Use custom fields to capture specific details like production stages, relevant links, dates, and more. 

This template streamlines pre to post-production management, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. It enables efficient time management by identifying bottlenecks quickly, aids in adhering to schedules, and consolidates all documentation in one place.

ClickUp’s sharing features promote seamless team collaboration. To use, create tasks representing projects in the Production List view, filled with relevant details and attachments. These tasks can then be managed across different views and production stages.

ClickUp’s Website Production Plan Template  is a comprehensive tool for managing website development projects. 

Tailor your product development process to suit your specific needs with custom fields. The template includes sections for themes, epics, user stories from your target market, feature requests, and releases. It has everything you need to create a systematic approach to development. 

The use of sprints helps break down larger tasks into manageable units, and the Sprints ClickApp can be enabled for improved sprint management. 

Overall, this template facilitates task tracking, dependency management, feedback collection, and sprint planning, making it a valuable tool for product managers.

Once your product strategy gets pushed live, how do you plan to collect customer feedback? Use the ClickUp Feedback Form Template to finalize your marketing strategy through digital forms.

You’ll get a streamlined way of gathering feedback from customers about your products and services. This product strategy doc form is an excellent tool to gather precisely this type of information, allowing you to customize the questions to suit your needs.

By collecting all feedback in one place, you can analyze trends and identify areas for improvement, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Having the right product strategy makes it easier to identify opportunities, set goals, and make informed decisions. Product strategies are especially important as products move from an idea into development and into a marketable product. To help you get started on the right foot, we’ve gathered examples of product strategies that have been used by successful companies across industries.

• Minimal Viable Product (MVP) – A Minimal Viable Product is a product that has just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.
• Value Proposition Canvas – The Value Proposition Canvas helps you create value propositions based on customer needs, jobs-to-be-done3.
• Lean Canvas – The Lean Canvas is an adaptation of the Business Model Canvas, which helps you to think through the potential customers, solutions and measures of success for your venture.
• Business Model Canvas – The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management tool that helps businesses think about how they will create value for their customers5.
• Product Backlog – A Product Backlog is a collection of features and enhancements that are desired in the product. It helps prioritize what should be included in the product roadmap, and serves as the basis for release planning.

Charting the Course Ahead With Clickup Product Strategy Templates

These templates will help you navigate your next product development sprint. Use them to systematically and consistently prioritize features, manage roadmaps, understand your target users, and align your business hopes and product development team’s efforts.

Visit  ClickUp  to learn more ways we can help your next product journey set sail.

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Product Development Project Plan Template

What is a Product Development Project Plan?

A Product Development Project Plan is an actionable roadmap for product development teams in any industry planning and managing the development of a new product. It includes focus areas and objectives that define clear goals and measurable targets (KPIs) to help track progress and effectiveness of a product. It also includes related projects that teams can implement to achieve their targets and ensure success.

What's included in this Product Development Project Plan template?

• 3 focus areas
• 6 objectives

Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.

Who is the Product Development Project Plan template for?

This Product Development Project Plan Template is designed to help product development teams in any industry create an actionable roadmap and achieve success with their product launch. It includes the necessary steps and suggested measures to ensure that the product meets customer needs and is delivered in a timely manner.

1. Define clear examples of your focus areas

Focus areas are the main topics or categories that you will be focusing on for your product development project. Examples of focus areas could include product design, product testing, product delivery, customer feedback, and more. It is important to define these focus areas as they will provide the foundation for creating objectives, projects, and measurable targets (KPIs).

2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area

Objectives are the goals that you are aiming to achieve in each focus area. For example, under the focus area of product design, an objective could include designing a product that meets customer needs. It is important to think about the objectives that could fall under each focus area as they will help you decide what projects and measurable targets (KPIs) are necessary.

3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective

Measurable targets (KPIs) are the measurable goals that you are aiming to reach in each objective. For example, under the objective of designing a product that meets customer needs, a KPI could be to gain qualitative insight into customer needs. This KPI can then be tracked to ensure that the objective is being achieved.

4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs

Projects (actions) are the initiatives that need to be completed in order to achieve the measurable targets (KPIs). For example, under the KPI of gaining qualitative insight into customer needs, a project could be to research customer needs. It is important to identify and implement related projects to ensure that the KPIs can be achieved.

5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy

Cascade Strategy Execution Platform is a powerful tool that helps teams achieve success with their product development project plans. It allows teams to easily track progress, set measurable targets (KPIs), and ensure that the product meets customer needs and is delivered in a timely manner. With Cascade, teams can see faster results from their strategies and ensure their success.

• Product management
• Collections: Product roadmap

20+ product roadmap templates and examples

Last updated: May 2024

Roadmapping is valuable for any team that wants to visualize a plan and take action. Brian de Haaff Aha! co-founder and CEO

Product roadmaps are multipurpose visual tools. Every product manager needs one — several, actually. A strategic roadmap can reveal a compelling story about your product goals. A release roadmap highlights the timing of when you will deliver new functionality for customers. And a features roadmap can align your agile development team on timing and priorities. Together, these different roadmaps paint a complete picture of your product plans.

But where to start? What is the best approach for your product development team ? Some teams can get by with building and managing product roadmaps in static spreadsheets or presentations. (And we have plenty of those that you can download for free from this guide.)

Most teams quickly tire of playing version control whack-a-mole. It is hard to showcase progress when you are worried about outdated roadmaps floating around. All that value you plan to deliver to users and to the business gets overshadowed when an executive presents a now-obsolete roadmap to stakeholders.

Many organizations experience transformative gains by choosing a robust roadmapping tool like Aha! Roadmaps . It includes everything you need to build breakthrough products — from setting strategy to creating product plans and measuring value. But sometimes, you will want to sketch out ideas that you can quickly visualize on a timeline. For this, we also offer lightweight whiteboard templates .

Build a roadmap on a whiteboard — try it now .

Start using this template now

As your products and processes evolve, you may be ready for more robust and flexible roadmaps that are automatically updated and connected to your daily work. For example, the roadmap below — created in Aha! Roadmaps — provides a snapshot of strategic initiatives that can be drilled into to reveal the associated work items.

Try Aha! software for free

Not sure where to start with roadmapping? This guide includes some practical guidance, examples to inspire, and product roadmap templates you can start using right now. (There is also an FAQ about product roadmaps at the very end for quick answers.)

Guidance and product roadmap examples:

Roadmap components

How to build a product roadmap

Roadmap examples

Free product roadmap templates:

Starter product roadmap templates

Strategy roadmap templates — including templates for goals and initiatives

Portfolio roadmap templates

Release roadmap templates, epics roadmap templates, feature roadmap templates.

Agile product roadmap templates — including templates for scrum, kanban, and SAFe®

Components of a product roadmap

A roadmap is a common language; it helps everyone understand what they are working on and why it matters Brian Riordan Aha! Product Leader All-Star

Time and work. Distill a product roadmap down to its essence and those are the two main components that you will find. There will be some sense of timing, whether it is detailed down to specific dates or generalized to categories such as “now, next, later.” And there will be some representation of work, whether those are comprehensive releases filled with features or basic themes the product development team will pursue.

A product roadmap should answer:

Why are we doing this?

When are we doing this?

What exactly are we doing?

The products you build today represent the future of the business and a meaningful investment from the organization. Strategy is the underpinning of a successful roadmap. The items you choose to add to your product roadmap should be validated against your product goals and initiatives , rolling up to overall business strategy.

Some of the components you can expect to see on a product roadmap include:

Goals: Measurable, time-bound objectives with clearly defined success metrics

Initiatives: High-level efforts or big themes of work that need to be completed to achieve goals

Release: Delivery of a new customer experience

Features: New or improved functionality that delivers value to users

Epics: Large bodies of work that describes major areas of functionality, delivered incrementally across many releases

User stories: Functionality described from an end-user perspective — including what the user wants to do and why

Timeline: Time scale can range from days and weeks to months, quarters, and sometimes even years

Status: Indicators that represent progress and risks

Dependencies: Interrelated work that could impact progress

Milestones: Significant points in development

Product teams use a roadmap as a vehicle for communication — helping leadership and the broader cross-functional team rally around upcoming product plans. The type of roadmap you choose to build should be based on your intended viewers. Different types of roadmaps will help highlight different elements of your product plans. But before we get into specific examples of product roadmaps, let’s examine the five basic steps to building one.

Define strategy

Zero in on the "why" behind your product, beginning with a strong product vision . Vision and strategy inform everything you include on your product roadmap.

Manage ideas

Gather input from partners, customer-facing internal teams, and of course, customers. Organize and prioritize the feedback — this will help you make trade-off decisions about what to put on your roadmap.

Define features and requirements

Keeping your strategy in mind, examine your prioritized ideas. Begin sketching out product plans and new functionalities with your team. Then, promote the product features you want to deliver to your roadmap — detailing requirements, assignees, and deadlines.

Organize releases

Once features are outlined, think through your delivery timeline with releases . Many teams use a Gantt chart to show phases, milestones, and associated dependencies.

Choose the right view

You can visualize your product roadmap template in several different ways depending on your audience. Roadmapping software allows you to toggle between views, so you can show the most relevant information. Read more on this below.

As a purpose-built roadmapping software company, it is no surprise that we have written extensively on this topic. Use the resources below to dig into building a product roadmap.

What is a roadmap? A complete guide to roadmapping

Introduction to product roadmaps

Roadmap best practices: How to build a brilliant roadmap

Product roadmap FAQs

• Product roadmap examples

How to choose a product roadmap tool?

How to build a roadmap for a new product?

Product teams rely on different types of product roadmaps to present information in varying levels of detail. What you choose to show depends on your audience and the information you want to communicate.

We have gathered a number of examples and templates below. Many of these can be found in Aha! software . And we have also included free downloads for product teams that want to try out various formats before committing to a tool.

Example product strategy roadmap

A strategy roadmap visualizes progress against product goals, along with the initiatives the team will pursue to achieve those goals. You may choose to roll product goals up to higher-level business goals to show exactly how the product development team’s work will support the organization’s objectives. The example below comes from Aha! Roadmaps .

Example product innovation roadmap

A product innovation roadmap focuses on how a company will achieve an innovation strategy. The example below, included in Aha! Roadmaps , features strategic goals, initiatives, and critical areas of investment.

Example agile product roadmap

An agile product roadmap shows major themes of work on a loose timeline. It is common to see an agile roadmap with date ranges only — usually spanning the length of a quarter or two. The Aha! Roadmaps example below shows releases and epics.

You will need to share your product plans with a variety of stakeholders — from executives to customers to partners — at various stages throughout the product development process . With these audiences, you want to share just enough information. Diving into the details of exact timing or detailed functionality will distract from your message. These starter roadmap templates below are best suited for documenting and sharing very high-level information.

First up is our Now, Next, Later roadmap template in Aha! software. This one is built on a whiteboard so is ideal for quick, early-stage planning.

Below it you will find two additional starter roadmaps that can be downloaded as PowerPoint files.

Start using this template now

Strategy roadmap templates

Your product strategy defines what you want to achieve (your goals) and how you plan to get there (your initiatives). Visualize both of these elements with the help of a strategic roadmap — giving you a big-picture view of your path to product success.

The first template below is a strategic roadmap template built on a whiteboard in Aha! software. Below it you will find goal and initiative roadmaps for download.

Goals roadmap templates

Rally your team around your overarching objectives and provide context for what needs to be accomplished and when. The roadmap templates below give you two different ways to visualize your goals. The first template shows a timeline for completing individual goals. The second goals roadmap template shows how releases for a portfolio of products contribute to your goals over time.

Initiatives roadmap templates

Initiatives represent the high-level efforts needed to achieve your goals. Choose an initiatives roadmap to provide progress updates to leadership and other stakeholders. The first template shows a timeline for completing different initiatives and the goals they support. The next one goes a level deeper and shows how specific product releases across your portfolio contribute to business initiatives.

If you manage multiple products, you need a roadmap that showcases your entire portfolio and helps internal teams understand how their plans relate to each other. This first portfolio roadmap template is available for whiteboards in Aha! software — helping you get the team aligned on portfolio strategy with a simple view before turning it into a more structured plan.

The downloadable Excel roadmap below it shows release timelines and date markers for each product within a portfolio. You can also expand swimlanes and include initiatives for each product. And below that, the PowerPoint portfolio roadmap template uses simple swimlanes to show relevant releases for multiple products.

The first release roadmap template included in this section is available as a whiteboard template in Aha! software. Use it to visualize the dates, deliverables, and dependencies of your release plans, then move detailed plans into a Gantt chart in Aha! Roadmaps — so everyone on the team can track how work progresses.

Below the whiteboard option, you will find an Excel template you can use to highlight phases and tasks within your release plan. And the PowerPoint below it shows upcoming releases, top features, and planned delivery dates.

The epics roadmap templates below offer different ways to visualize your epics over time. You can customize the timelines to fit your needs, use markers to indicate releases or milestones, and change colors to indicate groupings or statuses. The first is an epics roadmap whiteboard template in Aha! software — the others are downloadable for Excel and PowerPoint.

Feature roadmaps are detailed. This type of roadmap is all about near-term product plans — perfect for keeping the internal team on track. The first one is — you guessed it — a feature roadmap whiteboard template in Aha! software. The other two can be downloaded for Excel and PowerPoint.

Agile product roadmap templates

Agile product teams often use elements like themes, user stories, and tasks to structure work. This structure can carry over to your agile roadmap.

The template below spotlights epics — with swimlanes to show how the work aligns with strategic themes. If you do not subscribe to a specific methodology, this is a good agile roadmap template to begin with.

Scrum product roadmap template

This scrum roadmap template is designed for engineering teams that follow scrum methodology . It shows where specific user stories fit within upcoming sprints. This simple roadmap is helpful for sharing development progress updates and communicating when new functionality will be demoed for stakeholders.

Kanban product roadmap templates

If your team follows kanban methodology , the roadmap templates below will look familiar — they resemble kanban boards . The first is a kanban board template on an Aha! whiteboard and the second is a PowerPoint download. Use either when you need to set expectations for internal and external stakeholders without committing to a specific time frame.

SAFe® product roadmap template

This Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) roadmap template will help you visualize your program increment (PI) milestones and objectives over a six-month time frame. A SAFe® roadmap offers visibility into current PI deliverables and forecasted PIs. It also helps to ensure that near-term plans align with overall business priorities before PIs are committed.

If you would rather start PI planning on a whiteboard, we offer a collection of PI planning whiteboard templates.

FAQs about product roadmaps

What is a product roadmap?

A product roadmap is a visualization of your product plans — from your strategic goals and initiatives down to individual product features. Product roadmaps indicate where your product is headed, your timeline, and the work required to get there.

Product managers use product roadmaps to communicate progress and priorities. Roadmaps are essential visual tools in presentations to internal teams or external stakeholders, like partners or customers. A solid product roadmap also helps product teams assess how new requests for functionality align with the product's strategic direction and work that is already planned.

If you are just getting started, our introductory product roadmap guides offer a good foundation:

What elements are included on a product roadmap?

A roadmap typically includes the following components :

Product goals

Strategic initiatives

Key releases

Features or feature sets (epics)

Overall timeline

Visual elements (e.g., colors and swimlanes)

What are swimlanes on a product roadmap?

Swimlanes on a product roadmap are visual representations of different groups of data. For example, you might use swimlanes to display all of the features that make up a release.

How often should you update your product roadmap?

Product roadmaps are dynamic. As your plans change, so should your roadmap. How often you update your roadmap is up to you — but it is important that your product roadmap reflects current goals and progress. This keeps the team aligned on priorities and promotes transparent communication. The most efficient way to do this is by using purpose-built software that automatically integrates strategic planning with roadmapping. That way you can be sure your product plans are always up to date.

With the right tool, roadmapping becomes an art — helping everyone get excited and aligned on upcoming product plans and milestones. Together, you can create a shared understanding of how you will reach your product goals. When you do, you make the team and the product stronger.

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Product Development Roadmap Template

Product Team

Executive Stakeholders

Time Units:

Strategic Goals

Time Horizon:

A product development roadmap can help you plan your initiatives and map your release schedule. Organizations should maintain a product development roadmap as a centralized resource to track and refer to everyone’s strategic role in bringing a product to market. Product development is a broad effort that involves many teams across a company: marketing, design, development, QA, etc. and this kind of roadmap is meant to track and communicate the associated initiatives and milestones.

Key Features

• Great for mapping out your product development initiatives over time
• Teams are grouped together in swimlanes
• Color-coded according to overall strategic goals

In this example, the timeline is organized into two-week sprints as product development roadmaps often cover a shorter time horizon, usually only a couple of months. The swimlanes represent four different teams working on various areas of the product: security, front end, back end, and operations. The initiatives are color-coded according to strategic goals such as enhancing usability and increasing performance, making it easy for stakeholders—like executives—to understand the “why” behind your product decisions.

The value of a product development roadmap like this one is that it communicates the “why” behind decisions and gives stakeholders a visual overview of what’s coming next.

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Product Roadmap Examples: Timeline, Features, and Goal-Oriented

By Lulu Richter | August 29, 2024

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A  product roadmap  outlines the goals, direction, and vision of a product over time. You can create a product roadmap for internal teams, senior management, customers, or the public. This guide includes real-world examples from industry experts.

Included in this article, you’ll find the following:

·  How to choose a product roadmap   ·  Product roadmap examples   ·  How to customize your product roadmap based on audience

Categories of Product Roadmaps

Product roadmaps fall into three main categories:  goals-oriented, features-oriented, and  timeline-oriented . Each communicates different key information and is intended for a specific audience. For any product, you will likely create multiple roadmaps oriented toward your team, management, and the public.

When you have multiple product roadmaps, you can tell the whole story and communicate information at different levels. For example, the development team needs to be in the weeds with the feature build schedule, but upper management doesn’t need to know those specifics. You can also enjoy greater flexibility with multiple roadmaps, as you can flip between different views.

Here’s an outline of each of the three main categories:

• Goals-Oriented Product Roadmap:  This category surfaces the product vision at the highest level. It depicts the overall goals and objectives of the product and the relationships between them (e.g., whether they must happen in a sequential order). Goals-oriented roadmaps work well for presenting upper management or senior leadership with a snapshot of your work and a sense of how it aligns with larger organizational goals. 
• Features-Oriented Product Roadmap:  Use this type of roadmap to break down the schedule of development work: what features (and subfeatures) you will build, along with their delivery dates. Development and other internal teams can use a features-oriented roadmap as a schedule to determine when, how, and in what order they will tackle each aspect of the product. It also serves as a live progress update, so anyone can tell the status of a particular feature or release at any point in time. 
• Timeline-Oriented Product Roadmap:  Most people are familiar with this type of roadmap, which is a visual timeline that communicates a team’s priorities, the expected length of time each will take, and the expected date of completion. Timeline-oriented product roadmaps communicate the overall timeline to leadership and help give customers or the public a preview of what’s coming. While timeline product roadmaps are very popular, it’s important to note that not all product roadmaps include a timeline.  

See below for  more specific types of roadmaps , and check out our  complete guide to visual product roadmaps to learn more about creating a timeline tool.

How to Choose Which Type of Roadmap Is Best for You

To choose which type of product roadmap to create, consider your audience, presentation style, and what you are trying to communicate. You’ll likely create multiple roadmaps for any given product, so cater each one to the intended audience.

Kris Drey has worked as a digital and physical product management executive for more than 20 years and is the Founder and CEO of  The Byrd . According to him, the type of roadmap you create “depends on several factors, including the type of products you’re building and when they need to be delivered, how often code needs to be released, the urgency of the initiative,” and more. “The audience or stakeholder is also very important when deciding on a roadmap style,” he says.

Here is an overview of when to use each type and a generalized example of each:

• Goal-Driven:  Use this for big-picture presentations to senior leadership. For example, you might create a presentation for leadership that shows your team’s priorities for the year and how they map to larger company-wide goals. 
• Feature-Driven:  Use this for development teams to define sprint or epic schedules, or to see a clear prioritization of the features that need to be developed. An example of this is a sprint schedule, which defines priorities for each member of the development team in a two-week work cycle. This would be a detailed roadmap that specifies exactly what features and testing each team member should be working on. Learn more with this  ultimate guide to sprint planning , or get started with these free downloadable  sprint planning templates .  
• Timeline-Driven:  Use this for tracking work completed during each sprint or epic, setting a release schedule, or communicating high-level schedules to leadership, customers, or the public. For example, you might create a product roadmap that hints at upcoming products to generate buzz among your customers. In this instance, the product roadmap doubles as a piece of marketing material.

If you’re not sure which type of product roadmap is best for your needs, use this simple if-then flowchart below:

Learn how to customize your roadmap even further below.

Examples of Different Types of Product Roadmaps

In addition to the three general product roadmap categories (goal-oriented, feature-oriented, and timeline-oriented), there are many other, more specific types. Below, you’ll find examples of release schedule roadmaps, Agile epic roadmaps, portfolio roadmap, strategy and high-level roadmaps, and more.

A product roadmap should ultimately provide clarity on the product vision and strategy. Think of it as a visual representation of the way you will achieve the goal of bringing the product to life. Also, remember that a product roadmap is not static. It should be a live, always up-to-date plan that exists as the single source of truth of progress toward the overall product vision.

To learn more, check out our  complete roundup of free product roadmap templates and our  step-by-step guide to creating a product roadmap .

Product Release Roadmap Example

A product release roadmap depicts the product development timeline, including all features, testing, and bug fixes. Also called a  release plan , this type of roadmap helps set clear expectations for development and QA teams around roles, responsibilities, and priorities.

According to Drey, product release plans are “product roadmaps and release plans combined. They are used for communicating specific milestones, who is responsible for them, and when they will be released.” As this implies, a product release roadmap is a features-related roadmap.

A common example is a software release plan, which development teams use as a plan for what they will build, the releases they’re tracking toward, and how they will work together as a team. A software release plan includes the features in development, an explanation of how the feature works from a user’s perspective (called a user story), a task breakdown, roles and responsibilities, and an estimated timeline.

Agile Epic Roadmap Example

An  Agile epic roadmap , also called an  Agile product roadmap  or  epic roadmap , outlines upcoming features and releases to senior management. It is a flexible plan of action organized into  epics , which are work cycles broken down into specific tasks.

Drey provides an original example of using an Agile epic roadmap in a past role: “At one very large pharmaceutical company, we had epic roadmaps in one program, with feature roadmaps that rolled up to the epics in another bug-tracking tool. This type of roadmap can contain much more detail related to releases, epics, features, etc., and how they tie into the overall product strategy. They can be used as the core roadmap from which anyone can pull broad or fine detail to present to any person or group.”

An Agile epic roadmap is also a features-oriented roadmap and is typically more detailed than a product release roadmap.

Learn more about  the role of an Agile product roadmap , and get started with our  collection of free Agile product roadmap templates .

Kanban Roadmap Example

A  Kanban roadmap  is a visual tool that leverages the Kanban project management methodology. It combines traditional Kanban, which separates work into  To-Do, Doing , and  Done  columns, along with a product roadmap, which gives an overview of long-term initiatives.

Traditionally, a  Kanban board only showcases near-term endeavors in an effort to keep the team focused, streamline production, and limit work in progress (WIP). Additionally, in Kanban, teams do not commit to hard deadlines, and instead just move work items to the  Done  column upon completion. While that approach may seem at odds with product roadmapping, which often accounts for long-term strategic initiatives and includes a timeline, a hybrid Kanban roadmap can work quite well.

A Kanban roadmap is also a features-oriented roadmap, although it presents the information differently. It also combines elements of a goal-oriented roadmap, since it lists upcoming priorities and tasks in a more general sense.

The easiest way to create a strong Kanban roadmap is to simply add a fourth column,  Backlog , to the traditional Kanban board. This allows upper-level management to see the upcoming priorities that align with larger objectives without forcing the team to set deadlines. It also allows teams to re-prioritize work items — that is, move an item from the  Backlog  into the  To-Do  column — if objectives change from the top down.

Here is an example of a simple Kanban roadmap you might use when launching a new product feature:

Product Portfolio Roadmap Example

Use a  product portfolio roadmap  to display release plans for multiple products at once. This type of roadmap outlines the planned releases across an entire portfolio and shows relationships between products and the progress of the portfolio as a whole.

Drey defines this type as “a more strategic roadmap.” According to him, it is used “to track several projects on a single roadmap and how they relate to one another and to the strategic plan. It’s used to show all of the projects that relate to a specific portfolio or product line.”

A product portfolio roadmap is a goals-oriented roadmap, since it displays various initiatives and how they roll up into larger strategic goals. That said, it also combines some elements of timeline and features roadmaps, since it includes a general timeline progression and upcoming features.

A product portfolio roadmap works well for any suite of products that are united under one larger strategic initiative. For example, a fitness technology brand may have a portfolio of wearable technology, such as a step counter, a fitness watch, a glucose monitor, and more. The visual below shows how a product portfolio roadmap might look for this example.

Product Strategy Roadmap Example

A  product strategy roadmap or  strategic initiative roadmap  is a goals-oriented roadmap that shows how a team’s current initiatives map to company-wide goals. It is intended for upper-level management and is often presented as a simple visual slide.

Product strategy roadmaps are “mainly used for senior management to get a high-level view of what’s being developed as it relates to strategic goals,” says Drey. “This roadmap is used to answer two big questions: 1) How are you going to achieve our strategic goals? and 2) Can you deliver on these goals in the time we’ve projected?”

This is another style of a goals-oriented roadmap, as it is used to visually display the work toward a larger strategic vision.

Consider the example of presenting on a software development product. You should include an overview of the products you are working on and connect them to larger strategic goals. A simple way to do this is to visually map each product to a specific strategic goal, using color coding or other graphic elements.

Product Features Roadmap Example

A  product features roadmap  or  release timeline  details which features are coming and when. Every product release includes multiple features, and this roadmap is where you detail specifics about the order and schedule of each forthcoming feature.

Drey explains this as the “‘standard roadmap’ or visual view of the details of what you are developing and when. This is the ‘in the weeds’ version of a product strategy roadmap, and is usually just for development teams.” Therefore, this is also a features-oriented roadmap.

Product features roadmaps are common with software development teams and typically outline the upcoming quarter or epic. Below is a visual example of a product features roadmap from Drey:

Goals Product Roadmap Examples

A  goals product roadmap , also called a  high-level product roadmap  or an  objectives timeline roadmap , is a simple visual tool that shows your upcoming goals. Use this high-level roadmap in presentations with management and executives to communicate your upcoming priorities.

Simply put, Drey describes this type of roadmap as “one of the preceding roadmaps stripped down for a specific audience.” In essence, it is the most stripped-down, high-altitude roadmap: It simply outlines a team’s or department’s upcoming goals. As the name implies, it is a goals-oriented roadmap.

For this type of roadmap, consider using one of our  free PowerPoint product roadmaps for a straightforward presentation .

For example, your team might be working on a series of features or releases that all contribute to the larger goal of increasing subscription upgrades within your app. Here is an example of how you might visually communicate that to your senior leaders:

Timed-to-Do Roadmaps

A  timed-to-do roadmap  is an innovative tool for surfacing priorities from senior leadership. Unlike other roadmaps, it provides information about strategic objectives, which you can use to create a features- or timeline-oriented roadmap on how you will achieve these priorities.

Here’s how it works: As a product manager, you can give senior leadership a set amount of time (for example, one hour, two business days, etc.) during which they need to generate a list of the most important things they want your team to focus on in the upcoming work cycle. This could be a particular product, a set of features, testing, or something else. The time-bound nature of this exercise raises the stakes, so it typically yields a list of the highest-priority items to tackle.

Once you have clarity on the priorities, you can create other tools — such as an epic roadmap or release plan — to show when and how you will execute on these priorities. This is a hybrid between all three types of roadmaps: It relays the top priorities or goals, notes the specific features or initiatives to prioritize, and gives a timeline progression of how to execute.

“I’ve used timed-to-do roadmaps as a tool to glean information from the VP, director, and other management on what should go into the strategic roadmap,” says Drey. “It is a sort of prioritization roadmap that you can lay out in a  MoSCow format . It is timed, so people are subconsciously focused on the most important things that need to be delivered in a certain timeframe.”

Here is an example of one of Drey’s original timed-to-do roadmaps.

Now-Next-Later Product Roadmap

A  now-next-later product roadmap  shows priorities over a long period of time, with an emphasis on near-term tasks. This visual tool includes three columns:  Now (immediate priorities),  Next (upcoming priorities), and  Later (farther out tasks that reflect high-level strategic goals).

A now-next-later roadmap is similar to a Kanban board. The Now column includes more detail about current tasks, and the  Later  column can be more vague, as you don’t need to pin down those tasks until you get to them. This type of roadmap works well for teams that work in a fast-changing environment and still want to know what’s likely to come next. It’s also a rare type of roadmap in that it’s suitable to share with customers, as it allows you to forecast upcoming features or releases without committing to a hard deadline.

This is a features-oriented roadmap, as it shows the progression of upcoming features to work on.

You can also display multiple work streams on a single now-next-later roadmap, as in the example below. In this one, each horizontal bar represents a different goal, with subtasks underneath it. This is a great way to gain an at-a-glance overview without getting too deep in the weeds.

Customizing Your Product Roadmap for Your Audience

Once you’ve decided which type of roadmap to create, customize it to provide maximum utility for your audience. Think about what each stakeholder needs to know and how to best present the information so they can easily understand it.

Part of a product manager’s role is to intuit who needs to have what information. It’s important to give each party the clear data, timeline, and plans that they require, without overwhelming them with too much information or information they don’t need.

“Product managers are liaisons and are required to speak many ‘languages,’” says Drey. “For example, you would not want to present a slide deck to engineers who are looking for details on how to build a feature.”

It’s important that you don’t create a product roadmap in a silo, even if you are the team leader or are responsible for the product itself. Instead, it should be a collaborative effort and take into account the team’s bandwidth, company objectives and priorities, costs, and what other products or releases are happening in other departments.

Ultimately, a product roadmap is a tool for creating alignment.  Here are some common elements that different stakeholders tend to care about:  

• Executives and Senior Leadership:  These stakeholders require a high-level overview; big-picture goals, objectives, and priorities; a rough timeline; and an overview of the strategy and how it aligns with larger organizational goals.
• Development Team:  The development team needs to know how to prioritize features and testing, as well as what they should work on in each sprint, epic, or other work cycle.
• Sales Team:  This team requires an overview of which feature releases to expect and guidance for how to speak to each new development.
• Customers and the Public:  This group of stakeholders requires a more generalized timeline of what to expect and a marketing-focused POV that generates public interest in your product.

 you will present your roadmap. Will it be a slide presentation, a Kanban board, a Gantt chart, or a simple written chart?

Drey gives the following advice on how to think about this: “When it comes to communicating your roadmap outwardly, the audience will determine what document you will use to convey, present, or deliver the information in the roadmap. Executives like short, concise, broad strokes which are more readily delivered in PowerPoint or Google Slides. In contrast, sales teams are more revenue-focused, so a spreadsheet would be more applicable. The public would likely be best addressed in a Microsoft Word or Google Sheets document. It’s important to know your audience and to speak to them in a way that they are comfortable and familiar with. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing them.”

Create a Powerful, Intuitive Product Roadmap with Timeline View in Smartsheet

Timeline view in Smartsheet empowers users to plan, visualize, and collaborate on date-based work in real-time, enabling you to effortlessly organize tasks, track progress, and communicate status.

In just a few clicks, launch your project’s timeline on any sheet to visualize your work, understand the details, and adjust information, making it easy to track project progress, detect blockers, and communicate statuses.

Discover how timeline view in Smartsheet can help your team visualize date-based work and achieve greater efficiency and transparency across projects.

Learn more about timeline view in Smartsheet .