Are you thinking of making your product roadmap open to the public? In this article, I will discuss the advantages of having an open public map. I also give examples of open-source maps, templates, and tools to create your own.
What is a public-facing product roadmap?
A public roadmap is generally an open website where a business shares the things they are currently working on and the latest information they’ve released, which is available to anyone. SaaS roadmaps generally fall into two categories: time horizons or timelines, which are based.
Timeline map
A roadmap based on an outline of the planned release dates for the upcoming months/quarters. The front timeline is an illustration of this. It also includes ideas coming very soon.
Time horizons and roadmap
A roadmap shows time horizons and what’s planned in the works, ongoing, and completed (or an equivalent version). We have our personal publicly accessible road map.
Why you should reveal your product’s roadmap
1. Your customers will be thrilled
Your customers will appreciate your transparency. If you can share the things you’re working on, the customers are more likely to share what they think and get in touch directly with you.
Transparency is a fantastic method to increase the trust of your customers. Front found that even people with similar experiences as those in the roadmap actively offered assistance. GitHub recently revealed that they’re making their roadmap available to the public:
What we’re trying to do is provide a way for people to see what’s coming, join in that dialogue and give us feedback and be able to collaborate with us
GitHub’s SVP of Product Shanku Niyogi
2. Attract new customers and distinguish yourself from your competitors
People who visit your site and are contemplating joining your service will appreciate the clarity of a public roadmap. They’ll better understand what they’re signing for and the plans, particularly for those in the early stages of SaaS businesses. Use a public roadmap to differentiate yourself, which will help your company stand out from the competitors.
Similar to a public roadmap helps the sales staff to make contact with prospects. It offers them a simple approach to responding to questions such as “what is your current work on” and “when do you plan to develop the feature.” It could be an incredible ability to sell – imagine customers asking for a particular feature, and you let them know that the feature is in development in your roadmap that you make public.
3. Develop the most effective features based on feedback from customers
Front refers to it as”a ” supplemental feedback loop for developing products.” if you make your plan public, your customers will be able to tell you whether they believe you’re on the right path or not.
Their comments on the planned features will help you ensure you’re prioritizing the most important things and constructing features that people actually would like to see.
5. It’s good for your team and stakeholder alignment.
Communicating your plans and your roadmap publicly will help ensure your team has considered the details of the roadmap and will make them accountable to the roadmap. Buffer claims it helps teams consider the long-term and think more carefully about the design they develop.
In addition to the team, this could also be a good way to interact with and respond to product queries from other stakeholders, such as investors and partners, in order to create the foundation for alignment.
What about my competitors knowing what’s on my road map?
It’s a valid problem, especially in a highly competitive field that has the little distinction between the players. But, it can be claimed that it’s not about the specific feature you’re planning to create and more about the implementation – how you choose to create, implement, and convey it, according to Front on dispelling the myth about competitors.
Buffer even says that it’s beneficial that your rivals know the work you’re doing.
As the creator of a publicly accessible map tool that is used by SaaS companies, I am naturally biased and an advocate of open roadmaps.
Tools to build your own roadmap for public use
Below is a list of the tools that can be used to build your public roadmap. This includes Saasfe, our product Saasfe, as well as a few other popular tools.
Saasfe
Tool for public roadmaps to SaaS companies.
Trello
Buffer, as well as Front, have created their roadmaps with Trello.
Notion
Gumroad utilizes the Notion platform as its official road map. Notion offers a template for a roadmap that you can use and later publish the page.
Coda
Intercom has developed incredible Product roadmap templates in Coda. However, it is more designed to be used internally.
Airtable
Airtable offers the Product roadmap templates which you are able to publish.
To finish
A roadmap that is public is something your clients (and future customers) will enjoy. They’ll be more engaged with you when you reveal what you’re developing and planning to do. If you have more customers who are engaged, they can provide comments to ensure you’re creating products they’ll enjoy.
At the end of the day, it boils down to expanding your business faster while making sure your customers are satisfied. If you’re interested in a publicly accessible plan, try Saasfe the chance (we offer a no-cost plan to help you get going).
