Product roadmap inputs: life cycle, customers, stakeholders

You

Friday went better than expected. Ian read the whole page and didn't ask for a month next to each feature.

Ian

I read it in two minutes, which is a good sign. But the board will ask why: why these two objectives, why now, and where the numbers come from. I need answers by the 13th.

You

Where the numbers come from… Honestly, some of them came from staring at the spreadsheet for a long time.

Alex Tutor

Then this week is about the “why”. A roadmap is only as good as what goes into it. Before the vision and the objectives come the inputs: what you know about the product, the market, the customers and the people around you.

You

I have forty requests. Aren't those inputs?

Alex Tutor

They're opinions about solutions: useful, but thin. Inputs explain why those requests exist. Four sources: where the product is in its life, the market around it, its customers and its stakeholders.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Ian expects the board to ask where the roadmap's numbers come from. What is the best way for Sofia to prepare?

Choose one answerRound the targets so they look more confidentRemove the numbers and keep only the themesFor each number, note its source: which data, from whom and how recentAdd more features so the board sees ambition

Alex Tutor

First source: the product life cycle. The classic model has four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Some models use five, adding expansion into a nearby need. The labels matter less than the question: what does this stage ask of the roadmap?

You

And what does each one ask?

Alex Tutor

At introduction almost everything is a guess, so the roadmap is a list of things to learn. In growth you scale what works and fix what breaks at volume. In maturity you keep customers and protect margins. In decline you plan an honest exit.

You

CatChow has had subscribers for years, and churn matters more than sign-ups now. So… maturity?

Alex Tutor

For the subscription, yes, or close to it. But the vet clinic channel is young: 54 clinics, and every order still goes through a phone call. That's growth, and it needs different work.

You

Oh. So that's why Ian has two objectives: one part of the business has to keep people, the other has to grow.

Alex Tutor

Exactly. One company can run products at different stages at the same time. Write the stage down: it explains your choices before anyone asks.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Match each product life cycle stage to what the roadmap should emphasize.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline

Answers left to place

Lucy

Quick question: is the market part really for me? I'd rather know what to build than who our competitors are.

Alex Tutor

Fair, but the market changes what's worth building. And it's more than competitors: it's the whole ecosystem. Who else serves our customers, who we depend on, and how the business makes money.

You

For us that's pet shops, supermarkets, online marketplaces… and the clinics themselves?

Alex Tutor

Right: clinics are both customers and a channel. A vet chooses the prescription diet, so the clinic decides which brand a pet owner leaves with. That's why the channel matters more than its size suggests.

Then the money: who pays, what it costs to serve them, where the margin is. A one-page business model sketch is enough. Without it, you'd be guessing which problems are worth solving.

You

So if a supermarket chain launched its own cat food subscription, my Next column could change overnight.

Alex Tutor

It could. That's why the market is an input, not background reading.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Market and business model inputs are for marketing; the product team only needs the list of feature requests.

TrueFalse

Brandon

Good news! PurrPoint's procurement manager said yes to the pilot in two clinics instead of an April date. No feature in the contract. The pilot starts in November.

You

That's great! So PurrPoint is happy?

Alex Tutor

The person who buys is. Notice who said yes: the procurement manager signs the contract, but she won't place a single order. The admins do, every week. In B2B the buyer and the user are often different people.

You

And for cat owners it's the same person?

Alex Tutor

Mostly: the owner pays and orders. Strictly speaking, the end user is the cat, and cats have strong opinions about taste.

Beyond buyer and user, list the roles, meaning what each person does with the product, and the segments, meaning groups with different needs: new owners, long-term subscribers, partner clinics.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

The pilot starts in two PurrPoint clinics. Whose behavior will show whether the clinic theme is working?

Choose one answerThe procurement manager who approved the pilotThe clinic admins who place the weekly ordersBrandon, who manages the accountCatChow's board

Alex Tutor

Next source: stakeholders, anyone who shapes, funds, builds, sells, supports or depends on the product. Each of them brings you something and needs something back from the roadmap.

Lucy

Then here's mine. You know the warehouse system has to go. What isn't written anywhere: if the pilot grows past two clinics before we replace it, orders will start getting lost.

Alex Tutor

That's exactly the kind of input nobody puts in a spreadsheet. Engineering tells you what's feasible and what's fragile, and it needs the reasons behind the work to plan ahead.

You

So support tells me why people call, Brandon tells me why clients sign or leave, and Ian brings the strategy and the budget?

Alex Tutor

Yes. Then decide how closely to work with each. A common tool is a power/interest grid: how much say someone has over the roadmap, and how much they care about it.

High power and high interest: work closely. High power, low interest: keep satisfied with short updates. Low power, high interest: keep informed. Low on both: check in now and then.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Sofia sketches a power/interest grid for the roadmap. Which placements make sense? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyIan: high power, high interest, so work closely with himThe support team: lower power, so ignore them until launchLucy: high power, high interest, so work closely with herThe board: high power, but engaged mostly at meetings, so keep it satisfied with short, regular updatesEveryone in the high-power, high-interest box, so nobody feels left outThe support team: high interest, so keep them informed, for example about changes before customers call

Brandon

If you need input from sales, I can send you our list. Twelve things clients asked for this year.

You

Twelve more features. Great.

Alex Tutor

Ask differently. Instead of “what should we build?”, ask each team for its top problems with evidence: how often it happens, who it hurts and what it costs. Feature ideas are welcome, with the problem attached.

You

And then I merge the lists?

Alex Tutor

Merge them and look for repeats. When support, sales and the data all point at the same problem, it's probably real. A problem only one loud person mentions still goes on the list, just lower.

Keep the result short: five to ten problems, each with its source. That list feeds your themes and, later, your key results.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the message Sofia sends to the support team, Brandon and Lucy, asking for their input for the roadmap (2–4 sentences). Ask for problems and evidence, not a feature list, and give a deadline that works before the board meeting.

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Ian

One question I can already hear: why subscriptions and clinics, and not just one of them? Give me something I can say in three sentences.

You

The life cycle! The subscription is mature, and the clinic channel is growing.

Alex Tutor

Good start. Add what each stage means for the money: in a mature business, keeping a subscriber is cheaper than finding a new one; in a growing channel, every clinic brings pet owners we'd never reach alone.

You

And the market point: vets choose the prescription diet, so clinics decide which brand owners buy.

Alex Tutor

That's your third sentence. Stage, market, money: three inputs, three sentences. Write it for him.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the 2–3 sentences Ian can say when the board asks why the roadmap focuses on subscription revenue and the vet clinic channel. Use at least two kinds of input: life cycle stage, market, customers or stakeholders.

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Alex Tutor

Let's test the method on someone else's product. My friend at the small accounting SaaS is collecting inputs for her next roadmap too.

You

The one whose director sent a dated feature list to clients?

Alex Tutor

That one. They learned from it. Now she has a pile of notes from everyone and needs a one-page summary before anyone talks about features.

You

Life cycle, customers, stakeholders, and problems instead of features. Got it.

Alex Tutor

One hint: look for the problem that shows up in more than one person's notes.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Case · AI-checked task

Summarize the inputs for Docketly's next roadmap.

Docketly is a Ukrainian B2B SaaS that small accounting firms use to collect and store their clients' documents. Its PM is preparing the next roadmap and has collected these notes:

Product: on the market for five years, about 600 paying firms. New firms signing up fell from about 40 a month two years ago to about 15 now; about 2% of firms cancel each month.
Money: firms pay per accountant seat. Their own clients upload documents through a client portal for free.
Director: “Next year we need more revenue per firm, not just more firms.”
Sales: “Prospects keep asking for a mobile app. We lost two deals to a competitor whose clients can upload from their phones.”
Support: “About 40% of our tickets come from firms' clients who can't upload a scan from a phone. Accountants then chase them by email.”
Engineering lead: “Storage costs grew 30% this year. The upload component is the oldest part of the product and breaks on large files.”
Finance: “Hosting costs are growing faster than revenue.”
A large client firm: “We'd pay more for automatic reminders to clients who haven't sent their documents.”

Write a short input summary (150–300 words): the product's life cycle stage and what it means for the roadmap; who the buyer is, who the users are and whose problem looks biggest; a simple stakeholder map (who to work closely with, who to keep informed); a merged list of 3–4 problems with their evidence, not features; one input that is still missing.

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You

So by the 13th I won't just have numbers. I'll know where each one comes from and who told me.

Alex Tutor

And when someone asks “why this?”, you'll answer with evidence instead of opinions. That's what inputs are for.

Alex Tutor

Next time: your draft vision. We'll make it short enough to remember and settle whether the clinics belong in it.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Product vision and value proposition