How to present a product roadmap to any audience

You

The plan is agreed. Now I present it four times: sales and marketing on Wednesday, engineering on Thursday, PurrPoint on Friday, the board on the 16th.

Alex Tutor

Why present it at all? The people who matter were at the workshop.

You

Not all of them. Lucy's engineers weren't there, and neither were the salespeople who talk to clinics every day.

Alex Tutor

Right. You share a roadmap for three reasons: inspiration, so people see why the work matters; alignment, so every team can plan around it; and ownership, because people care more about a plan they've had a hand in.

You

So, four different decks?

Alex Tutor

One roadmap, several views. The foundation stays the same for everyone: vision, objectives, themes and timeframes. What changes is what you add on top for each audience.

You

Four separate roadmaps would drift apart within a month.

Alex Tutor

Within a week. And then two teams plan around two different stories.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

To keep every audience satisfied, it's best to maintain a separate roadmap for each one: the board, sales, engineering and customers.

TrueFalse

Ian

Last time the board asked what customers get. This time they'll ask whether it's working. I'll have fifteen minutes.

You

Fifteen minutes for a whole roadmap?

Alex Tutor

Boards think in investments and returns. Show the vision, the two objectives with their key results, what's changed in the market, and what the money buys. Keep the details on hand, not on the slides.

You

And if they ask about the portal or the quiz?

Alex Tutor

Then you answer, briefly. But notice: a board's appetite for detail falls as its trust grows. When directors dig into features, they're usually worried about how the work is going.

You

So the less they need to ask, the better it's going.

Alex Tutor

Usually. Your job is to make progress easy to see: what moved, what didn't, and what happens next.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Ian has fifteen minutes with the board. Which content fits best?

Choose one answerEvery candidate with its RICE score, so the board can check the ranking itselfThe warehouse migration plan with owners and milestones, to show the team is in controlThe full internal roadmap, including the stage of every item and the “not now” listThe vision, the two objectives with what their key results show so far, how the clinic channel is changing and what next quarter's budget buys

Brandon

Marketing wants to print brochures for the conference on 23 May: “The CatChow clinic portal, now live.” Can I tell them yes?

You

The portal isn't even on the plan. The form is.

Alex Tutor

Sales and marketing need a different view: the stage of each theme, which customers it's for, how confident we are, and the external events they plan around.

Confidence matters most before money is spent. Brochures, ads, a launch at the stand: wait until the item is being built and confidence is high, not while it's still being tested.

You

By May the form should be with all PurrPoint clinics and on its way to the others.

Alex Tutor

So marketing can plan the stand around the outcome: clinics reordering without a phone call. What to print gets decided at the March review, once the form has run in all 14 PurrPoint clinics.

Brandon

An outcome on a brochure. Fine, as long as it has a real clinic's numbers on it.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Which of these belong in the sales and marketing view of CatChow's roadmap? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyThe stage of each themeWhich customers each theme is forThe RICE score of every candidateHow confident the team is in each columnExternal events they plan around, such as the conference on 23 MayA launch date for the clinic portal, so marketing can print brochures now

Lucy

My team reads the roadmap differently. They want to know what they're building, in what order, what it depends on and what might go wrong.

Alex Tutor

Then their view adds the likely features under each theme, the stage, the dependencies and the risks. Features go to them for feasibility feedback, not as orders with deadlines.

You

Dependencies: clinic orders move to the new system, then the form reaches all 14 PurrPoint clinics, then the other partner clinics.

Lucy

And risks: the parts of the old system nobody documented. Oh, and put gift cards on it. Twelve people used them last year, and we test them in every release.

Alex Tutor

That's technical debt: old shortcuts and features that slow down every future change. Give it a line on the engineering view, so it competes for time in the open.

You

The board doesn't need to see gift cards.

Alex Tutor

No. Same roadmap, different depth. Here's the test: pick the version of one theme that Lucy's team should see.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Which version of the clinic theme belongs on the engineering view?

Choose one answerClinics restock without phoning us. Likely features: the online form for all 14 PurrPoint clinics, then other partner clinics. Stage: Testing. Depends on clinic orders moving to the new system. Risk: undocumented parts of the old system.Clinics restock without phoning us. Stock-outs from 6 to 1 a month; all 14 PurrPoint clinics retained.Clinics restock without phoning us. For partner clinics. Stage: Testing. Confidence: about 80%.From February, all 14 of your clinics order online, once our new warehouse system handles clinic orders.

You

Friday is PurrPoint. Brandon has been waiting for a page he can show them since the first week.

Alex Tutor

Customers ask for features and dates. What they usually need is proof that you've heard them, that you're working on their problem, and that you'll tell them more when you know it.

Picture two scales: how much detail, and whether the reader is inside the company or outside it. The further out the reader, the less detail and the fewer new directions they see.

Ian

And the roadmap page on our website? No other pet food brand has one.

You

Every competitor could read it. And if we announced a clinic portal, new clinics might wait for it instead of signing now.

Alex Tutor

That's the Osborne effect: announcing something better too early stops people buying what you have today. Add the risk of overpromising, and a public page has to earn its place.

You

So not yet. But Ian still wants clinics to see that we deliver.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Match each audience to what its view adds to the common foundation.

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

The board
Sales and marketing
Engineering
PurrPoint

Answers left to place

You

Four meetings. How do I prepare without writing four decks from scratch?

Alex Tutor

Four questions before each one. Who's in the room, and what have they seen before? What do you want from them: input, agreement, or just awareness? What do they care about? And which parts of the roadmap answer that?

You

And the order of the talk itself?

Alex Tutor

Start with why: the vision, and a real story, like the admin who used to lose her Monday mornings on the phone. Then progress since last time. Then the near term. Then the longer term.

You

Why progress before the plan?

Alex Tutor

Because trust comes from what you've done, not from what you promise. A plan lands better right after proof.

Alex Tutor

Question 6

Put the parts of the board presentation in order.

Tap an item, then tap where it should go. You can also drag or use the arrows.

You

Ian wants his opening from me: two minutes on why we're doing this and what has moved since October. The board will read the rest.

Alex Tutor

Why and progress, then. Not the plan yet. And use real numbers, including the ones that haven't moved. Churn hasn't, and they'll know it.

You

Honest about churn, proud of the pilot.

Alex Tutor

And short. If Ian can't say it in two minutes, the board won't remember it.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

Write Ian's two-minute opening for the board (3–5 sentences): why, and what has moved since October. Be honest about what hasn't moved.

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You

Now the promise from the first week: a version of the roadmap PurrPoint can actually see.

Alex Tutor

Write it for their procurement manager and her admins. What changes for their clinics, what we've delivered, what comes next and on what condition, and the partner disclaimer.

You

The admins say an order now takes about five minutes instead of a twenty-minute call. That goes in.

And February for all 14 clinics, once clinic orders move in January. Do I put the condition in?

Alex Tutor

Yes. A condition they know about is a plan; a condition they discover later is a broken promise.

And nothing about subscribers, other clinics or Later. It's their page.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the partner version of the roadmap for PurrPoint (6–10 short lines): what changes for its clinics, what has been delivered, what comes next and on what condition, and a partner disclaimer.

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Alex Tutor

The online bookstore that wanted to publish its twelve-month roadmap came back to me. Now the owners, the web team, publishers and readers all want to see it.

You

The one with seventeen items in Later?

Alex Tutor

The same. They've cleaned it up since. Now the question is who sees what.

You

One foundation, four views, and a public page that has to earn its place.

Alex Tutor

Plan it for them.

Alex Tutor

Question 9Case · AI-checked task

Plan how Chapterly shares one roadmap with four audiences.

Chapterly is a Ukrainian online bookstore. Its head of e-commerce once wanted to publish a twelve-month roadmap on the website; the internal roadmap has since been cleaned up:

Vision: every reader always knows what to read next.
Objectives: more repeat purchases (first-time buyers who buy again within 90 days, from 22% to 28%); fewer “where is my order?” messages (from about 400 to under 150 a month).
Now (January–March): buyers know where their order is without asking (an order-tracking page, SMS at every delivery step); delivery options don't stop people at checkout (parcel lockers, live on 1 March under a signed contract).
Next (April–September): readers always know what to read next (reading-club emails with an editor's picks; a recommendation engine being explored, which no Ukrainian bookstore has yet; a paid reading-club membership with free delivery, price not set). Back-to-school in August is the second-biggest season.
Later: parents quickly find books that suit their child's age (weak evidence so far).

The web team ships weekly; the owners budget quarterly. A large marketplace competes with Chapterly on price and speed.

Four audiences want to see the roadmap: the owners, the web team, publishers (who plan print runs and promotions months ahead) and readers (through a page on the website).

Plan how Chapterly shares this one roadmap (150–300 words): for each audience, the goal of sharing, what they see on top of the common foundation and what's left out; the risks of the public page and how you'd handle them; and the disclaimer for publishers and for readers.

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You

The board gets progress, sales gets confidence, Lucy's team gets dependencies, and PurrPoint gets its own page. All from one roadmap.

Alex Tutor

The same story, told at the depth each reader needs. Change the foundation, and every view changes with it.

Alex Tutor

Key ideas

Share the roadmap for inspiration, alignment and ownership: people see why the work matters, plan around it and care about what they helped shape.
One roadmap, several views: a shared foundation (vision, objectives, themes, timeframes) plus what each audience needs. Separate roadmaps drift apart.
The board: objectives and progress, the market, the money; less detail as trust grows. Sales and marketing: stage, target customers, confidence, external events. Engineering: likely features, dependencies, risks, technical debt.
Customers and partners: what changes for them, a track record, next steps with their conditions and a clear disclaimer. The further out the reader, the less detail; watch for overpromising, the Osborne effect and competitors.
Prepare with four questions (who is in the room, what you want from them, what they care about, which parts answer it), then tell it in order: why, progress, near term, longer term.

Next time, the last lesson of the course: keeping the roadmap true once it's out there. Review rhythm, change requests and the rules for changing course.

Alex Tutor

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

Next lesson: Keeping it fresh and rolling it out in the organization