Without a doubt, project founders and CEOs are always looking to prioritize the roadmap. But what does it actually mean to prioritize the roadmap? It’s more than just making decisions about which features and products to develop first. Prioritizing the roadmap means making sure you’re staying focused on customer discovery, developing relationships with designers, and creating a strategy that will help your product stand out from the competition. Here is a guide for project founders and CEOs to help them prioritize their roadmap.
Getting Better at Customer Discovery
The key to prioritizing your roadmap effectively is understanding what your customers want. To do this, start by asking yourself three questions: What value can my product bring to customers? How can I differentiate my product from competitors? What problem am I solving? Answering these questions helps you identify areas of improvement and come up with ideas that will keep customers engaged. Additionally, make sure you are frequently asking “why” questions during customer interactions to gain more insight into customer needs. Taking time for reflection after each customer interaction also helps you evaluate what worked and what didn’t in order to better inform future strategies. Finally, set a standard of value perception questions that can be used across all customer discovery interviews in order to ensure consistency.
Working Effectively with Designers
Designers often hold the key to helping projects stand out from their competitors. That is why it is important for project founders and CEOs to work effectively with designers in order to maximize potential success. Start by providing designers with information beyond PRD writing, such as user stories or data points from previous customer interactions, so they have context when developing designs. It is also important for project founders and CEOs to communicate product vision and principles frequently so designers understand how their work ties into overall goals of the product team. Furthermore, involve designers in customer/product discovery interviews whenever possible so they have an opportunity to ask questions directly related to their design work while also getting valuable feedback from customers firsthand. Finally, help your team focus on quality by establishing design principles that reinforce products’ principles—this will ensure designs are consistent with brand messaging while still allowing room for innovation based on user feedback or industry trends.
Conclusion:
Prioritizing your roadmap as a project founder or CEO requires staying laser-focused on understanding what customers want while building relationships with designers who can help create products that stand out from the competition. By asking “why” questions during customer interactions, reflecting on previous customer interactions, setting a standard of value perception questions, providing information beyond PRD writing for designers, communicating product vision and principles regularly, involving designers in customer/product discovery interviews when possible, and establishing design principles that reinforce products’ principles—project founders and CEOs can get better at prioritizing their roadmaps for maximum success!
