Deciding what not to build
Scope, sequencing, and the honest version of a roadmap. Most product trouble is a prioritization problem that only looks like a delivery problem.
What we actually do
Three pieces of the job, and what each one is really for.
Market Analysis & Positioning
Finding out who else solves this and why customers currently choose them. Considerably cheaper than discovering it after launch.
Vision & Roadmap Planning
A roadmap that states what is not being built, and where decisions stop being reversible. A list of everything anyone has asked for is not a roadmap.
Product Metrics & KPIs
Picking the small number of measures that would actually change a decision. Most dashboards track what is easy to count instead.
Getting it built
Turning the plan into shipped work without the ceremony swallowing the output.
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Sprint Planning & Execution
A cadence the team can hold, with meetings that end in a decision rather than in another meeting.
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Backlog Management
A backlog that is ordered and mostly closed — not an archive of every idea anyone has had since launch.
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Stakeholder Communication
Stakeholders told what changed and what it cost, including the parts that slipped. Bad news early is most of the job.
After it ships
The half of product work that only starts once there are real users.
Growth Experimentation
Experiments that are allowed to fail, on samples large enough to mean something. At low traffic most wins are noise.
- A/B testing methodologies
- User journey optimization
- Conversion funnel analysis
User Feedback Systems
Getting at why people leave, which is rarely what they write in a survey. Support tickets and drop-off points are more honest.
- User interviews & surveys
- Feature request analysis
- Customer satisfaction tracking
What are you not building?
If that list is empty, the roadmap is a wish list. Tell us what you are trying to ship and we will help you decide what to cut.
Contact Our Product Experts