Creating an effective outcome-based roadmap

When you’re planning a product, it can be easy to focus on the features you want it to have and the steps you’ll take to get there instead of what you want it to achieve. An outcome-based roadmap can help you focus on the latter and build a product that truly meets your customer’s needs.

An outcome-based roadmap is a strategic plan that looks at the outcome rather than the tasks or activities it takes to achieve your desired objective. It’s a strategic plan that aligns your product vision with your business vision.

Think “big picture.” Outcome-based roadmaps focus on the end result, not all the details and plans that live underneath.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t both short- and long-term outcomes in that roadmap. It ensures that the end result remains aligned with the business’s vision and goals throughout the process. It outlines the steps and milestones needed to reach each desired outcome, giving the process a sense of purpose and keeping everyone in the loop and aware of the progress being made.

The customer is at the center of your outcome-based roadmap. It focuses on the options or features they need and avoids the pitfalls of assuming that you know what the customer wants. The features you thought would be nice can result in wasteful duplication and unwanted features. Once you know your customer’s needs, create your outcome-based roadmap and work backward to build it.

Outcome-based roadmaps are an essential form of communication between your teams and stakeholders in all phases of product development. It should answer common questions such as “What is it?”, “Why do we need it?”, and “How will we do it?” It adds visibility and direction and ultimately results in satisfied customers.

Outcome-based roadmaps vs. goal-based roadmaps

A feature roadmap is a visual timeline of what the product team is working on and when they will deliver it. A goal-oriented roadmap takes that a step further, laying out strategies that ensure all the tasks align with the ultimate goal.

The line between goal-based and outcome-based roadmaps is indistinct. Outcome-based roadmaps are used to focus on broader outcomes and the impact they have on your business, while goal-based roadmaps break down the outcomes into specific, measurable goals and tasks.

Roadmapping in outcomes vs. roadmapping in themes

Theme-based roadmaps are those used by product teams in high-level strategic categories. This roadmap works from the top down, with the team giving priority to a few selected themes.

The problem with roadmapping in themes is that it clumps together random features and can ultimately lack the focus it needs to carry throughout.

Switching from goal-based roadmaps to outcome-based roadmaps may seem unnecessary at first glance. However, if you consider the advantages, you may decide the change will benefit your business, customers, and stakeholders.

Here are some of the benefits of using outcome-based roadmaps:

• Alignment with business goals: with an outcome-based roadmap, your efforts will directly align your business’s goals and strategies with your product efforts. The focus is placed on successful results instead of timelines or features.

• Customer satisfaction: since the objective of an outcome-based roadmap is to focus on the customer’s needs, these needs are put ahead of timelines and a focus on feature completion. This promotes customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. It also adds value to the product.

• Adaptability: because outcome-based roadmaps prioritize outcomes over features, it becomes easier to adjust your strategy when the market or business opportunities shift.

• Collaboration: an outcome-based roadmap promotes collaboration between teams. Because the roadmap lays out the purpose of their work, it leads to better teamwork, communication, and cross-collaboration.

• Product improvement: outcome-based roadmapping is customer-centric and outcome-focused. This means there are ultimately fewer wasted or over-designed features. The end product is more meaningful and beneficial to the customer, with less product waste and more savings for the business.

Businesses that desire a clear, structured guide to strategically and methodically achieve their goals use outcome-based roadmaps. These provide a concise action plan.

Consider the following key elements to create a successful and effective outcome-based roadmap:

Clear, measurable objectives

Your outcome-based roadmap will need defined, clear, and concise objectives. Everyone, no matter their team or department, should be able to easily understand these objectives, as this will help them understand the role they have to play. The objectives should also be motivational and inspiring.

Be sure that your objectives are focused, measurable, and in alignment with the business’s overall vision and mission. They should be achievable, with a set timeline for completion.

Metrics and key results

Identify the metrics you’ll use to measure your progress against your outcome-based roadmap and determine the key results you want to achieve. Track and evaluate progress along the way.

Be sure the metrics are achievable and easy to understand. They can give valuable insight to stakeholders about the project’s progress.

Activities aligned with outcomes

Aligning activities with outcomes involves mapping the actions or projects that will contribute to a successful end result.

Each activity should be directly linked to the desired outcome. By establishing these connections, you can avoid wasting time on activities that don’t directly contribute to the goal. You’ll find that prioritizing activities becomes an easier task, allowing you to focus on the things that matter most.

Here are some basic steps to get you started on creating your outcome-based roadmap—whatever you’re mapping:

1. Establish your product vision and strategy

All roadmaps start with a clear understanding of your product vision and goals. This not only involves identifying your long-term goals but also making sure they align with your business’s vision and mission. Your vision will then provide a sense of direction that helps guide your roadmap development.

2. Collect feedback and prioritize

To truly focus on your product’s features, you must collect customer feedback. Outcome-based roadmaps are customer-centric, so this is a necessary step.

Keep in mind that this not only enables you to provide what the customer wants, but it also helps you avoid duplication and waste by creating unnecessary features or products.

Teams that deal directly with customers (such as customer service and sales staff) can be instrumental in collecting the data and getting it to the product team. From there, prioritize the features and turn them into outcomes on your roadmap.

3. Iterate

An outcome-based roadmap isn’t set in stone. As you progress through initiatives and things shift within your business or industry, you will need to review and revisit the roadmap to ensure it’s still the best plan of action.

When creating and implementing your outcome-based roadmap, pay attention to the following best practices and strategic guidelines:

• Focus on outcomes, not features. This is particularly important in a culture that has previously been feature-driven. Make sure that everyone involved understands the outcome-based strategies you are implementing.

• Define metrics. You must establish key metrics and the type of measurements that will track your progress. Base decisions on data from customers rather than assumptions.

• Involve stakeholders. Collaborate and engage with your stakeholders to define the process’s business outcomes. Stakeholder buy-in elevates your chances of successfully achieving the desired results.

• Make adjustments as needed. One of the benefits of outcome-based roadmaps is their flexibility. Evaluate regularly and be prepared to make adjustments as needed.

Depending on your product, you would use different key performance indicators (KPIs) for your outcome-based roadmapping.

KPIs—which include financial indicators such as costs, profit, revenues, and ratios—are crucial for measuring success, driving performance improvement, and keeping your roadmap on track. They help you measure, evaluate, and compare while ensuring that your outcomes align with your business goals and objectives.

These indicators are essential for setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART goals). 

An objectives and key results (OKR) framework establishes the key results needed to meet specific objectives. The roadmap lays out the steps needed to meet the outcome-based results.

There is some overlap, but these tools serve different purposes. One cannot replace the other.

While OKRs are used to set goals and give you a peek at what success looks like, the roadmap translates the strategy into a timeline that aligns with your business vision.

Switching from feature-driven roadmaps to outcome-based roadmaps can be difficult at first. Just keep in mind that using outcome-based roadmaps means that you choose your projects based on expected outcomes, not just the features you want to see in your product.

The transition ensures that your product fully supports your business goals, improving your use of resources, communication, and collaboration and enabling you to respond faster to changes in the market.